Beale Number

In mechanical engineering, the Beale number is a parameter that characterizes the performance of Stirling engines. It is often used to estimate the power output of a Stirling engine design. For engines operating with a high temperature differential, typical values for the Beale number range from ( 0.11 ) to ( 0.15 ); where a larger number indicates higher performance.

The Beale number can be defined in terms of a Stirling engine's operating parameters:

where:

To estimate the power output of an engine, nominal values are assumed for the Beale number, pressure, swept volume and frequency, then the power is calculated as the product of these parameters, as follows:

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