Surely we could harness this sort of energy; for example: you could use the cooler temperatures of the sea with the warmer air to do the same thing as the icecubes.
In order to get mechanical power from icebergs, you'd have to first transport them to a place where it is warmer than the temperature of the iceberg, which would probably use more energy than you would be able to gain from the iceberg.
An iceberg in the arctic or antarctic is at approximately the same temperature as the air surrounding it, so there is no temperature difference, and no heat transfer which we could gain energy from.
Stiriling engines tend to work nicely, when you focus solar energy onto them using a reflective parabolic dish, so long as the heat surface is very dark and converts light to heat very efficiently. Stiriling powered solare engines can be more efficient than photovoltaic cells. Unfortunately, they cost a bit more. Also, because they are mechanical systems, they tend to have a slightly higher rate of failure than solid-state solar cell systems.
@abcas1990 Like any engineering problem, it depends on many factors, including which Stirling engine you use, what sunlight-heat conversion medium you use, and what kind of other solar power you are comparing it to. Measured in kilowatts per square meter surface panel, Stirling power is usually (but not always) more efficient; you get more watts per square meter surface area. But again, maintenance is more difficult due to moving parts wearing out.
@OOZ662 and danielbluesmoke: Yes, I am aware that in fact such a statement as I made could not occur in reality. That would be why the statement was made in the form of humor. My apologies if it was not taken as such. :P
Put magnets into the spinning wheel, and copper coils around it to make an electromagnetic generator, then hook it up to a heating plate to keep the bottom plate hot. Watch it spin forever! >:D
@TheMobiusTrap You can't do that, it will lose energy gradually due to friction, resistence and drag. That's called Entropy and it's the Second Law of Thermodynamics!
Does the engine cause the coffee to cool down slower, the same, or faster than it would normally when exposed to air? Normally if you put a lit on it would conserve heat longer.
@Athosiphyr I'm assuming it would dissipate faster than it would with a standard plastic lid, but not quite as fast as it would uncovered. Plastic lids are poor conductors, whereas the aluminium in the stirling engine is obvious very good at conducting heat, which I reckon more than compensates for the reduced amount of available cool air available in the engine's enclosed space.
Either way, definitely not as fast as it would without the lid, where convection currents would work unhindered.
@kdeemify err no, fridges and freezers are very energy inefficient. So making this Stirling engine into a fan would not exactly be eco friendly. Also I imagine that it would take a lot more energy to power a fan shaped Stirling engine.
That is cool. That could be used to power a car on a big block of dry ice! Also a form of free un- tapped natural energy. we could also use it during after a electrical magnetic pulse has fried our Electric network! and if we get a big freeze outside! we could use these elements to help us survive mother natures worst moments.
I'm closer to a mechanic than a scientist (and not really either) so I'm liable to embarrass myself if I'm not careful. Yes, a supercharger or a turbo does 'up' the air pressure in the intake, so when the valve opens it pushes a larger volume (meaning larger mass) of fuel/air into the cylinder than atmospheric pressure would. That makes it the equivalent of having a larger cylinder operating at normal atmospheric pressure, without any extra weight to lug around. And that equals go fast! Woohoo!
Reverend Stirling invented his engine as a replacement for the stationary steam engine during the early industrial revolution. Metallurgy and welding technology being what is was, and add a little inattention and the driven capitalist's profit motive, and boiler explosions were not uncommon. He took pity on the death and disfigurement they caused. These were also known as *external* combustion engines because the coal fire was on the outside...
a better example of another heat engine other than a stirling is a steam turbine. i dont understand why he would call a combustion engine a heat engine. as said before the heat is a by-product, but produces no energy in and of itself in the engine. but i'm far from well read in such things so as far as i know a combustion could very well be called a heat engine.
@kght222 I did yeah, ''i dont understand why he would call a combustion engine a heat engine.'' Then your last sentence sounds like you think the term heat engine could be used for both types.
The way i read it you sounds like your convinced this is a combustion engine.
Sorry, just bein a pedantic twat, not tryin to wind you up.
@kght222 The burning of the air/fuel mixture heats the air trapped in the cylinder. It expands, and pushes the piston down. It is the heating of the air that does the work of an internal combustion engine. That is why it may be called a heat engine. The "gasoline" or "petrol" is merely burnt at the appropriate time to heat the air. We speak informally of the mixture exploding, but an explosion is exactly what you don't want. That's "knocking". A flame front actually burns across the cylinder...
