Comparative Study of 2D Heat Transfer Models for a Wankel Expander

Wankel expander are among the emerging technologies for use in cogeneration in process industries, ORCs, and other energy storage systems. Heat transfer and thermodynamic analysis is key to understand the expander and improve its performance. Previous investigations on heat loss models for Wankel expander were based on empirical models from canonical experiments such as flat-plate geometry. In this work, we have built a numerical model with the actual geometry to predict the temperature distribution along the periphery of the expander. Python was used to code and predict the temperature distribution of the expander which was compared with COMSOL solutions with close agreement (<1% variation). Hence, our numerical approach can be extrapolated to sale the Wankel prototype and also create a physics based digital twin.