Lab 1: Heat Engine

A Lab Report

Submitted By

Neel Nadpara

ME 3264 Applied Measurements Laboratory

Section 004L

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Connecticut

Lab Preformed On:

February 10, 2015

Summary:
Ever since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has relied on heat engines to perform work. We
have evolved from simple steam engines to complex internal combustion engines that are used in
today’s motor vehicles. In thermodynamics, a heat engine refers to a system that converts
thermal energy into mechanical energy to preform work and exhausts thermal energy that cannot
be used to preform work. A heat engine is governed by the First and Second Laws of
Thermodynamics allowing for the system to be analyzed since the First Law requires the
conservation of energy while the Second Law limits the efficiency of the engine as well as the
direction of energy flow. The objective of this lab was to determine the work performed during a
four stage expansion and compression cycle by lifting masses from an initial height to a final
height. Work can be determined by the area under the pressure vs. volume curves or by the
equation 𝑊 = ∫ 𝑃𝑑𝑉 thus the work output of the heat engine is directly related to the expansion
of volume of a working fluid following the addition of heat. The results of this experiment show
that one can calculate how much work is done by the heat engine under various circumstances
due to thermal energy and help demonstrate that no heat engine can ever reach 100% efficiency.

Experimental Procedure:
Steam engines and combustion engines rely on cycles in which gases (the working fluid of the
system) are expanded and compressed. The end result of these cycles is to transform a portion of
thermal energy that is imputed into the working fluid into useful work. A good engine is
efficient; however it is impossible to have complete conversion of all the thermal energy imputed
into the system to useful work due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. However, the goal is
to get the most work out of an engine that is possible with a given amount of thermal energy. The
equipment utilized in this lab allows one to measure the work done by utilizing a heat engine
along with a heat and cold “sink” to preform work. A PASCO TD-8572 heat engine was utilized
to lift masses from an initial position to a final position thus demonstrating the useful work that
was done. It is important to note that the graphite piston fits snugly into the precision ground
Pyrex cylinder ensuring a nearly friction free set up as well as a nearly leak free system. In order
to carry this out, first the equipment was set up. An ice bath was set up in a Pyrex beaker to
become a cold sink while water was heated on a hot plate to generate a hot sink. While the water
was heated on the hotplate a set of masses were acquired to be placed on top of the mass
platform of the heat engine. Also, the mass of the actual piston and platform was obtained. Next,
the hose from the sealed air chamber was attached to the left hand fitting on the heat engine.
Afterwards, the chamber was immersed within the ice bath. Following this both air clamp shut
off valves on the heat engine were released and the piston was pulled up to a height of 10 mm
and the right hand clamp was locked. The piston remained suspended and a high was measured
and the Point A was determined. A mass was added to the platform (the mass was kept under
200 grams to prevent the piston from sliding down) and a Point B was determined. The chamber
was subsequently immersed in the hot water bath and the piston was allowed to rise and the
maximum height was recorded and a Point C was determined. Then, the mass was removed and
the height was recorded and a Point D was determined. Lastly, the chamber was again immersed
in the ice bath and the height was recorded and a Point A’ was determined. There measurements
were preformed quickly in order to minimize the impacts of the imperfections within the system.
After completing the four-stage expansion and compression cycle, the pressures and volumes for
the cycle were determined allowing a pressure verses volume diagram to be generated. This in
turn allowed the calculation of the thermodynamic work of the heat engine. The displacement of
the mass by the engine allowed the useful mechanical work of the heat engine to be determined,
thus allowing a comparison between the useful work and the total thermodynamic work of the
system during the cycle. Specifically, for this experiment five different scenarios were tested,
with two trials each which are averaged to reduce error. The first trial was done with a mass of
100 grams with a 15 second time in between points, the second was the same mass however 30
second intervals were observed, and then for trial 3 a full minute was utilized. For the fourth trial
the mass was increased to 200 grams and a 30 second interval was utilized, and for the final trial
an ice bath was utilized. It can also be assumed that the temperatures of the cold reservoir with
cool water is room temperature (20°C), the ice water cold reservoir is at the freezing point of
water (0°C), and the hot reservoir is at the boiling point of water (100°C). Moreover, the
calculations involving the mechanical work output and thermodynamic net work must be
computed. The so called useful work is defined as the mechanical work of moving the mass atop
the piston a certain distance. The displacement can be determined by calculating the change in
height from points B to D. Then the work can be determined by means of the potential energy
equation: 𝑃𝐸 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑔 ∗ ℎ. Thermodynamic work can be computed as work is equal to the area
under the pressure vs. volume curve. The pressure can be determined by the force per unit area
as the mass of the weight and area of the piston is known.