@tapelegs Yes, but in an internal combustion engine the petrol explosion forces the piston. The heat is just a by-product of that explosion and the various friction points within the system?
@wesmatron You don't want the air/fuel mixture to explode. That's called "knocking" or "pinging" by mechanics. You want it to burn evenly across the cylinder. This heats the trapped air, which expands and pushes the cylinder down. (Well, "down" in a conventional automobile. I suppose it pushes the cylinder "in" in an old airplane's radial engine...)
@ThePeaceableKingdom Now THAT explains it. I thought the force of the explosion was what pushed the piston....So does that explain something about turbos? Don't they 'up' the air pressure or something?
Power plants love operating in cold environments because the temperature differential is bigger, only if we used superconducting conduits so the power wasn't all lost in transmission...
I had a thought once about using a Stirling engine to power a bicycle that ran off a temperature differential between someone's backside and evaporating nitrogen :D
@ntdude4 Nope, it is pretty inefficient since only a small portion of the heat actually gets converted into energy. Of course if you made such a device you will get energy, but it will be relatively useless.
hwy not use these in places where you waste alot of energy? I know these arent very strong, but even if they only powered like 10-100 lightbulbs ud save alot of money in the long run
thats nice, couldn't you switch the spokes of the spinning wheel with fan blades? So when it's really hot and your desk is warm you simply put a bit of water on the top plate ( cooling it through evaporation) or an ice cube and make yourself a nice little fan that doesn't require a power supply/batteries?
If heat is a biproduct of mechanical energy, like an engine become hot when the pistons move, why dont we capure that biproduct and recycle it. Am I missing something?
@Vennificus Well, due to newtons 3rd law. If you get more energy from the engine you will need more input to get said energy.
The energy you gain from adding a sterling engine on your exhaust is less than things like ecodriving (see wikipedia) or for that sake integrate a generator in your breaking system, so that instead of heating the break paddles the energy will be used directly into a generator, without having to transfer to heat before.
Pretty much: A windmill is cheaper and more efficient
@Serostern First off, It's not "due to" it's "as stated in" and A windmill causes much more drag and the internal combustion engine is at best 65% efficient. That's a lot of entropic loss, HARNESSABLE entropic loss. The only factor the stirling engine should have on the car's performance is the negligible weight gain. It's like adding a second Net to a river to catch all the fish you missed.
@Serostern, I wonder if you could use the mass of the engine itself to cache the car's momentum when you came to a stop. Couldn't an engine me mounted in such a way as to allow it to spin so it could act as a flywheel for storing the energy needed to reaccelerate?
@ananiasacts Good idea! But, spinning the entire engine, kind of impossible at the moment.
Some new formula1 cars have a huge flywheel inside them that collects momentum when the brakes are applied. This makes the fuel last longer and less pit stops.
As with many car inventions it all starts on the track, ABS are just one example.
There are already so called magnetic brakes, basically a generator hooked up to the brakes, slows the car, makes electricity, far FAR cheaper than stirling engines.
@Serostern, It seems like there should be a way to get a Wankel or radial engine mounted to allow it. Do you suppose the braking mechanism and wheels themselves could be reengineered to incorporate a powerful spring, like that in a watch, to store the momentum? Materials science has come a long way in just the last decade.
I was considering getting one then realized that it cost $400~. Far too rich for my blood for just a novelty item. (The first time I typed out that sentence I wrote "Fart oo rich")
I wonder if u could use sun light and a really cold place like the heart of America to get this to run. oh wait those two things are never seen together
Invention idea! How about connecting a heating element to the stirling engine so that it reclaimed some of the heat thus keeping your drink warmer for longer?
Cool. Now the next thing to do is to measure the power output of this thing. I want to know how many bottles of chilled gatorade is need to power a bike :)
Hm... Does this mean that if one of the plate is within our atmosphere while the other plate is out in space. We can actually gain energy while cooling down the earth?
No. In space heat can only be given off in form of radiation, which is a very slow process at these temperatures. So the "cold" side would heat up quite quickly and without a temperature difference the engine wont work.
It's a common misconception to call space "cold" (and all those stories where people freeze to death in space are science fiction). Space is nearly a vacuum and therefore assigning it a temperature is a meaningless.
