Cyclic Processes in Closed Regenerative Gas Machines Analyzed by a Digital Computer Simulating a Differential Analyzer

Abstract

A complete thermodynamic analysis of closed, reversible, regenerative gas cycles is developed which among other refinements takes into account heat-transfer limitations, regenerator inefficiency, and flow losses. This results in a set of equations for the cyclic variations of temperatures, pressures, and flow rates in different parts of the system. A heat balance is set up for the integrated heat transfer and mechanical energy conversions per cycle and an accurate figure for the efficiency of prime movers or the Coefficient of Performance of heat pumps or refrigerators is derived from this. Special computational techniques simulating a differential analyzer on an IBM 704 electronic computer are described and the results of a typical practical case are given in graphs and figures.