Check your schedule!

This is a reminder that Experiment 2 does not necessarily follow Experiment 1.

You need to login to your course homepage on Sakai and check your lab schedule to determine the
experiment rotation that you are to follow.

My Lab dates: Exp.2:......... Exp.3:......... Exp.4:......... Exp.5.........

Note: The Lab Instructor will verify that you are attending on the correct date and have prepared for the
scheduled Experiment; if the lab date or Experiment number do not match your schedule, or the review
questions are not completed, you will be required to leave the lab and you will miss the opportunity to
perform the experiment. This could result in a grade of Zero for the missed Experiment.

To summarize:

• There are five Experiments to be performed during this course, Experiment 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

• Everyone does the first experiment on their first scheduled lab session.

• The next four experiments are scheduled concurrently on any given lab date.

• To distribute the students evenly among the scheduled experiments, each student is assigned to one
of four groups, by the Physics Department. Your schedule is shown in your course homepage on
Sakai.

7
 (ta initials)

first name (print) last name (print) brock id (ab17cd) (lab date)

Experiment 2

The Stirling engine

A friendly reminder: Is this your scheduled experiment? See the previous page.

In this Experiment you will learn

• some of the principles of thermodynamics, power, work, coefficient of performance;
• that the work performed by an engine can be measured using a P-V diagram;
• about thermal inertia and the times required for a heat engine to reach equilibrium;
• to apply different methods of error analysis to experimental results.

Prelab preparation
Print a copy of this Experiment to bring to your scheduled lab session. The data, observations and
notes entered on these pages will be needed when you write your lab report and as reference material
during your final exam. Compile these printouts to create a lab book for the course.
To perform this Experiment and the Webwork Prelab Test successfully you need to be familiar with the
content of this document and that of the following FLAP modules (www.physics.brocku.ca/PPLATO).
Begin by trying the fast-track quiz to gauge your understanding of the topic and if necessary review the
module in depth, then try the exit test. Check off the box when a module is completed.
FLAP PHYS 1-1: Introducing measurement
FLAP PHYS 1-2: Errors and uncertainty
FLAP PHYS 1-3: Graphs and measurements
FLAP MATH 1-1: Arithmetic and algebra
FLAP MATH 1-2: Numbers, units and physical quantities
WEBWORK: the Prelab Stirling Test must be completed before the lab session
☛✟
!✠
✡ Important! Bring a printout of your Webwork test results and your lab schedule for review by the
TAs before the lab session begins. You will not be allowed to perform this Experiment unless the
required Webwork module has been completed and you are scheduled to perform the lab on that day.
☛✟
!✠
✡ Important! Be sure to have every page of this printout signed by a TA before you leave at the end
of the lab session. All your work needs to be kept for review by the instructor, if so requested.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE NOW READY TO PROCEED WITH THE EXPERIMENT!

8
 9

The Stirling Engine

It is said that the plight of poor workmen, often injured by the explosions of the early steam engines
were the inspiration for Rev. Robert Stirling’s engineering efforts that led to the development of what
we now call “the Stirling engine” in 1816. However, Rev. Stirling’s life-long interest in engineering, his
father’s profession, suggests that the technical challenges fascinated him as well. He is the author of several
patents, from the “Heat Economizer” (regenerator) to various optical devices, his “air engine” being the
most famous.
Stirling engines are typically external combustion engines, as opposed to the open-cycle internal com-
bustion engines prevalent today. The Stirling cycle involves moving a working fluid, typicallly a gas,
between two reservoirs that are maintained at different temperatures, mediating the heat transfer from the
hot to the cold side and extracting mechanical work in the process. In this way, the Stirling engines are
very similar to the idealized heat engines textbooks on Thermodynamics.
The designs of Stirling engines vary considerably, but they all share the inherent safety of a much
lower operating pressure of the working gas, and fairly high heat-to-work conversion efficiency, especially
compared to a standard gasoline engine. Their dynamic properties — the ability to rev up quickly, for
example — are quite poor, so they are not well suited for motor vehicle use, but there are marine engines,
hand-held toys, and deep-space probe electrical generators that all use Stirling engines.