That's part of the misconception. The 2,725 Kelvin are the average temperature of the background radiation (a remnant of the big bang). Eventually after a long time an object will reach this temperature (but only in deep space; in the solar system you can't go below around 40 Kelvin because you always catch energy and particles from the sun).
Temperature measures the average kinetic energy of atoms and molecules. In space there are close to none, therefore you can't assign a temperature.
but the prosumed lowest tempeture possible is -276ºC or sumthing like that, isn't it? it was atleast sumthing like that they said in "Absolute Zero" XD. Anyway, very nice vid, and easy to understand the concept
if the water underneath the north pole is warmer then the ice floating ontop of it then we could just build the sterling engines just under the surface of the ice.
So would the benefits of this be twofold? It stirs the coffee, as well as cooling it down? Or would the heat of the bottom plate still act back on the coffee keeping it roughly the same temperature?
I just wonder is a dynamo could make enough energie power a small hotplate to heat it up to...60°C.
Or a different idea. A device to hold in your hand. But i cant imagine that the difference of the heat of your body and the room temperature would be enough to get it even started.
So... what if you use a sterling engine to take the heat from global warming to power pumps or generators? Make use of a situation that we got ourselves into.
Because that law talks about closed systems. Nothing in this operation is closed. Entropy is still being increased in the universe because the hot stuff, over all, is cooling down, and the cool stuff, overall, is warming up.
why didn't we put that thing on top of some geysirs, or volcanoes?
Zmrdaciq 13 hours ago
I want one of those to play with my morning coffee !... it should power something though
Poponfu1 1 week ago
I'm a coffee-powered engine too...
darketernal3 3 weeks ago
OMG, I just finish building my Beta type sterling engine yesterday which work beautifully. I loved this video it brilliant.
TheParrot4life 3 weeks ago
Comment removed
SverrirHD 3 weeks ago
Where could I get that Engine for a Physics fanatic Friend of mine?
LutzDerLurch 3 weeks ago
@LutzDerLurch hm..several styles available, but none quite as neat as this...
LutzDerLurch 3 weeks ago in playlist Liked videos
Finally I found a way to cool my coffee :)
320005397 2 months ago
@320005397 That doesn't cool the coffee. In fact, it probably keeps heat in longer by restricting airflow over the surface of the liquid.
augustip 2 months ago
Coolest gadget I've seen in a very long time!
martixbg 2 months ago
Now all you need is to do is utilize the Stirling engine to further heat the coffee, and you'll have yourself a truly awesome (if not useful) device.
SecularAstronomer 2 months ago
Surely we could harness this sort of energy; for example: you could use the cooler temperatures of the sea with the warmer air to do the same thing as the icecubes.
1pnoe 2 months ago
jet engine in a car??
MrGameboy1989 2 months ago
This is gorgeous. Simple, beautiful physics. This guy is so excited, it's easy to get excited about these little spinning wheels. :D
heyandy889 2 months ago
In order to get mechanical power from icebergs, you'd have to first transport them to a place where it is warmer than the temperature of the iceberg, which would probably use more energy than you would be able to gain from the iceberg.
An iceberg in the arctic or antarctic is at approximately the same temperature as the air surrounding it, so there is no temperature difference, and no heat transfer which we could gain energy from.
luckyluke193 3 months ago
Dear Santa,
One coffee-cup sized Stirling engine please.
iddn 3 months ago 4
Where can I get one of those?!?
JaySmith91 4 months ago
@JaySmith91 Amazon :D! that one in particular is about £100.
WelshMidget 3 months ago
It would so cool if they made one with a mobile charger!
Jordie389 4 months ago
Stiriling engines tend to work nicely, when you focus solar energy onto them using a reflective parabolic dish, so long as the heat surface is very dark and converts light to heat very efficiently. Stiriling powered solare engines can be more efficient than photovoltaic cells. Unfortunately, they cost a bit more. Also, because they are mechanical systems, they tend to have a slightly higher rate of failure than solid-state solar cell systems.
RaminHAL9001 4 months ago
@RaminHAL9001 wud u pls tell me how much more efficient are they ? .. cuz its kindve an interesting topic
abcas1990 2 months ago
@abcas1990 Like any engineering problem, it depends on many factors, including which Stirling engine you use, what sunlight-heat conversion medium you use, and what kind of other solar power you are comparing it to. Measured in kilowatts per square meter surface panel, Stirling power is usually (but not always) more efficient; you get more watts per square meter surface area. But again, maintenance is more difficult due to moving parts wearing out.
