Low Temperature Stirling Engine

[GerbilEssences]

SMOOOOOTH, which is more than you can say for my efforts.

[soccerproF50]

cool man

[therandomexample]

These things could be used like thermometers to an extent. Have different gauges of wheel weight on the same piston, repeated in decreasing order of gauge. If the heaviest wheel is spinning, then it's rather hot. If the smallest one isn't moving, it's room temperature or below.

[saverubi]

Nice backround !

[Zappyguy111]

Now all I need to do is get a satellite dish, line the concave side with aluminium foil and replace the receiver with one of these and an alternator. What do you get? NEAR FREE ENERGY!!! WO WOOOO!!!!

Plus motors and a micro controller so that's it always pointed at the sun...

[islandfireballkill]

@Zappyguy111 that exists, Point focus parabolic mirror with Stirling engine at its center and its solar tracker at Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in Spain

[73mandala]

That is a beautiful thing, the way it works, the design and the manufacture/workmanship is fantastic., well done. Now where can i buy one?

[dan020350]

IF the thermodynamics teacher just showed this, then the student is finished.

[lordkesil]

lol why cant u make a stirling that makes heat when it spins.... that would be cool! (but impossible)

[robertwc82]

@lordkesil its not impossible, you just couldnt get any more heat than you put into it, you would probably end up with less heat than what the coffee emitted.

you could transfer the kinetic energy to elecrical energy, then use the electricity to power a heating element.

[AICorp]

@lordkesil Simple answer: Because anything you attach to it to generate heat will impose a resistance (magnets, friction, etc...) and will inhibit the ability of flywheel to spin fast enough to maintain the engine.

[LithiumChicken]

@lordkesil NO! PERPETUAL MOTION CAN BE DONE!!!

[HeadShot360IN]

@lordkesil would not work if it was cool, i'd need to be hot

[Zappyguy111]

@lordkesil

Sure you could, just give it lots and lots of friction! IE. Lubricate it with blu tack!

[RCvehicleGuy]

that sucker actually starts to get going

[cerero1988]

the power of coffee

[torentazos]

i don't get it, how does this beautiful thing work? i want to know!

[robertwc82]

@torentazos you should learn some basic physics, its more fun than it sounds.

the heat causes water molecules to fly up and hit the pump, pushing the pump upwards which in turn, turns the wheel

[robertwc82]

@torentazos air molecules too

[Anthonyk312]

Lets power the world on coffee!!!

[silexrifl]

is it powerful?

[lexander5]

Well, it isn't so strong. if you touch the flywheel with your finger it stops.

[sciencenerd1616]

i want to build one

[RideGangsta]

colombian coffee works better

[SthealthRaider]

how these works??? hot air from down and cold air from above .. is there a hole in there? explain

[30GB]

y not make a fan as a flywheel so it can cool you while you wait lol

[mkashifafzal]

This kind of sterling engine can be beneficient in cooling down a hot coffee cup :)

[DAKOTA56777]

stirling* not sterling seems to be a very commen mistake.

[jetripple]

@DAKOTA56777 common* not common seems to be a very usual mistake

[BasementBen]

Sterling engines seem very practical, I wonder how long they last.

[echoside190]

roughly 3-5 minutes, they run until the other cylinder warms up pretty much, well th ones ive seen so far because they get motivation from one warm cylinder making pressure and one cold cylinger making like a vacuum i believe

[gugegago]

i was just thinking, (JUST imagining) if we route the air from sahara or nearest desert to the cold places of the earth using a VERY EXPENSIVE tunnel or tube, could it be possible?!?!?

[cotes42]

? huh ?

[isaacopedal]

It would cool down on the way. Nope

[morlinek314]

but, if we use heat from earth interior...

[zaloturm]

there is a turbine thatworks in the desert. it takes the surface air in a giant cone-tent open in the top (dont remember if 3oo meters or 3 km) whit a turbine on that hole. it works whit the flow due to temp diferences...

[alexmayu2]

where can i get one?

[NossedEvo]

Great posts. They're like puppies--you see one--you want one.

[ShinyShack]

That's true, but please remember, a Stirling Engine is for life, not just for Christmas ;-)

[NossedEvo]

Cracked me up! Thanks for the lol. Have a GREAT day!

[OttomanDrifter91]

@ShinyShack undoubtably! :D

[soylentgreenb]

"Off to read about how Stirling Engines work... especially on how well they'd work in cold places..."

The best imaginable heat engine is the carnot engine(you cannot actually construct one in real life, but the stirling engine can get pretty close). The expression for it's efficiency is n = 1 - T1/T2, where T1 is the cold reservoir and T2 the hot reservoir(temperature is in kelvin).

For a cup of tea vs. room temperature you cannot hope to get more than about 15% efficiency.

[bassz9]

this is awesome!

Why dont we use them all the time? arn't they reeeeeeeealy efficent?

[Ahzdiosh]

They're not that efficient. The point is that they can harness a small temperature gradient and turn it into useful mechanical energy. You'll need a much bigger one to make it worthwhile. They maybe part of the future of solar power.

[grunff]

cool!

[fb2800]

Hot!

[AmigaFalcon]

no, both cool AND hot! :))