Comparison of the externally heated air valve engine and the helium Stirling engine

Abstract A two-stroke, externally heated valve engine (EHVE) with a heater, a cooler and two blowers is simulated. The engine is entirely different from a typical Stirling engine. The pressure ratio p max / p min of its cycle is higher, but the engine volume and the mean value of the heat exchanger wall temperatures are the same. The power and efficiency of the EHVE and Stirling engines under the same maximum pressures are compared. The results show that the EHVE engine reaches almost the same level of performance as the Stirling engine, while using only available atmospheric air, rather than helium.