RaminHAL9001 2 months ago
Now what we all really want to see is ice on the top and the coffee underneath
bighairyninja 4 months ago
i think alot of physicists are coffee powered machines lol
photonman54 6 months ago 34
@OOZ662 and danielbluesmoke: Yes, I am aware that in fact such a statement as I made could not occur in reality. That would be why the statement was made in the form of humor. My apologies if it was not taken as such. :P
TheMobiusTrap 6 months ago
what about ice cubes PLUS cup of coffee?? :)
sbug65 6 months ago
@sbug65 u read my mind
MrChrisfranko 6 months ago
Put magnets into the spinning wheel, and copper coils around it to make an electromagnetic generator, then hook it up to a heating plate to keep the bottom plate hot. Watch it spin forever! >:D
TheMobiusTrap 7 months ago
@TheMobiusTrap If only resistance, friction, and drag weren't around, eh? Your name's pretty fitting. though.
OOZ662 7 months ago
@TheMobiusTrap You can't do that, it will lose energy gradually due to friction, resistence and drag. That's called Entropy and it's the Second Law of Thermodynamics!
danielbluesmoke 6 months ago
thumbs up for bunsen burner + liquid nitrogen
xeel224109 7 months ago
Note to self, make a ventilator that works with ice cubes.
damianpaz 7 months ago
couldn't you use this kinda thing to cool nuclear reactors or something?
hhdivil 8 months ago
@hhdivil
Yeah, I think they do.
macro312 7 months ago
note to self... build a sterilng engine....
castravetele 8 months ago
Note to self, get a sterling engine
av733 9 months ago 57
Coffe powered engine, which does not work properly whith cold coffee, well, I know this under the term "employee".
ThatGuyFromAustria 9 months ago
Does the engine cause the coffee to cool down slower, the same, or faster than it would normally when exposed to air? Normally if you put a lit on it would conserve heat longer.
Athosiphyr 10 months ago
@Athosiphyr I'm assuming it would dissipate faster than it would with a standard plastic lid, but not quite as fast as it would uncovered. Plastic lids are poor conductors, whereas the aluminium in the stirling engine is obvious very good at conducting heat, which I reckon more than compensates for the reduced amount of available cool air available in the engine's enclosed space.
Either way, definitely not as fast as it would without the lid, where convection currents would work unhindered.
SkullXII 10 months ago
Flatten out the spokes and angle them centrifugally and you'll have quite the eco-friendly desk fan for the summer
kdeemify 10 months ago 2
@kdeemify err no, fridges and freezers are very energy inefficient. So making this Stirling engine into a fan would not exactly be eco friendly. Also I imagine that it would take a lot more energy to power a fan shaped Stirling engine.
RandomGuy0987 9 months ago
@RandomGuy0987 good story bro
kdeemify 9 months ago
Flatten out the spokes and angles them centrifugally and you'll have quite the eco-friendly desk fan for the summer (provided enough ice cubes)
kdeemify 10 months ago
that is pretty freakin' cool!
AGuyWhoPunkUMama 10 months ago
2 coffees got cold
togo002 11 months ago
I wonder if a system like this one could be use to cool down a house, and to utilize the power itself to power the house
AndresDm101 11 months ago
That is cool. That could be used to power a car on a big block of dry ice! Also a form of free un- tapped natural energy. we could also use it during after a electrical magnetic pulse has fried our Electric network! and if we get a big freeze outside! we could use these elements to help us survive mother natures worst moments.
FantasyMindedMan 1 year ago
@catfacefrog yup just hook up a little motor to the shaft and bingo theres your electrical energy
consummateVssss 1 year ago
I'm closer to a mechanic than a scientist (and not really either) so I'm liable to embarrass myself if I'm not careful. Yes, a supercharger or a turbo does 'up' the air pressure in the intake, so when the valve opens it pushes a larger volume (meaning larger mass) of fuel/air into the cylinder than atmospheric pressure would. That makes it the equivalent of having a larger cylinder operating at normal atmospheric pressure, without any extra weight to lug around. And that equals go fast! Woohoo!
