Related papers: The Fluidyne engine
A recent paper by Gislason published in Am. J. Phys. deals with the celebrated example of the so-called "adiabatic piston", a system involving two ideal gases contained in a horizontal cylinder and separated by an insulating piston that…
Ladle stirring is an important step of the steelmaking process to homogenize the temperature and the chemical composition of the liquid steel and to remove inclusions before casting. Gas is injected from the bottom of the bath to induce a…
The piston problem is investigated in the case where the length of the cylinder is infinite (on both sides) and the ratio $m/M$ is a very small parameter, where $m$ is the mass of one particle of the gaz and $M$ is the mass of the piston.…
We study the unitary time evolution of a simple quantum Hamiltonian describing a heat engine coupled to two heat baths. The engine is modeled as a three-level system. Each heat bath consists of a single harmonic oscillator. The engine is…
A synthetic fluid dynamo built in the spirit of the Bullard device [E. C. Bullard, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 51, 744 (1955)] is investigated. It is a two-step dynamo in which one process stems from the fluid turbulence, while the other part…
A nanoscale-sized Stirling engine with an atomistic working fluid has been modeled using molecular dynamics simulation. The design includes heat exchangers based on thermostats, pistons attached to a flywheel under load, and a regenerator.…
We present a comparison between the random motion of an adiabatic and a diathermal piston sliding in a perfect gas. In particular, their dynamical behaviour, if investigated by means of Langevin's approach, shows the amplitude of the…
We are concerned with a one dimensional flow of a compressible fluid which may be seen as a simplification of the flow of fluid in a long thin pipe. We assume that the pipe is on one side ended by a spring. The other side of the pipe is let…
Fluidisation is the process by which the weight of a bed of particles is supported by a gas flow passing through it from below. When fluidised materials flow down an incline, the dynamics of the motion differ from their non-fluidised…
The Moody diagram, a plot of friction factor versus flow rate, is a well-known engineering tool for estimating head loss in pipe flows. It comprises well-defined relationships between friction factor and flow rate over the majority of…
We analyze an autonomous micro-engine as a closed quantum mechanical system, including the work it performs and the fuel it consumes. Our model system shows by example that it is possible to transfer energy steadily and spontaneously…
The efficiency statistics of a small thermodynamic machine has been recently investigated assuming that the total dissipation was a linear combination of two currents: the input and output currents. Here, we relax this standard assumption…
Living systems efficiently use chemical fuel to do work, process information, and assemble patterns despite thermal noise. Whether high efficiency arises from general principles or specific fine-tuning is unknown. Here, applying a recent…
Recent experiments on active materials, such as dense bacterial suspensions and microtubule-kinesin motor mixtures, show a promising potential for achieving self-sustained flows. However, to develop active microfluidics it is necessary to…
We analytically study the role of nonconservative forces, namely viscous couplings, on the statistical properties of the energy flux between two Brownian particles kept at different temperatures. From the dynamical model describing the…
A nonlinear model relating the imposed motion of a circular cylinder, submerged in a fluid flow, to the transverse force coefficient is presented. The nonlinear fluid system, featuring vortex shedding patterns, limit cycle oscillations and…
Flow-improving devices (FIDs) are used the most effectively for the reduction of noise and vibration induced by a propulsor. These devices may also increase the efficiency of a propulsor and in some cases should be considered and designed…
Reduction of heat and friction losses is a proven approach to increase the engine efficiency. Therefore, and due to a stabilized, robust combustion, a specific adjustment of component temperatures is desirable in highly transient…
Superfluid helium consists of two inter-penetrating fluids, a viscous normal fluid and an inviscid superfluid, coupled by a mutual friction. We develop a two-fluid shell model to study superfluid turbulence. We investigate the energy…
We investigate a model for a Stirling-like engine consisting of a passive Brownian particle confined by a harmonic potential and interacting with a suspension of active Brownian particles that self-propel in a viscous solvent, which…