Re: [Phys-L] Carnot (?) efficiency of non-Carnot cycles

[Herbert Schulz <herbs@wideopenwest.com>]

> On Mar 5, 2015, at 11:14 AM, Carl Mungan <mungan@usna.edu> wrote:
>
> "For an ideal regenerator, it contributes
> nothing to the energy budget and entropy budget when summed
> over a cycle.  Whatever it takes it gives back over the
> course of a cycle."
>
> That's very clever. I can see indeed that we could undo in the isochoric
> depressurization what we did in the isochoric pressurization step, at least
> for an ideal device.
>
> Now what is such a device (I'll accept a real one and idealize it in my
> mind), and why don't intro textbooks mention it given that this seems a
> pretty essential part of non-Carnot cycles?

Howdy,

I guess I still look at the Stirling Cycle Engine and don't really care how the heat transferred into or out of the Engine during the isochoric processes is handled. The heat transferred into the engine during the isochoric process at the lower volume, V_1, still counts toward Q(in) in the formula for efficiency.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)