ThePeaceableKingdom 1 year ago
Reverend Stirling invented his engine as a replacement for the stationary steam engine during the early industrial revolution. Metallurgy and welding technology being what is was, and add a little inattention and the driven capitalist's profit motive, and boiler explosions were not uncommon. He took pity on the death and disfigurement they caused. These were also known as *external* combustion engines because the coal fire was on the outside...
ThePeaceableKingdom 1 year ago
2nd year physical chemistry thermodynamics section. The mid term still makes my teeth grind.
JaMoond 1 year ago
how do i get The coffee-powered engine. Can i buy one
jakewicked 1 year ago
a better example of another heat engine other than a stirling is a steam turbine. i dont understand why he would call a combustion engine a heat engine. as said before the heat is a by-product, but produces no energy in and of itself in the engine. but i'm far from well read in such things so as far as i know a combustion could very well be called a heat engine.
kght222 1 year ago
@kght222 Why would he call it a combustion engine??? I don't see any combustion.
charzy888 1 year ago
@charzy888 did you even read what i said?
kght222 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@kght222 I did yeah, ''i dont understand why he would call a combustion engine a heat engine.'' Then your last sentence sounds like you think the term heat engine could be used for both types.
The way i read it you sounds like your convinced this is a combustion engine.
Sorry, just bein a pedantic twat, not tryin to wind you up.
charzy888 1 year ago
@kght222 The burning of the air/fuel mixture heats the air trapped in the cylinder. It expands, and pushes the piston down. It is the heating of the air that does the work of an internal combustion engine. That is why it may be called a heat engine. The "gasoline" or "petrol" is merely burnt at the appropriate time to heat the air. We speak informally of the mixture exploding, but an explosion is exactly what you don't want. That's "knocking". A flame front actually burns across the cylinder...
ThePeaceableKingdom 1 year ago
I thought the internal combustion engine worked by explosions pushing pistons? I thought heat was just a by-product of the process?
wesmatron 1 year ago
@wesmatron the heat causes the gas in the combustion chamber to expand, the expanding gas presses against the piston, driving the engine
tapelegs 1 year ago
@tapelegs Yes, but in an internal combustion engine the petrol explosion forces the piston. The heat is just a by-product of that explosion and the various friction points within the system?
wesmatron 1 year ago
@tapelegs ADDITIONAL: So it's the air pressure from the explosion pushing the piston...not heat causing gas to expand.
wesmatron 1 year ago
@wesmatron You don't want the air/fuel mixture to explode. That's called "knocking" or "pinging" by mechanics. You want it to burn evenly across the cylinder. This heats the trapped air, which expands and pushes the cylinder down. (Well, "down" in a conventional automobile. I suppose it pushes the cylinder "in" in an old airplane's radial engine...)
ThePeaceableKingdom 1 year ago
@ThePeaceableKingdom Now THAT explains it. I thought the force of the explosion was what pushed the piston....So does that explain something about turbos? Don't they 'up' the air pressure or something?
wesmatron 1 year ago
Power plants love operating in cold environments because the temperature differential is bigger, only if we used superconducting conduits so the power wasn't all lost in transmission...
HWGuyEG 1 year ago
I want one of those indeed!!! It's Christmas time!.. I don't want useless stuff, I want stuff that does "work" (A = m * d)
eliotcougar 1 year ago
It runs on coffee, just like me :D
LamaPaj 1 year ago
I had a thought once about using a Stirling engine to power a bicycle that ran off a temperature differential between someone's backside and evaporating nitrogen :D
oOoxelAoOo 1 year ago
Couldn't you find a loud coffee machine?
johnnystevens1975 1 year ago
Let's run cars on ice cubes! :D
steshystesh 1 year ago
How efficient is a Sterling engine? Could it be used from the heat of a car engine to charge batteries on a hybrid car to make it go longer?
ntdude4 1 year ago
@ntdude4 Nope, it is pretty inefficient since only a small portion of the heat actually gets converted into energy. Of course if you made such a device you will get energy, but it will be relatively useless.
jayjjj3 1 year ago
hwy not use these in places where you waste alot of energy? I know these arent very strong, but even if they only powered like 10-100 lightbulbs ud save alot of money in the long run
snelpiller 1 year ago
holy crap i want one of these O_O
MultiAxian 1 year ago
i wonder if u can use that to run fans during summer
number0IX 1 year ago
@number0IX as long as you can get the temp difference, it should be fine.
then again, getting enough power to turn the blades of a fan would be a bit of an expense
samfukunishi 1 year ago
@number0IX tbh, id still want one of those mad bladeless fans over this tho :P
samfukunishi 1 year ago
I think we were all hoping to see the coffee + icecubes combo!
akerone89 1 year ago 131
@akerone89 i just wanted to put comment like that
bradajr 1 year ago
@akerone89 EXPLOSION
debit256 6 months ago
@akerone89 Yeah, me too!
we want a video response with the coffee/icecube combo.
