Free-Piston Engine Design and Evaluation with Different Compression Ratios

Abstract

Free-piston heat engines are being examined by a number of international research groups as an option for conservative technology, as they are not limited by the movement of the crankshaft as in conventional engines. The free-piston engines are employed in applications like power generation using conventional methods. The higher compression ratios provide higher cycle efficiencies and also boost in-cylinder temperatures increasing mechanical stress, pressures, and heat transfer losses. This paper presents different in-cylinder flows by computational fluid dynamics for various compression ratios ranges from 7 to 15 and estimates were made to find best compression ratio for the optimal engine operating performance and characteristic.