Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971

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Applied Thermal Engineering

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / a p t h e r m e n g

Research Paper

Indirect characterisation of indicated power in Stirling engines

through brake power measurements
Ivn Mesonero a,*, Susana Lpez a, Francisco J. Garca-Granados b,
Francisco J. Jimnez-Espadafor b, David Garca c, Jess-Ignacio Prieto c
a IK4-TEKNIKER, Iaki Goenaga 5, 20600 Eibar, Spain
b Departamento de Ingeniera Energtica, Escuela Tcnica Superior de Ingeniera de Sevilla, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
c University of Oviedo, Campus de Viesques, 33204 Gijn, Spain

H I G H L I G H T S

Indicated power estimations based on brake power measurements.

Diculties in measuring the indicated power of Stirling engines.
Comparison of experimental data and estimations based on the new method and GGSISM.
Advantages of using dimensionless variables for engine analysis.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Stirling engine characterisation tests usually involve collecting brake and electric power output data, which
Received 19 December 2014 are insucient to provide complete information for the optimisation of gas circuit performance.
Accepted 13 February 2016 The method presented in this paper for indicated power characterisation is based on brake power
Available online 24 February 2016
measurements, which are adjusted using semi-empirical equations through numerical calculus. Exper-
imental measurements of the Yamanokami-2 engine at 16 operating points are compared with the power
Keywords:
curves obtained from the model equations, demonstrating that the procedure allows the experimental
Stirling engine
indicated power data to be expressed with acceptable accuracy through the analysis of the experimen-
Characterisation test
Indicated power measurements tal brake power data. Experimental data obtained from the characterisation of a recently restored V160F
Semi-empirical performance models Stirling engine are employed to demonstrate that the method can be used to evaluate the quality of direct
measurements of indicated power. Predictions made using recently developed simulation program are
included to illustrate the methods feasibility. The use of dimensionless variables is recommended for
the characterisation and analysis of results. The proposed method can reduce the risk of leaks caused
by temperature and pressure transducers connections, as well as enabling the detection of anomalous
measurements.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction that are capable of simulating the complexity of physical phenomena

Over the past several decades, the development of Stirling engine-
based systems for diverse applications has been stimulated by the
systems ability to use any heat source with high eciency, low noise
and low CO2 emissions, justifying the attention received by various
researchers. In recent years, most development activities have been
related to micro-cogeneration, waste energy recovery and distrib-
uted power generation through renewable energy resources [15].
Continuous effort has been dedicated to developing models [6,7]
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 943 20 67 44 extension 9535; fax +34 943 25
69 00.
E-mail address: ivan.mesonero@tekniker.es (I. Mesonero).
involved in such machines with sucient accuracy, providing a cost-
and time-effective tool for designing an engine. However, such
models must be validated against experimental data; thus, mea-
surements are needed to estimate the key indicators of engine
performance, namely the indicated power, brake power and
eciency.
At present, a variety of engines have been tested, but the data
published are typically insucient for analysing the total perfor-
mance of machine. For example, the tests carried out by Kongtragool
and Wongwises [8,9] on two different engines only provided brake
performance data. Similarly, Karabulut et al. [10] provided the same
information for a beta engine, with the addition of torque mea-
surements. Some authors have also taken into account the heating
and cooling subsystems, as Reinalter et al. [11] did in the energy