Btw great videos. interesting and very good. feels like something I could show my girlfriend and even she would understand.
Lermoth 3 months ago
Couldnt you create a large one and put it on a giant water geyser?
AlexKalicinski 1 year ago
@AlexKalicinski Yes, you could. In fact we already do, just not with sterling engines. Look up geothermal energy for more.
Fmeson 1 year ago
@Fmeson Awesome thanks for showing.
Are you a free mason?
AlexKalicinski 1 year ago
@AlexKalicinski No, my name comes from a particle, but I can see why you would think that. Ds meson is the new name for f meson's.
Fmeson 1 year ago
@Fmeson Oh ok coool
AlexKalicinski 1 year ago
ohhh i want that!!
tsuikjoshiomatsu 1 year ago
where can i get one?????
engelteir 1 year ago
thats nice, couldn't you switch the spokes of the spinning wheel with fan blades? So when it's really hot and your desk is warm you simply put a bit of water on the top plate ( cooling it through evaporation) or an ice cube and make yourself a nice little fan that doesn't require a power supply/batteries?
DeanMalenko 1 year ago
k now put it back on the coffee and put the ice cubes on top! :D
urantivirus 1 year ago 3
It could be made into a STIRRING engine, if you're a lazy scientist...
RectumPilum 1 year ago 2
4 the ice could the use it i the colder parts of the world
oscar2hot4u 1 year ago
These videos are excellent can't stop watching them. Very well explained and edited.
GlobalWTF 1 year ago
If heat is a biproduct of mechanical energy, like an engine become hot when the pistons move, why dont we capure that biproduct and recycle it. Am I missing something?
Kamakazi1994 1 year ago
@Kamakazi1994 It works.
But such apparatus is heavy, and a warm engine runs better than a cold one.
Taking care of the excess heat does NOT create a perpetuum mobile :(
Serostern 1 year ago
Can this be used in cars, in combination with a heat sink, to help regain some of the lost energy?
Vennificus 1 year ago
@Vennificus It will increase drag.
Like when people get the great idea to mount a generator on the exhaust pipe, sure you get some amps, but your engine will need more gas to turn.
Setting up a windmill is many times more efficient than a sterling engine on the engine block =P
Serostern 1 year ago
@Serostern what if it's inside the hood though
Vennificus 1 year ago
@Vennificus Still will increase drag.
If anything, mount it on the exhaust pipe, then you could get a little little juice out of the warm exhaust.
Serostern 1 year ago
@Serostern how will it increase drag? It's covered, the exhaust pipe is more exposed than the engine block, and that's all rapidly cooling gas.
Vennificus 1 year ago
@Vennificus Well, due to newtons 3rd law. If you get more energy from the engine you will need more input to get said energy.
The energy you gain from adding a sterling engine on your exhaust is less than things like ecodriving (see wikipedia) or for that sake integrate a generator in your breaking system, so that instead of heating the break paddles the energy will be used directly into a generator, without having to transfer to heat before.
Pretty much: A windmill is cheaper and more efficient
Serostern 1 year ago
@Serostern First off, It's not "due to" it's "as stated in" and A windmill causes much more drag and the internal combustion engine is at best 65% efficient. That's a lot of entropic loss, HARNESSABLE entropic loss. The only factor the stirling engine should have on the car's performance is the negligible weight gain. It's like adding a second Net to a river to catch all the fish you missed.
Vennificus 1 year ago
@Serostern, I wonder if you could use the mass of the engine itself to cache the car's momentum when you came to a stop. Couldn't an engine me mounted in such a way as to allow it to spin so it could act as a flywheel for storing the energy needed to reaccelerate?
ananiasacts 1 year ago
@ananiasacts Good idea! But, spinning the entire engine, kind of impossible at the moment.
Some new formula1 cars have a huge flywheel inside them that collects momentum when the brakes are applied. This makes the fuel last longer and less pit stops.
