"Stirling V4 Engine 1 " Steampunk Ringbom Hot Air Engine

Machine nr 15, 'V4 Engine'.
more info http://stirling.devink.net

Engine no 15, 'V4 Engine'

This is an eight-cylinder V4 engine that consists of four Ringbom engines, with the power cylinders arranged in a V.

The engine is composed of a big pillar that supports the flywheel, the cooling plates, the displacers and the power cylinders.
This was done to make it as slender as possible and I enjoyed putting this tree structure into practice.

This Ringbom engine also has a steel spring to keep the weight of the displacer as low as possible. In this way the displacer can oscillate under the change of air pressure in the power piston. If the engine has warmed up sufficiently it can also run on two Ringbom engines with the other two decompressed.

The number of strokes per minute of this machine is between 100 and 300. The advantage of this machine is that every engine is self-regulating. I get the impression that the engine starts to produce its power when the displacer and the power piston have shifted approx. 90°.
At that position it is also noticeable that the movement of the displacer rods reacts strongly to the temperature of the heat source and the speed of the flywheel.
At high flywheel speeds the movements of the displacer seem to be small (minimal exchanges of cold and hot air), but if the engine is loaded and the flywheel turns slowly we observe a bigger movement of the displacer rods (more exchange of cold and hot air), and gradually the engine runs faster. Something to observe for hours!

The challenge for me was the construction of the tree structure. It shows that it is possible to run a machne with a number of Ringbom engines in it.

I called this engine the V4 because the design reminds us strongly of the internal combustion engines of the contemporary means of transport.

This engine should also be regarded as an art object, for which the movement of the rods, crank and springs of the displacers is essential.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• stirling
• engine
• ringbom
• heteluchtmachine
• kinetic
• art
• motor
• brass
• modelbouw
• steampunk
• hot
• air
• object

[redghost105]

make a v-12 out of this and it should have the same ppower as a prius :D

[cocacola443]

@gamercosti The best thing would be to use the waste heat to heat and cool buildings, eliminating the need for other types of heating and cooling, but this requires that large base load power plants be built near population centers, since transporting steam is only effective over small distances. New York City, for example, has the largest steam distribution system in the world (Con Edison). But people don't like coal or nuclear power plants in their backyards.

[BazookaMoose]

@cocacola443 THANK YOU. God it seems that there are very few people that can understand the concept of "You can't get 100% energy efficiency. In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"

[jasonott]

Wow, I want this one, it's great! Is it for sale?

[cocacola443]

@xtheshame I was replying to the guy that was talking about "100% heat conversion efficiency" in relation to fusion power. Fusion will most likely be used to boil water, and run through a steam turbine. I never said that THIS engine ran on steam. It doesn't matter...it's still a heat engine, and it's still subject to Carnot efficiency limitations due to the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

[cocacola443]

@xtheshame "doesnt run off steam....sigh." I never said it ran off of steam. A Stirling engine is still a heat engine. ALL heat engines, regardless of their working fluid, are subject to Carnot efficiency, which is based solely on the temperature difference between the hot and cold reservoirs. It doesn't matter if the working fluid is steam, air, lead, or Munchkins.

[xtheshame]

@cocacola443 doesnt run off steam....sigh.

[devil614]

*Tries to zoom in closer...* FAIL...

[drijfkip1]

I sound totally different than i suspected...

[DJelectfire]

I love the engine.... but I have one question! What is the song?!

[SteamBirds]

Stirling engines are the best, but have you made any engines doing anything other than running? I mean, moving things

[drewmagoo1]

@6SpAr6TAN69 Lol, technically it'd just increase the efficiency of your dryer.