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.02.046
1359-4311/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
962 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971
analysis of the SOLO V161 engine; however, indicated perfor-
mance was not included in the analysis. In this context,
IK4-TEKNIKER, in collaboration with CEDER-CIEMAT and the Uni-
versity of Oviedo, has developed a test bench for the full
characterisation of Stirling-based systems [12].
The indicated power is the most interesting feature of a
Stirling engine with respect to gas circuit performance. Further-
more, if brake power measurements are available, indicated
power data are desirable for estimating the mechanical eciency
and characterising the drive mechanism subsystem. However, as
previously mentioned, experimental data regarding the indicated
power are not typically available, unlike brake or electric power
output.
Indicated power measurements are usually carried out in one
of three ways. The rst consists in measuring brake power and me-
chanical power losses, which involves the relatively easy task of
installing torque and rotational frequency sensors, although inac-
curacies associated with the measurement of mechanical power
losses are introduced. An example is the case of the Philips M102C
engine, whose indicated power was estimated by combining brake
power measurements and mechanical power losses obtained from
motoring tests [13]. However, the accuracy of this procedure has
been questioned. Another method is the measurement of the heat
absorbed and rejected by the working uid over an engine cycle
through calorimetric procedures, the main diculty of which is the
estimation of heat losses. Indeed, Tew et al. [14] questioned the ac-
curacy of calorimetric measurements in one of the most exhaustive
tests ever published, which involved another classical prototype, the
GPU3 engine. The third alternative consists in measuring the pres-
sure in both expansion and compression spaces and calculating the
volume variations in the cylinders, which is the traditional method
used for internal combustion engines. However, the connection of
pressure transducers at the cylinder walls can lead to leakage prob-
lems when using pressurised working gases of low molar mass and
is particularly problematic in the expansion cylinder, where
thetemperature typically lies outside of the operating range of pres-
p V m m I1 I I
, , , = f 1, s, , m sw , 2 , . , n , , 2 , . , n , , L , N , N TCR, N p
m1RTwxC m1 m1 m1Vsw23
I1
sure sensors. Consequently, some researchers have provided pressure
data measured only in the cold cylinder, thereby assuming that the
pressure drop across the heat exchangers may be neglected for in-
dicated power estimations. The pressure difference between
expansion and compression spaces can be considerable, however,
as several researchers have observed, such as Haywood [15] for
Stirling refrigerators.
This article is the rst publication related to the application of
a method recently conceived for the indirect characterisation of in-
dicated power via brake power measurements [16], which appears
to be advantageous relative to the abovementioned procedures. The
V160F engine recently restored by IK4-TEKNIKER is used to dem-
onstrate the application of the method. This engine is the basis for
next-generation engines such as the SOLO V161 solar engine and
the current CLEANERGY engine [17] and is one of the reference
engines for designing and developing new, small to medium power
prototypes for different applications, considering the large number
of operating hours accumulated and the engines proven
manufacturability [1821].
2. Semi-empirical models used as the methodological basis
Based on analyses of Stirling engines of varying size and
characteristics, the following equation has been proposed to
explicitly dene the effect of the velocity on the indicated
power [22]:
ind = 0 N MA N MA
2
(1)
In this equation, 0 is the quasi-static indicated work per cycle,
which represents the theoretical limit of the gas circuit perfor-
mance. The measure depends on the temperature ratio and the
geometric engine parameters but not on the working uid, mean
pressure or engine speed. The fact that 0 can be calculated theo-
retically justies the use of Eq. (1) as the basis of a semi-empirical
model, which allows for the experimental validation to be reduced
to obtaining the coecients and , thereby reducing the com-
putational time required. These coecients are macroscopic
representations of the indicated power losses associated with
irreversibilities and can be obtained from experimental tests or al-
ternatively estimated by integrating conservation laws along the gas
circuit and the cycle. For a given engine, the coecients are inde-
pendent of engine speed and hardly vary with the temperature ratio
or the mean pressure parameter Np but change with the type of
working uid used. Experimental correlations have recently been
proposed to estimate and for preliminary design purposes [23].
On the other hand, NMA is an operating characteristic variable that
can be interpreted as a dimensionless engine speed.
The mechanical power losses Pmec can be indirectly expressed by
the following model, developed from experimental data obtained
for benchmark engines [24]:
mec = exp ( N SG
1
) + + N SG1 (2)
The coecients of this equation full functional relationships
of the following type:
where 1s represents dimensionless geometric parameters of the
(3)
I1
whole engine, i.e., those related to the gas circuit, drive mecha-
nism, sealing, clearances, and other geometric characteristics. For
a given engine operating with different gases at approximately con-
stant TwxC:
, , , f , , L , N m, N p (4)
Test results obtained for the General Motors GPU3 engine suggest
that the coecients , , , and can be expressed by potential func-
tions of the following type [24]
N maj al
, , = ai ; = (5)
( )
am
N apk L
where and L are the viscosities of the working gas and
the lubricating uid at the reference temperature TwxC, respective-
ly. N m = m1RTwxC ( pmVsw ) is a dimensionless number that characterises
 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971
the moving masses of the drive mechanism, and m1 is one of those
masses, taken as the reference.
This approach leads to a function mce determined by a set of as
many as 10 coecients ai,, ar because the effect of the ratio L/
can be neglected based on the small exponent deduced from anal-
