Abstract
The expander-compressor is one of the most important parts of a Rankine cycle-vapor compression heat pump system. Since simplicity and ease of sealing are desired, a novel design incorporating an "inertial-type free piston expander-compressor" is presented in this paper. It is composed of one cylinder and one free piston, and the inertia of the piston is used to transmit energy. One numerical model, called the multinode model, is used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient between the gas and the cylinder wall, which is in turn input to another model, called the three-node model, by which the coefficient of performance is calculated. The estimated performance is sufficient for practical applications.