Figure 2.1: The U10050 Stirling Motor. Reproduced from the 3B Scientific manual.

The engine used in this lab is a displacement-type engine that uses two separate pistons, connected
to a common flywheel (see Fig. 2.1). One piston is the working piston; it fits snugly into the cylinder
and maintains the seal on the working gas. The other, a displacement piston, is moving freely inside its
cylinder, shifting the working gas through the gap between the piston and the cylinder from the hot to the
cold end of the cylinder, and back again. The full Stirling cycle can be approximately divided into four
parts:

1. the gas is shifted to the hot end by the displacement piston; it expands as it heats up, and pushes
the working piston which in turn rotates the flywheel;

2. the displacement piston moves, shifting the gas toward the cold end; heat is lost from the gas;

3. cooled gas is re-compressed by the inertia of the flywheel pushing the working piston.

4. with the gas compressed by the working piston, the displacement piston shifts it to the hot end,
where the heat is absorbed into the gas.
10 EXPERIMENT 2. THE STIRLING ENGINE

Figure 2.2: The Stirling cycle. Reproduced from the 3B Scientific manual.

The four parts of the cycle are illustrated schematically in Fig. 2.2.
On the left, four snapshots 1–4 show the relative positions of the displacement (A) and working (B)
pistons that correspond approximately to the four parts of an idealized Stirling cycle.
On the right, A more realistic plot of the positions of the two pistons during the continuous rotation
of the flywheel. The grey region in part 2 shows the part of the cycle where the working piston is near
its lowest point and the gas volume is approximately at its maximum. The area above the dashed line
represents the fraction of the total volume that is above the displacement piston, in thermal contact with
the hot end of the cylinder.
Since it takes less work to compress the gas when it is cold (against lower gas pressure) than the work
done by the gas on the piston when it is hot (gas exerting higher pressure over the same piston travel
distance), there is a net conversion of heat into mechanical work.
Dividing the cycle into four discreet parts is an idealization. A more realistic plot is shown in the
right-hand frame of Fig. 2.2, where the positions of both pistons vary continuosly throughout the cycle.
Both pistons are attached to the same flywheel, but at 90◦ to each other. As a consequence, the solid and
the dashed line are a quarter of a cycle out of phase with each other.

Figure 2.3: The pV -diagrams of the Stirling heat engine cycle. The idealized cycle in the left frame is made
up of four distinct parts. In a realistic Stirling engine the parts of the cycle are not completely separate,
and the pV -diagram looks more like the one in the right frame.

Fig. 2.3 illustrates the thermodynamics of the Stirling cycle. As we follow along the curve made by the
measured pairs of (pi , Vi ), the area on the pV -diagram inside the cyclical trajectory of the working cycle
 11

of the engine represents the amount of mechanical work performed by it:

X X X X
W= Fi ∆xi = (pi A)∆xi = pi (A∆xi ) = pi ∆Vi
i i i i

The work is being done by the gas on the flywheel along the upper curve, and by the flywheel on the gas
along the lower curve; the difference is the net work done by the engine. In our example, one can estimate
graphically the area inside the curve of Fig. 2.3 (right frame) to be about three–four large squares, 20 kPa
by 0.25cm3 = 0.25 × 10−6 m3 , and therefore, about 15–20 mJ per cycle.
Stirling engines, in general, have excellent coefficients of performance (CoP), reaching as high as twice
the thermal efficiency of internal-combustion gasoline engines. When used to drive electric generators, as
in this experiment, the thermal efficiency, though high, is just one of many of the CoP’s that need to be
multiplied together to get the overall CoP: that of the mechanical efficiency of the flywheel-piston system,
that of the conversion efficiency of mechanical into electrical energy, etc.
The overall efficiency of the process of conversion of the internal chemical energy of the fuel into the
usable electrical energy that can turn on a lighbulb, is only of the order of 10%. Increasing the difference in
the operating temperatures of the hot and cold ends, changing the working gas, or the compression ratio,
can dramatically affect that number, but the cost and complexity of the engine may also increase.
Stirling engines, long a domain of tinkerers and enthusiasts, are making a comeback. Six Swedish
submarines are equipped with Stirling engine propulsion units, enabling them to conduct long-range dives
fueled by a chemical source of energy that does not involve a conventional burning of liquid fuel, without
the use of nuclear power. Long-range space probes make use of a Stirling-cycle electric power generators
fueled by the heat of radioisotope heat sources. Combined heat-and-power generators based on a Stirling
engine are commercially available in the 100 kW power range, and their miniature cousins may one day
replace laptop and cell phone batteries.

The Stirling engine as a heat pump

The many advantages of the Stirling engines are well described in the excellent Wikipedia article (recom-
mended reading), one of which is their flexibility: their ability to act as heat pumps as well as engines.
If one uses an external motor to drive the Stirling engine through its thermal cycle, the net effect is
the reverse conversion from mechanical energy into thermal one, heating up one end and cooling down the
other end of the cylinder: following the pV -curve of Fig. 2.3 in the counterclockwise direction means a
change of sign of the difference between the upper and lower halves of the cycle.
Even more interesting is the ability of the Stirling engine to reverse the direction of this heat flow, if
the direction of rotation of the engine is reversed. Thus the same Stirling-cycle thermal pump can act as
a heat source in winter and a cooling device in the summer!

Procedure
The Stirling Engine U10050 used in this experiment is a single-cyclinder demonstration model made of
glass and clear plastic so that the movement of the internal components can be easily seen. Typically, the
Stirling Engine is used as a heat engine; an alcohol flame is applied to the round end of the glass tube
icontaining the displacer piston and the engine uses some of this heat energy to perform mechanical work.
If the engine is connected to a direct current (DC) generator, some of this mechanical energy is converted
to electrical energy. As a heat engine, the Stirling Engine will always turn in the same direction, following
the heat cycle shown in Figure 2.3.
In this experiment, the Stirling engine is used as a heat pump, the opposite of a heat engine. A DC
voltage is applied to the electric motor that rotates the flywheel and moves the pistons. The electrical
energy is expended to transfer heat and thus to create a temperature difference between the two ends of
the cylinder. The direction of the transfer of heat depends on the direction of rotation, and thus the engine
12 EXPERIMENT 2. THE STIRLING ENGINE

can heat as well as cool the round end of the glass tube, relative to the other end that has a large metal
heat reservoir attached to it, which is in turn exchanging heat with the surrounding air.
The heat pump system consists of the following parts (please refer to Fig. 2.1 for Stirling engine parts):

1. a glass displacer piston that pumps air between the hot and cold sides of the engine. The piston
is enclosed by a glass tube with a brass socket at each end; these are the temperature monitoring
points of the engine;

2. a brass working piston that compresses the gas or is pushed by the expanding gas, making the
conversion between mechanical and heat energy;

3. a driveshaft with balancing cams and linkages that converts to rotary motion the reciprocating motion
of the working piston and also drives the displacer piston;

4. a flywheel on the driveshaft that provides rotational inertia to couple different parts of the Stirling
cycle and to maintain a consistent rotational speed through the cyclical variations in the gas pressure
inside the engine;

5. a direct current (DC) motor/generator that drives the engine flywheel by means of a rubber belt.