yses. For example, the following equation agrees with the
experimental measurements reported for the V160 engine, oper-
ating with helium at a TwxE value of 898K, at TwxC values between
308 and 338K and at pm values between 3.7 and 12.5 MPa [25]:
1 7.250 1010 1
mec = 0.500 exp N SG
N 0.139
p ( L )0.020
0.580 N 0p.008
+ 0.199
+ 2.990 108
Np N SG
In this correlation, , and Nm are not considered variables due
to the small variation in and the utilisation of only one working
uid.
The models represented by Eqs. (1) and (2) have allowed for the
recent development of an analysis method that provides indi-
cated power curves based on brake power measurements [16]. The
rst stage of the procedure consists in calculating the 0 value from
an engines geometric parameters, the wall temperatures at both
the heat source and sink, and the mean pressure of the working uid.
Then, , and coecients ai,,ar are obtained through an itera-
tive procedure. For each set of values of those coecients, estimates
of the brake power at different velocities are obtained, which are
compared to the experimental data. The nal values of , and
coecients ai,,ar are those that minimise the quadratic errors
between the experimental data and brake power estimates.
The models represented by Eqs. (1) and (2) have been used to
analyse benchmark prototypes of different sizes that operate using
different working uids and operating conditions, such as the GPU-3
engine, the Philips M102C engine, the USAB P-40 engine, the SOLO
V161 engine, the Ecoboy engine, and the Yamanokami-1 engine. For
example, Fig. 1a and 1b allow for the experimental measurements
of the Yamanokami-2 engine [26] to be compared with the power
curves obtained using Eqs. (1) and (2), operating at TE = 94.5 C,
TC = 27 C, pm = 7 bar with air as the working uid. These condi-
tions lead to 0 = 0.0325, which is a low value for the quasi-static
work per cycle, in agreement with the high swept volume
Vsw = 20106 cc of this low-temperature-difference engine. The pro-
cedure allows for the 16 experimental brake power data available
to be expressed as follows, with CV(RMSE) = 3.8%:
B = 0.0325 3.56N MA 1.400N m6.100 N p1.000 exp ( 1.200 1011 N SG
1
1 nected to the electric generator of the test bench. The mean cooling
9.050 107 N SG
whereas the 16 experimental indicated power data are in agree-
ment with the following equation, with CV(RMSE) = 1.8%:
ind = 0.0325 3.56N MA
Therefore, it is concluded that the indicated power can be ac-
curately estimated from brake power measurements when there are
enough experimental values.
3. Experimental data from characterisation tests of the V160F
engine
The V160 engine is an alpha-type, single-acting, two-cylinder
engine (Fig. 2) developed by United Stirling AB-Stirling Power
Systems in the 1980s. The engine characterised in this study belongs
to the F series [18,19] and owes its existence to a project run by
CEDER-CIEMAT in the 1990s in collaboration with the now-defunct
German company SOLO Stirling GmbH [28].
963
The engine was restored by IK4-TEKNIKER before characterising
it at the test bench facilities. Different modications were imple-
mented after this stage. The rst modication involved removing
the small compressor plunger from the compression piston, sub-
stituting the original pressure control of the engine. The second
modication involved extending the crankshaft of the engine with
a specially designed shaft. This new shaft provided enough space
for the sensors and mechanical connection to the power transmis-
sion from the engine.
At this stage, the dead volumes of the engine were estimated;
the values are shown in Table 1. The decision to quantify these
volumes is justied by the effect they have on the calculation of
quasi-static indicated work per cycle.
(6) After the restoration process, different sensors were selected and
installed in the engine, avoiding the drilling of completely new holes
in the cast parts. The main sensors installed and their position within
the engine are summarised as follows:
Heater temperature: One Inconel 600 sheathed mineral insu-
lated K-type thermocouple was inserted into one of the tubes
of the heater.
Cycle pressure sensor: One MEMS-based pressure sensor manu-
factured by AST (AST2000-F-00250-B-1-F-1-433) was installed
in the compression cylinder of the engine.
Buffer pressure sensor: One MEMS-based pressure sensor was
installed at one end of the buffer bottle (same reference number
as the cycle sensor).
Shaft angle: In the extended crankshaft of the engine, a hollow
shaft encoder manufactured by Heidenhain (ERN 1205000) was
installed.
Torque: A torque transducer manufactured by HBM (HBMT22/
500NM) was installed at the end of the extended crankshaft using
bellow couplings.
Cooling water temperature (between cylinders and after gas
cooler): Two new Pt100 class A temperature sensors manufac-
tured by WatLow (RBGB0TB040CA160) were installed.
The sensors described above are combined with other sensors
and actuators to provide the ability to conduct different types of tests
on the engine attached to the test bench [12].
Tables 2, 3 and 4 summarise part of the results obtained from
characterisation tests carried out on the V160F engine throughout
the year 2012. The heater temperature was xed to 600 C using
the control loop tted to the hot air generator that fed the engine.
The rotational speed of the engine was varied from 1,000 rpm to
) 1,800 rpm in intervals of 100 rpm using the AC drive control con-
(7)
water temperature in the gas cooler was set to approximately 40 C
throughout the entire test campaign. Finally, the working gas em-
ployed within the characterisation tests was helium.
It should be noted that all experimental operating point data are
(8) recorded after achieving the stability criteria dened for the system.
Each data acquisition le corresponds to a 10 second record for each
stable working point. The mean values of different magnitudes gath-
ered over the acquisition time are used for this work.
The tables show the experimental data split in three different
series corresponding to three different mean pressure levels in the
engine and are denoted as series A, B and C.
4. Indicated power predictions based on GGSISM simulation
software
The indicated power measurements listed in Tables 2, 3 and 4
are approximations to the real values because they were calcu-
lated from the area enclosed in the pV diagram using only one cycle
964 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971

