B213 Effect of inner diameter of tubes on a steam engine with oscillation flow

Abstract

In the present study, effects of inner diameter on generated work and efficiency of single tube oscillating steam engine are experimentally investigated. Larger work can be obtained at higher frequencies for smaller inner diameter tubes. In addition, maximum efficiency is achieved at higher frequencies for smaller diameter tubes. However, larger diameter tubes give higher maximum efficiency than smaller diameter tubes. In a smaller tube, most heats are not effectively used to generate work but transfer to the cooling section because of its high heat-transfer performance. High heat transfer can decrease efficiency of the engine with small size tubes at lower frequencies.