6. a DC power supply that is used to vary the rotations per minute (RPM) of the motor by varying the
applied voltage;

The operation of the engine is monitored with a variety of sensors. This data is sent to the PhysicaLab
software and is displayed as a pV (pressure-volume) diagram. The work done per cycle, engine RPM, and
the power output of the heat pump are also measured and reported by the software. Here is a summary
of the sensors:

• the absolute pressure p inside the engine is monitored with a pressure sensor that outputs a reading
in Pascals. This sensor typically has a resolution better than 1% of the range of pressure experienced
by the engine;

• the temperatures T1 and T2 at each end of the displacer cylinder are measured in ◦ C. These sensors
are currently not installed on the engine;

• the volume change V , in m3 , is calculated from a series of markings on the flywheel of the engine
that determine the angle of rotation relative to a reference mark that represents the start of a pV
cycle when the volume is at a maximum.

Part 1: Coefficient of performance

In this exercise you will estimate the coefficient of performance of the stirling engine heat pump. As the
heat pump requires some time to reach a new operating equilibrium after a change in RPM is made, you
should pay close attention to the behaviour of the engine during this time. You should document how the
work done per cycle and engine power values change during these transitional periods after a change in
RPM is made; you should also note and explain any systematic changes in these variables as the engine
RPM is increased from a manimum to the maximum. You will be required to discuss these issues as part
of your discussion.

• Review and identify all the parts of the apparatus in front of you. Rotate the engine slowly by
turning the flywheel clockwise abd then counterclockwise and note the relative movement of the
working piston to the displacer piston. The two pistons are offset by 90◦ .
 13

• Connect the two wires between the DC electric motor and the power supply, red to red and black to
blue. The voltage that is applied to the motor is adjusted by turning a knob and monitored on the
corresponding digital display in volts (V). The current flowing through the motor is shown on the
other meter in Amperes (A). Be sure that the current limit knob is turned fully clockwise.

1. Check that the switch next to the motor is pointing downward, then turn on the power supply and
increase the voltage to around 5.5 V. The engine should start to rotate and the 7-segment display
should show the current engine RPM. Lets define rotation as CW when the flywheel rotates clockwise
as viewed from the side with the markings; CCW defines a counter-clockwise rotation.

? In which direction is the heat pump turning?

2. Close any running PhysicaLab programs, then start a new session by clicking on the Desktop icon or
by typing physicalab in a terminal window followed by the Enter key. Login with your email address;
you will email yourself all graphs for later inclusion in your lab report.
Click on the SE input to select the Stirling Engine interface. Press the Get data button to begin
graphing pV cycles. In this mode, the data collection parameters are ignored; the graph updates at
a rate that is determined by the speed of the engine.

3. To output a steady set of values, the Stirling engine needs some time to adjust thermally to the new
operating conditions. Capture a copy of the pV cycle at the start of this equilibration process by
pressing the Stop button to temporarily freeze the graph display, then click Send to: to email
yourself a copy of the graph.

4. Let the engine equilibrate for several minutes, until the RPM, work and power values appear steady,
then record for each variable the maximum and minimum value that occurs over the course of 60
seconds in order to determine a nominal error estimate ∆(X) = (Xmax − Xmin )/2 for the three
quantities:

∆(RP M ) = ...................... = ................... = ....................

∆(Pse ) = ......................... = ................... = ....................

∆(W ) = ......................... = ................... = ....................

5. Email yourself a copy of the graph representing the pV cylce of an equilibrated Stirling engine.

? Are there any notable differences in these two graphs?

? Review the data set in order to match the data points to the oval display of the corresponding pV
cycle. At which point of the oval does the pV cycle begin?

? For a given value of volume V , there are two corresponding pressure values p. Does the lower or
higher pressure value occur first during the cycle?