(a)
1600 1.0

0.9
1400
0.8
1200

MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY
0.7
1000
POWER (W)

0.6

800 0.5

0.4
600
0.3
400
0.2
200
0.1

0 0.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

ENGINE SPEED (rpm)

BRAKE POWER INDICATED POWER MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY

(b)
0.040

0.035

0.030
DIMENSIONLESS POWER

0.025

0.020

0.015

0.010

0.005

0.000
0.0000 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050 0.0060 0.0070

MACH NUMBER

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER MECHANICAL POWER LOSSES

Fig. 1. Comparison between experimental data for theYamanokami-2 engine and performance curves based on Eqs. (1) and (2): (a) powers and mechanical eciency;
(b) dimensionless powers.

pressure sensor signal; the sensor was tted to the original control
block located in the compression cylinder of the engine. In con-
trast, the brake power values are more reliable because they are
determined as the product of the value measured by the torque
transducer and the rotational frequency of the engine provided
through the encoder.
As an additional argument to discuss the feasibility of estimat-
ing the indicated power from brake power measurements, the
GGSISM software program [29] was used. The program is third-
order simulation software created to analyse the gas circuit of a
Stirling engine in detail. The gas circuit is divided into 19 gas control
volumes with 10 control volumes inside the regenerator matrix, as
shown in Fig. 3.
The mass, pressure, temperature, and mass ow rate for each
control volume are time dependant, as well as the temperature of
each element of the regenerator matrix. To solve for these vari-
ables, the model includes the following equations:
For each gas control volume: state equation, mass balance and
energy balance.
Between contiguous volumes: momentum and pressure drop
equations.
For each regenerator matrix element: energy balance.
The equations establish an initial value problem that it is solved
using the Euler method. On one hand, the energy balances for the
 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971 965