As with many car inventions it all starts on the track, ABS are just one example.
There are already so called magnetic brakes, basically a generator hooked up to the brakes, slows the car, makes electricity, far FAR cheaper than stirling engines.
Serostern 1 year ago
@Serostern, It seems like there should be a way to get a Wankel or radial engine mounted to allow it. Do you suppose the braking mechanism and wheels themselves could be reengineered to incorporate a powerful spring, like that in a watch, to store the momentum? Materials science has come a long way in just the last decade.
ananiasacts 1 year ago
@ananiasacts It could be done, but using a generator instead is better in pretty much ALL ways =P
Serostern 1 year ago
i see
dan020350 1 year ago
I wonder how fast it would go if you put Nitrogen on top..
Synopsism 2 years ago
thanks to this video, pestering parents and Christmas I am now holding this in my hand spinning away.
great videos and maybe see you in September.
iwan0t0smith 2 years ago 3
I was considering getting one then realized that it cost $400~. Far too rich for my blood for just a novelty item. (The first time I typed out that sentence I wrote "Fart oo rich")
Zaekk 2 years ago
Now global warming can solve its self :-)
6.04
FFSMatt 2 years ago
Just bought on on ebay for $125... Kick ass!!
myst32YT 2 years ago 9
I'd love to set it up as such
fill the coffee cup to the max, so when you put the thing on, it touches the hot liquid. Then, put the ice cube on top.
Could probably break the damn thing.
seanbrockest 2 years ago 3
Where can I get an engine like that one?
gold3c 2 years ago
bit late but google kontax,
they're the company that make them right here in the UK
iwan0t0smith 2 years ago
Btw, American Stirling Company sells this engine.
nawitus 2 years ago
to bad most of the heat energy goes out the tailpipe,electric engines are more efficient,to bad the batteries aren't
JasandraAndCafina 2 years ago 2
I wonder if u could use sun light and a really cold place like the heart of America to get this to run. oh wait those two things are never seen together
LostMente 2 years ago
I've always wanted one of those little engines. They aren't cheap, though.
timerider4 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
fake.. there's a battery in the shaft or sumthin
Pakuna 2 years ago
...Wow... xD
JackMorgz 2 years ago
I wish he tried coffee + ice!
freedompower2 2 years ago 5
yeah i was thinking that SUPPAAA SPEEEED
Digadogup 2 years ago
Why don't we build large Sterling engines and hold one side up the sun? The other side would be cool since it is blocked from the direct sunlight...
culwin 2 years ago
I think we DO do that, but not exactly like you said
safibn1 2 years ago
I know it has been 10 months since you've posted this but anyway,
wouldn't work because it would be upside down and hot air is lighter than cold air
brenoakiy 1 year ago
Strap a huge Stirling engine to a volcanic vent. You could power all of Hawaii with just one. =P
Digeridude 2 years ago
yeah sure get mechanical power from icebergs the same ones we are trying to save atm.
lol.
premierclip 2 years ago 14
@premierclip well if the ice is colder than the surface beneath it IE the ocean... that might actually work.
Vennificus 1 year ago
I want one of those thingies, can you buy them anywhere online?
samurai815 2 years ago 2
And all of a sudden I know what I want for christmas.
PsykoPatrik 2 years ago 85
I couldn't agree more. ^_^
jarvis15 2 years ago
I could watch that thing all day.
Invention idea! How about connecting a heating element to the stirling engine so that it reclaimed some of the heat thus keeping your drink warmer for longer?
DeoMachina 2 years ago
@DeoMachina
You'd be better to use an insulated cup.
This amazing device still cannae' break the laws of physics, Jim!
Still, I have plans for making one with a ring of LEDS in the flywheel that could be powered by one...
MichaelKingsfordGray 2 years ago
I have a jet engine in my car?! :D
MCBSOAD 2 years ago
Cool. Now the next thing to do is to measure the power output of this thing. I want to know how many bottles of chilled gatorade is need to power a bike :)
nibelungensohn 2 years ago
It would take more energy to chill the Gatorade than you could get from the engine.
