Stirling like engine using plasma electric fields

Abstract

Conversion of heat into mechanical work using electrostatic fields associated with charged particles in electron-ion plasma is discussed in the present article. Thermodynamic closed cycle, involving isochoric and isothermal processes similar to that in classical Stirling cycle, is constructed. The cycle shows that expansion and compression of charged particles under electrostatic pressure when the plasma is heated and cooled produces net work in cycle at the cost of plasma thermal energy. The efficiency of the cycle is calculated in the case where the electrostatic fields are of arbitrary magnitude. The possibility of practical power generation using this cycle is also shown in the article.