Fig. 2. V160F engine cross-section [27].

elements inside the regenerator matrix are solved separately, and
on the other hand, the remaining equations are ordered in linear
form to be solved in each simulation step. This linearisation implies
an iterative treatment of the pressure drop. It should be noted
that the inclusion of the pressure drop in the equations more
closely approximates the real behaviour than estimating the work
losses after solving the problem, with no effect on the absorbed or
rejected heat. Moreover, the software features an option for accel-
erating the convergence, which makes it much faster.
To compute energy balances, a linear temperature distribution
is assumed to occur in each gas control volume of the regenerator
and the expansion/compression heat exchangers.
Friction factors and heat transfer coecients are calculated for
each simulation step according to the instantaneous values of the
Reynolds number and other parameters.
The correlations that can be used to evaluate the heat transfer
coecients are:
Those for the internal ow in circular tubes by Incropera [30].

Table 1
Dead volumes along the gas circuit of the V160F engine. Table 3
Series B, experimental data (TE 600 C, TC 40 C, pm 11 MPa).
Space Volume (cm3)
ns (rpm) TE(C) TC(C) pm(MPa) Pind,exp(W) PB,exp(W)
Heater (tubes) 101.8
Cooler (tubes) 35.5 997.6 598.0 38.4 10.93 5,141.7 2,929.1
Regenerator 64.7 1,097.3 598.2 39.5 10.93 5,642.8 3,240.8
Volume between expansion chamber and heater 69.3 1,194.7 596.5 39.1 10.94 6,275.8 3,554.2
(expansion side manifold included) 1,296.8 597.6 41.5 11.04 6,941.8 3,838.9
Volume between heater and regenerator (compression 66.6 1,396.6 598.3 41.5 11.07 7,449.1 4,158.6
side manifold included) 1,496.5 598.4 39.4 11.02 7,910.3 4,506.3
Volume between regenerator and cooler 2.8 1,597.1 598.0 40.0 11.05 8,405.1 4,701.1
Volume between cooler and compression chamber 94.8 1,695.9 598.8 40.6 11.03 9,020.2 4,887.0
(compression plunger and its chamber not included) 1,795.6 598.1 41.7 11.11 9,384.2 5,056.6

Table 2 Table 4
Series A, experimental data (TE 600 C, TC 40 C, pm 10 MPa). Series C, experimental data (TE 600 C, TC 40 C, pm 12.5 MPa).

ns (rpm) TE(C) TC(C) pm(MPa) Pind,exp(W) PB,exp(W) ns (rpm) TE(C) TC(C) pm(MPa) Pind,exp(W) PB,exp(W)

998.6 598.7 40.6 9.93 4,860.8 2,698.5 997.6 599.4 41.2 12.47 5,896.0 3,207.6
1,097.3 598.4 40.1 9.90 5,109.3 2,985.3 1,097.3 598.1 39.4 12.43 6,521.9 3,576.1
1,197.1 597.6 41.4 9.93 5,717.3 3,208.1 1,197.1 598.9 41.1 12.49 7,014.1 3,909.4
1,296.8 598.3 41.4 9.95 6,288.7 3,494.3 1,296.8 598.5 39.8 12.47 7,778.8 4,266.0
1,396.6 598.3 41.7 9.97 6,552.7 3,712.3 1,396.6 597.8 39.4 12.45 8,261.8 4,557.2
1,496.3 598.4 41.6 9.98 7,235.4 3,971.5 1,496.4 598.0 39.0 12.47 8,796.2 4,883.6
1,596.1 597.9 41.5 9.98 7,769.9 4,131.8 1,596.1 598.7 39.7 12.52 9,186.7 5,153.2
1,695.9 597.9 41.7 9.99 8,006.4 4,306.2 1,695.8 598.0 40.4 12.53 9,995.2 5,334.6
1,795.6 598.1 39.4 9.90 8,587.6 4,450.7 1,795.6 599.8 42.1 13.50 11,114.6 6,038.3
966 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971