Digeridude 2 years ago
You're absolutely correct but irrelevant.
nibelungensohn 2 years ago
well if you're talking about diesel flavored Gatorade then maybe a litre
LostMente 2 years ago
When I saw this video I had to order one of these little engines myself :) (found it at gyroscope)
celeph 2 years ago
where can i buy one? :D
WardleVonAwesome 2 years ago
Where'd you get that nice sterling engine? I've tried making some but they never turned out as clean as that one!
mynameisfiber 2 years ago 2
this is really cool!!!
so, when there is a temperature difference, the engine works?
and does it work if there is ice on the bottom and heat on the top?
LaughinWarheads 2 years ago
Hm... Does this mean that if one of the plate is within our atmosphere while the other plate is out in space. We can actually gain energy while cooling down the earth?
wildwolf111 2 years ago
It would create extreme extreme winds on the planet. We would be cold and blown away!
heineisallmighty 2 years ago
No. In space heat can only be given off in form of radiation, which is a very slow process at these temperatures. So the "cold" side would heat up quite quickly and without a temperature difference the engine wont work.
It's a common misconception to call space "cold" (and all those stories where people freeze to death in space are science fiction). Space is nearly a vacuum and therefore assigning it a temperature is a meaningless.
superdau 2 years ago 2
The temperature in space is -270ºC according to all sources i've found
ricardjorg 2 years ago
That's part of the misconception. The 2,725 Kelvin are the average temperature of the background radiation (a remnant of the big bang). Eventually after a long time an object will reach this temperature (but only in deep space; in the solar system you can't go below around 40 Kelvin because you always catch energy and particles from the sun).
Temperature measures the average kinetic energy of atoms and molecules. In space there are close to none, therefore you can't assign a temperature.
superdau 2 years ago
but the prosumed lowest tempeture possible is -276ºC or sumthing like that, isn't it? it was atleast sumthing like that they said in "Absolute Zero" XD. Anyway, very nice vid, and easy to understand the concept
RookieStudios 2 years ago
I don't think that's true. It's much more closer to absolute zero, although you're right about it not being exactly absolute zero.
Mattybloke 2 years ago
I want my coffee to take me to job!!
SalchichaPolaca 2 years ago 2
i want one! =P
TehSmeely 2 years ago 2
you could use thoes to capture geothermic energy
Daftfreak123 2 years ago 2
Combustion engines are not heat engines.
shaurz 2 years ago 2
if the water underneath the north pole is warmer then the ice floating ontop of it then we could just build the sterling engines just under the surface of the ice.
papervampire 2 years ago
those demonstration sterlings are neat!
I'm also impressed by the swedish submarines who are powered by stirlings and really really stealthy, and can stay under water reather long periods.
Paxmax 2 years ago
Does this work better if you cool the top of the engine and heat the bottom?
iRichiepoo 2 years ago
So would the benefits of this be twofold? It stirs the coffee, as well as cooling it down? Or would the heat of the bottom plate still act back on the coffee keeping it roughly the same temperature?
Cyrathil 2 years ago
You should make a version which gives a bit heat back to the coffee.
However. Where can i buy that thing?
minodul 2 years ago
I think that would be called a hotplate :)
Woad25 2 years ago
Ok but it would be cooler if the engine would make the energie to power the hotplate ^^
minodul 2 years ago
Which would in sum be quite useless. There are some laws against this. They start with the words "first" and "second" ;-)
superdau 2 years ago
We could break all the laws if we want to XD
I just wonder is a dynamo could make enough energie power a small hotplate to heat it up to...60°C.
Or a different idea. A device to hold in your hand. But i cant imagine that the difference of the heat of your body and the room temperature would be enough to get it even started.
minodul 2 years ago
So... what if you use a sterling engine to take the heat from global warming to power pumps or generators? Make use of a situation that we got ourselves into.
Chipsonfire 2 years ago
you can find out more by the following users
GREENPOWERSCIENCE
gyroscope
robohobo9001 2 years ago
i want one
T1carus 2 years ago
can you buy one of those? or are there instructions to make one!? i want one!!
MagikGir 2 years ago
how does this not violate the second law of thermodynamics?
calvinhobbesliker2 2 years ago
The coffee is getting colder.
Keylimedelight 2 years ago 5
Because that law talks about closed systems. Nothing in this operation is closed. Entropy is still being increased in the universe because the hot stuff, over all, is cooling down, and the cool stuff, overall, is warming up.
inersphobia 2 years ago 2
I rather ask you how you think it does.
papervampire 2 years ago
Heat, having high entropy, is being converted into mechanical energy, of lower entropy.
calvinhobbesliker2 2 years ago