? Is the pV cycle being drawn in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction? Is this what you expect?
? Feel the ends of the displacer cylinder, near the brass plugs. To which side is heat being pumped?
? Looking at Figure 2.2, is the engine following steps 1-2-3-4 or 4-3-2-1? Is this what you expect?
14 EXPERIMENT 2. THE STIRLING ENGINE

V (V) I (A) Pm (W) RPM W (J) Pse (W) COP

Table 2.1: Stirling heat pump data for Part 1

6. Record in Table 2.1 the motor voltage V and current I displayed on the power supply, then calculate
the electrical power Pm used by the motor to turn the heat pump. Estimate the errors in V and I
as ∆(V ) = 0.01 V and ∆(i) = 0.01 A.

7. Record from the pV graph the heat pump RPM and work done per heat pump rotation, then calculate
the power output Pse of the heat pump at the current RPM.

8. Determine the COP for the heat pump at the current RPM: COP = Pse /Pm .

9. Increase the voltage by 1 V and repeat the equilibration and data recording procedure up to a voltage
of 12.5 V. When the table is complete, terminate the transmission of data but keep the engine running.
Be sure to allow enough time for the engine to settle to a thermal equlilbrium as determined from
the previous estimate of this required settling time.

10. You will now plot a curve representing the coefficient of performance for the heat pump as a function
of RPM. Enter your values for COP and RPM in the data window, then select Scatter plot and
press Draw . Email yourself a copy of the graph.

? How does the COP vary with RPM? Is there a value of RPM where the COP seens to be a maximum?

Part 2: Heat Pump equilibration

The Stirling Engine should currently be in equilibrium at V = 12.5 V. You will now observe how the heat
pump RPM, Work and Power converge to new values following a change in the voltage of the driving motor
from 12.5 V to 5.5 V. To do this, you will record the elapsed time t, RP M , W and P every thirty seconds
for a period of fifteen minutes.

• Check that the clock in the Taskbar is displaying time in seconds. If not, right click on the Clock,
select Properties and set the Format to display seconds.

• Restart the graph update. Wait until the seconds advance to zero, the decrease the voltage to 5.5 V
and begin recording data in Table 2.2, as outlined above, until the table is filled.
 15

t (s) RPM W (J) Pse (W) t (s) RPM W (J) Pse (W) t (s) RPM W (J) Pse (W)
30 330 630
60 360 660
90 390 690
120 420 720
150 450 750
180 480 780
210 510 810
240 540 840
270 570 870
300 600 900

Table 2.2: Stirling heat pump parameter convergence data

• Turn off the power supply, then switch the two wires at the power supply. Turn power supply back
on and set the voltage to 5.5 V as before. The heat pump should begin to rotate in the opposite
direction.
As you wait for the engine to equilibrate, make graphs of (t,RPM), (t, W ) and t, Pse ) using the data
in Table 2.2.

? Looking at these convergence graphs, how long does it take for the Stirling engine to equilibrate?
? Is this time representative of the equilibration time required as you step through the 1 V changes in
Table 2.1?

Part 3: Coefficient of performance, opposite direction

• Repeat the steps in Part 1, with the Stirling Engine running in the opposite direction and record
your data in Table 2.3. Make notes of all the observations, as in the previous section, to include in
your lab report.

? Feel the ends of the displacer cylinder, near the brass plugs. To which side is heat being pumped?
? Does the lower or higher pressure value occur first during the cycle? Is the pV cycle being drawn in
a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction? Is this what you expect?

IMPORTANT: BEFORE LEAVING THE LAB, HAVE A T.A. INITIAL YOUR WORKBOOK!

Lab report
Go to your course homepage on Sakai (Resources, Lab templates) to access the online lab report worksheet
for this experiment. The worksheet has to be completed as instructed and sent to Turnitin before the lab
report submission deadline, at 11:00pm six days following your scheduled lab session. Turnitin will not
accept submissions after the due date. Unsubmitted lab reports are assigned a grade of zero.
16 EXPERIMENT 2. THE STIRLING ENGINE

V (V) I (A) Pm (W) RPM W (J) Pse (W) COP

Table 2.3: Stirling heat pump data for Part 3, opposite direction

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