Fig. 3. GGSISM control volumes.
For regenerator: corresponding charts by Kays and London [31]
or correlations recommended by Thomas and Pittman [32].
Similarly, the correlations used to evaluate the friction factors
are:
Those for internal ow in circular smooth tubes by Incropera [30]
and an alternate explicit formula for the Moody chart for tubes
with roughness [33].
For regenerator: corresponding charts by Kays and London [31]
or correlations recommended by Thomas and Pittman [32].
It should be noted that this software does not calculate brake power
because it is a gas circuit analysis tool.
For series B, all working points were simulated, whereas for series
A and C, only three demonstrative working points were simu-
lated. Nevertheless, the trend of the results for other working points
belonging to the A and C data series can be estimated based on
gures presented in the following section.
The method introduced in the present article requires wall tem-
peratures in heat exchangers as input parameters to calculate 0.
Because these temperatures were measured in the experimental test
bench, they were estimated by the GGSISM software by taking the
following assumptions into account:
The temperature measured by the thermocouple installed in the
heater can be considered a mean gas temperature (TE); thus, a
higher value must be expected for the heater wall temperature
(TwxE). The simulations run on the GGSISM software show that
the experimental TE values are approximately 29K higher than
the TwxE values for the different experimental operating points.
Based on the heat transfer calculations, the cooler wall temper-
ature was estimated to be 15K higher than the experimental
water cooling temperatures.

Regarding the movement of the pistons, the GGSISM software 5. Discussion

can be adapted to include different piston displacement laws. The
current version includes an ideal sinusoidal law and crank drive for
alpha machines and a rhombic drive for beta-type machines.
Several Stirling engines have been simulated with previous ver-
sions of the software, and the results have been published [29,34].
For example, Vlund SM-1 and United Stirling P-40 engines were
simulated, and the results were compared with experimental data
and other simulation results from three classical simulation pro-
grams for Stirling engines [34]. In general terms, the current software
provides lower errors than others. The SOLO V161 Stirling engine
was also simulated using GGSISM, and the obtained results were
used to analyse the entire Eurodish system [29].
Based on experimental data presented in Section 4, the simu-
lations listed in Table 5 were performed using the GGSISM software.
The experimental data shown in Tables 2 to 4 were obtained by
trying to maintain constant temperatures and mean pressures for
each series. These conditions were nearly obtained, but small uc-
tuations could be observed. For this reason, the brake power
measurements were standardised to the average values of these vari-
ables in each series.
In this manner, it has been recently observed [23] that the di-
mensionless maximum brake power is nearly proportional to the
dimensionless quasi-static work per cycle, which is proportional to
(1 ). Therefore, the brake power measurements were corrected
using the following expression
pm (1 )
PB = PB ,exp (9)
pm (1 )

where pm and are the average mean pressure and average tem-
Table 5
perature ratio over the data series.
Indicated power simulation results obtained from GGSISM software.
Table 6 shows the results of applying the proposed method to
Series ns (rpm) TwxE (C) TwxC (C) pm (MPa) Pind (W) the brake power experimental data discussed in Section 4. Each row
A 998.6 627.7 55.6 9.93 5,040.6 corresponds to each experimental series. Note that the coe-
1,496.3 627.4 56.6 9.98 6,968.6 cients and exponents ai , , ar are the same for the three
1,795.6 627.1 54.4 9.90 7,874.1
experimental series analysed and they are implicitly included in ,
B 997.6 627.0 53.4 10.93 5,589.1
1,097.3 627.2 54.5 10.93 6,032.5 , , , as expressed by the following equation, which ts the ex-
1,194.7 625.5 54.1 10.94 6,466.5 perimental values set by CV(RMSE) = 0.9%:
1,296.8 626.6 56.5 11.04 6,905.1
0.008
1 0.715 8 Np
1,396.6 627.3 56.5 11.07 7,348.7
1,496.5 627.4 54.4 11.02 7,795.5 mec = 1.825 0.141
exp ( 4.925 1010 N SG
1
)+ + 3.620 10
1,597.1 627.0 55.0 11.05 8,134.7
Np N p0.199 N SG
1,695.9 627.8 55.6 11.03 8,437.8 (10)
1,795.6 627.1 56.7 11.11 8,736.3
C 997.6 628.4 56.2 12.47 6,290.4 Figs. 4 to 6 compare the experimental measurements, analyses
1,496.4 627.0 54.0 12.47 8,790.2
based on brake power data and GGSISM predictions for the indi-
1,795.6 628.8 57.1 13.50 10,610.4
cated power for series A, B and C.