Summary of the Four Stage Expansion and Compression Cycle:

Points Description
Initial height of the piston (will decrease if left for too long as the piston assembly is not
A
“leak proof”)
The height of the piston following the sag experienced due to compression as the mass
B
is added atop the piston (this leads to compression of the system)
The height of the piston as the maximum temperature the system experiences is
C
achieved (this causes an expansion that leads to an increase in height)
D This is the maximum height achieved due to the heat addition which lead to expansion
This is the cold temperature height (system should return to initial position, however
A’
leaks in the system could alter this)

Figure 1: Picture of Set-Up

Results:

Table 1: Height Data for Trials

20°C, 100g 20°C, 100g, 20°C, 100g, 20°C, 200g, 0°C, 200g,
Conditions:
15 sec 30 sec 30 sec 30 sec 30 sec

Height Height Height Height Height

Points
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
A 15.75 16 16.75 16 13.5
B 10.85 10.25 8.8 6.5 9.5
C 44 42.35 39.5 37 57.5
D 49 46.05 44.25 44.75 60.25
A’ 20 14.75 9.1 15 14.75

Table 2: Dimensions of Cylinder

Cylinder Parameters
Diameter (mm) 39.60
Wall Thick (mm) 1.68
Height (mm) 138.05
Depth occupied by stopper (mm) 19
Chamber Volume (m3) 1.22 x 10-4

Table 3: Dimensions of Hose

Hose Parameters
Length (mm) 457.2
OD (mm) 6.59
Wall thick (mm) 1.5
Hose Volume (m3) 4.63 x 10-6

Table 4: Dimensions of Piston

Piston Parameters
Diameter (mm) 32.5
Area (m2) 8.296 x 10-4
Table 5: Computation of Mechanical Work and Thermodynamic Net Work

20°C, 100g 20°C, 100g, 20°C, 100g, 20°C, 200g, 0°C, 200g,
Conditions:
15 sec 30 sec 30 sec 30 sec 30 sec

Height Height Height Height Height

Points:
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
A 15.75 16 16.75 16 13.5
B 10.85 10.25 8.8 6.5 9.5
C 44 42.35 39.5 37 57.5
D 49 46.05 44.25 44.75 60.25
A’ 20 14.75 9.1 15 14.75
Mechanical
Displacement (C-B) = 33.15 32.1 30.7 30.5 48
H (mm)

Mechanical Work
0.0325 0.0315 0.0301 0.0598 0.0942
mgh (J)

Pressure, P (N/m2)
1182.5 1182.5 1182.5 2365 2365
(Mg)/A

Volume Change, dV
(m3) .000037 .000036 .000035 .000034 .000054
πr2(Δh)

Thermodynamic Work
Output .04427 .042868 .040998 .081462 .128203
PΔV (J)
P-V Diagrams:

P-V Diagram 20°C, 100g 15 sec

1400

1200

1000
Pressure (N/m^2)

800

600

400

200

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Volume (m^3)

P-V Diagram 20°C, 100g, 30 sec

1400

1200

1000
Pressure (N/m^2)

800

600

400

200

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Volume (m^3)
 P-V Diagram 20°C, 100g, 60 sec
1400

1200

1000
Pressure (N/m^2)

800

600

400

200

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Volume (m^3)

P-V Diagram 20°C, 200g, 30 sec

3000

2500
Pressure (N/m^2)

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Volume (m^3)
 P-V Diagram 0°C, 200g, 30 sec
3000

2500
Pressure (N/m^2)

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Volume (m^3)

Discussion:
As discussed previously, a heat engine is a device that extracts energy from its environment in
the form of heat and does useful work. At the heart of every engine is a working substance. In a
steam engine, the working substance is water, in both its vapor and liquid forms. In an
automotive engine the working substance is a gas and air mixture. If an engine is to do work on a
sustained basis, the working substance must operate in a cycle. From the results, it can be seen
that a series of closed thermodynamic processes can generate a cycle that can output useful work.
In this case, it can be seen that a cycle can be produced to displace a mass by a certain amount.
Also, the data seems to make sense as the initial and the final heights are relatively close (the
final height should be lower as there are leaks in the piston assembly since it is not an “ideal”
set-up). Additionally, the data seems to make sense since the total thermodynamic net work
should be greater than the useful work as one form of energy cannot be transformed into work at
100% efficiency as dictated by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The plots seem to make
sense as well since it indicates that there is no heat transfer to the surroundings (adiabatic) and
there is a constant pressure with variable volume from point B to C. Moreover, the temperature
and internal energy can be calculated from the experiment because of the ideal gas law, PV =
nRT, assuming that air is an ideal gas since everything except temperature would be known, thus
temperature can be solved for. With the temperature, the internal energy can be computed as the
internal energy of an ideal gas is: U= cNT.
Data and Error Analysis:
While the basic principles of a heat engine are well demonstrated by this lab, there is still error
that needs to be accounted for. First, there is the issue of error propagation as every measurement
taken has a certain error to it and when doing calculations these errors stack up. For the
mechanical work calculations the error propagation total is ±.0048 J. This is calculated by taking
the square roots of the error from each of the measurements taken to perform this calculation.
Furthermore, there are other errors such as the fact that the system leaks. This is evident by the
fact that if the system was ideal the piston would return to its initial point A position. However,
in every case it is lower than its initial position meaning there is some leakage in the system.
Another obvious error would be the time it takes to measure the height as more losses are
experienced due to this. Also, the heat transfer from the cold and hot reservoirs is never the
same. As the amount of cylinder in contact with the reservoirs is never exactly the same and hot
water can evaporate and ice water gets warmer as it gains thermal energy from the room
temperature environment. This lab can be improved by having a pressure sensor to measure the
actual pressure that is experienced within the piston cylinder assembly. Also, if the temperature
of the entire system is monitored more closely by the use of thermocouples it would be possible
to accurately determine internal energy and possible sources of error.

Conclusion:
Overall, the lab accuracy shows how useful work can be extracted from a series of
thermodynamic processes and demonstrates the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics. As
the transfer of energy and the lack of complete efficiency is shown by this piston cylinder
assembly.