Table 6
Results of the methodology applied to the experimental series.

TwxE TwxC pm 0 NMA,max mec, max Pind, max ns, max PB,max ns,*max

(K) (K) (MPa) (Pas) (W) (rpm) (W) (rpm)

900.2 329.1 9.95 1.900E-05 0.1750 18.10 1,325 0.1576 4.925E+10 0.0223 4.161E+08 0.0035 0.546 9,208 2,985 4,510 2,078
900.0 328.2 11.01 1.896E-05 0.1755 16.80 1,425 0.1553 4.925E+10 0.0219 4.165E+08 0.0036 0.550 10,584 3,059 5,308 2,207
900.6 328.2 12.59 1.896E-30005 0.1755 15.80 2,025 0.1524 4.925E+10 0.0213 4.169E+08 0.0034 0.549 11,657 2,876 6,019 2,234
 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971 967

(a)
10000 1.0

0.9

8000 0.8

MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY
0.7

POWER (W) 6000 0.6

0.5

4000 0.4

0.3

2000 0.2

0.1

0 0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500

ENGINE SPEED (rpm)

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER GGSISM (A600) MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY

(b)
0.200

0.180

0.160
DIMENSIONLESS POWER

0.140

0.120

0.100

0.080

0.060

0.040

0.020

0.000
0.0000 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050

MACH NUMBER

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER GGSISM (A600) MECHANICAL POWER LOSSES

Fig. 4. Comparison between experimental data for the V160F engine, with analyses based on brake power data and GGSISM predictions for series A: (a) powers and me-
chanical eciency; (b) dimensionless powers.

The results of the analyses based on Eqs. (1) and (2) are repre-
sented by curves, whereas the experimental data for the indicated
power and brake power, both corrected using Eq. (9), are repre-
sented by white symbols. Black symbols correspond to the GGSISM
results, which were also corrected in the same way. The mechan-
ical eciency and the dimensionless mechanical power losses are
represented by dashed lines in the respective gures.
It is shown that the brake power data agree well with the lines
corresponding to model Eqs. (1) and (2) for all the analysed con-
ditions, as expected for a procedure based on the least-squares error.
Moreover, it is shown that all operating points were run at engine
speeds below the speed of maximum brake power but near the
maximum mechanical eciency intervals.
The indicated power lines corresponding to model Eq. (1) and
the results obtained from GGSISM simulations agree well for all the
conditions and series analysed. However, some disagreements are
observed with respect to the experimental values, particularly at
higher engine speeds, which casts doubts about the validity of the
analysis or the accuracy of the measurements.
Using dimensionless variables facilitates the interpretation of
results. Figs. 4 to 6 show that the experimental dimensionless in-
dicated power remains rather constant, independently of the
characteristic Mach number. For each series, the trends at low ve-
locities are signicantly lower than the corresponding 0 values,
which cannot be accepted based on thermodynamic concepts. More-
over, the indicated power would be proportional to the rotational
968 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971

(a)
12000 1.0

0.9
10000
0.8

MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY
0.7
8000
0.6
POWER (W)

6000 0.5

0.4
4000
0.3

0.2
2000
0.1

0 0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000

ENGINE SPEED (rpm)

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER GGSISM (B600) MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY

(b)
0.200

0.180

0.160
DIMENSIONLESS POWER

0.140

0.120

0.100

0.080

0.060

0.040

0.020

0.000
0.0000 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050

MACH NUMBER

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER GGSISM (B600) MECHANICAL POWER LOSSES

Fig. 5. Comparison between experimental data for the V160F engine, with analyses based on brake power data and GGSISM predictions for series B: (a) powers and me-
chanical eciency; (b) dimensionless powers.

speed, but in fact, the indicated power should increase up to a
maximum value and then decrease.
In addition, if the tendency demonstrated by the indicated power
measurements were accepted at high velocities, mechanical e-
ciency values lower than 50% would be obtained at the point of
maximum brake power, which would be hardly an acceptable
conclusion.
The cause of these anomalous observations is likely the pres-
sure measurements obtained only on the cold side of the engine.
As the rotational speed increases, the pressure drop between the
compression and expansion spaces rises and leads to the overes-
timation of the indicated power. Thieme [35] reported a similar
observation decades ago, in agreement with the recent experiments
by Lean et al. [36] and Bert et al. [37], which show a higher pres-
sure amplitude in the compression space than in the expansion one.
Babaelahi and Sayyaadi [38] proposed a new thermal model that
predicts a higher pressure in the compression space than in the ex-
pansion one, in agreement with the aforementioned researchers.
The GGSISM software is able to consider the latter, as shown in Fig. 7,
in which the differences in the maximum and minimum pressure
values between the compression and expansion cylinders can be
compared for one simulated working point.
In summary, the proposed method allows the indicated power
to be estimated from brake power measurements, yielding results
that are consistent with theoretical concepts, predictions from de-
tailed gas circuit simulations and experimental analyses.
 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971 969

(a)
14000 1.0

0.9
12000
0.8
10000 0.7
POWER (W) 0.6
8000
0.5
6000
0.4

4000 0.3

0.2
2000
0.1

0 0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500

ENGINE SPEED (rpm)

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER GGSISM (C600) MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY

(b)
0.200

0.180

0.160
DIMENSIONLESS POWER

0.140

0.120

0.100

0.080

0.060

0.040

0.020

0.000
0.0000 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050

MACH NUMBER

INDICATED POWER BRAKE POWER GGSISM (C600) MECHANICAL POWER LOSSES

Fig. 6. Comparison between experimental data for the V160F engine, with analyses based on brake power data and GGSISM predictions for series C: (a) powers and me-
chanical eciency; (b) dimensionless powers.

It should be noted that the new method requires not only torque
and rotational frequency measurements but also wall tempera-
tures in the heater and the cooler to compute the theoretical
threshold of operation, that is, the quasi-static indicated work per
cycle.
Commonly available temperature data for hot and cold spaces
do not specify whether the values correspond to gas or wall tem-
peratures; thus, a simulation software program could be required
to analyse data consistency. In any case, the presented method shows
the important benet of reducing the potential risk of gas leakage
derived from thermocouple and pressure transducer port operations.
Similarly, for engines that feature these ports, this method can be
recommended as a tool for anomalous measurement detection.
6. Conclusions
A method is introduced for the indirect characterisation of in-
dicated power using brake power measurements. The method is
based on adjusting the experimental measurements to semi-
empirical equations using least-squares calculations.
Experimental data obtained for a low-temperature-difference
engine and a recently restored V160F engine are used in the paper
970 I. Mesonero et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 100 (2016) 961971

Vsw Net swept volume [m3]

,,, Dimensionless coecients of mechanical power losses
R Regenerator material thermal diffusivity [m2/s]
1..s Dimensionless geometrical parameters, including those
characteristic of the drive mechanism
B Brake eciency
ind Indicated eciency
mec Mechanical eciency
mec,max Mechanical eciency at n*s,max
Coecient of linear indicated power losses
Working uid viscosity [Pa s]
L Lubricant viscosity [Pa s]
Density [kg/m3]
Coecient of quadratic indicated power losses
Temperature ratio = TwxC TwxE
ind Dimensionless indicated power = Pind ( pmVsw ns )
mec Dimensionless mechanical power losses = Pmec ( pmVsw ns )
Fig. 7. Expansion and compression space pV diagrams obtained by GGSISM sim- 0 Quasi-static dimensionless indicated work per cycle
ulation for one data point corresponding to series A.

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