Stirling Engines
 

Stirling engines seem to hold so much promise. Why do we hardly ever hear about them being used anywhere?

I read somewhere that a Swedish built submarine uses a stirling engine, or several, I'm not sure, mainly because they're so quiet. That's a big engine(s).

The concept still kinda blows my mind. The above link (wiki) has a picture of a 55 Kw Stirling generator. Also no toy. I've heard they're quite the item (for auxillary electricity generation) on top of the line ocean going sailing yachts because of their quiet operation.

A friend of mine had her 50th Birthday party on a chartered yacht out on the bay. It was fun, but toward the end, the noise and the diesel exhaust stink was getting to me. I was thinking that in the oh-so-hip-and-groovy Bay Area, an item that might draw in the customers would be a chartered yacht that ran on a biodiesel fueled Stirling engine. Hell, regular veggie oil would work -- you'd just need a way to burn it efficiently.

How Stuff Works dot com

I see articles about Sterling engines every decade or so. This is the first time I remember seeing mention of any practical application for them.

You make a good point about the fuel flexibility. An engine that is more flexible in fuel selection is also a good hedge against the uncertainty of petroleum pricing.

The boat operator should have used the breeze to keep the exhaust away from the passengers, relative wind.

Similar idea on sailboats is to leave into the wind from the harbor, makes the trip home easier.

Been using them for years in outer space on satellites to power the gennies that keep the cells charged.

I've got one from the 1860's used to pump domestic water up into the storage tank.

Wow, I thought you were making a tin-hat joke when I first read this. Makes good sense, they use the cold from space. Is the heat from solar or nuclear (probably too heavy) or what?

Is that from an 1860's satellite?:)

Nahhh,the 'ol parabolic solar collector trick,focuses the sun's ray on the Displacer cylinder.

I think the cold would only be useful if combined with a heat source -- oh wait, you get heat from parabolic mirrored sunlight and cold from space. In space though, is cold the same phenomena as in our atmosphere? I mean heat or cold as we experience it has to do with the speed of movement of molecules and in the absense of molecules, what do you have?

Here's a link to a current Stirling solar project in California:

http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd050929.htm

Here's another:

http://www.stirlingenergy.com/breaking_news.htm

500 MW isn't chopped liver so the technology must have advanced to make it commercially competitive with solar electric panels.

Sholin

Thanks, I'll read those tonight when I have more time. I've seen pics of the collection of parabolic mirrors focused on Stirling engines before but I haven't heard about that lately.

And you're right, 500Mw is the real deal.

I read a piece a couple of years back about Bill Gross and his Idealab biz. This link covers part of the idea I liked which I can't find the link for anymore. I've got the article saved...it's lonnnngg.

Here's a bit of it:

So on this glorious sunshiny day at Idealab, engineer Denes Zsolnay and industrial designer Gregg Luconi are outdoors fussing over a six-foot solar dish. Wearing welder's masks to protect their eyes, they focus a beam of sunlight on a black stainless steel cup, known as a hot cup. They watch as a digital thermometer measures the air temperature in the cup. It begins to soar, passing the melting point of tin (450 degrees Fahrenheit) in a matter of seconds, then lead (621°F), then aluminum (1,220°F). As if to drive home the point, Luconi grabs a scrap of lumber, a two-by-four, and jabs one end at the cup. In a heartbeat, the board erupts in flame.

Six months ago, Gross unveiled a prototype, dubbed Sunflower. It had an array of 12 small parabolic mirrors arranged like daisy petals around a central core. It was compact, and the lightweight mirrors of aluminized plastic could be moved by the sort of inexpensive but durable stepper motors commonly found in disk drives and ink-jet printers. Off-the-shelf heat sensors guided the motors that turned the mirrors. The mirror array followed the sun, no matter how high or low in the sky it happened to be, and then pumped heat into a small Stirling engine that turned a generator.

The link above covers the same "Sunflower" thingy but I believe that was the earlier idea -- to use photo-voltaic cells. The Stirling application could be more efficient and cost effective, I'm not sure though.

I think external combustion engines are cool:cool: I can watch old steam engines go round and round and round for hours, the "chuff" of expanding steam is like music to the ear.

Stirlings seem to have particular affinity for space or other areas where there's a high heat differential.

BTW, the stirling engine farm that's supposed to be built here in CA is a few miles down the road from me. I believe CMAC posted a picture of it once - I live behind the mountain in the background of that photo.

Better be careful, CMAC. Before you know it you'll be a big fan of technology, especially things like stirling engines which would be very much improved with more money spent on space research...:eek:

It's so friggin hot here that I can stick a 2x4 out the front door and it erupts into flame:eek:

It just occured to me: stirling engines are also called hot air engines. Do you think we might take some pressure of the east coast power grid by placing a few of these suckers in the dome at the Capitol Building?

I like some high tech a whole bunch. I think we can make just as much progress with Stirling engines by researching for earth applications as we could for space applications.

I met an old fellow while driving cab in Seattle around 1980, he was a widower, no kids -- his wife had TB during child-bearing years -- he was about the most charming old fart (91) I'd met in years and we became buddies. Mind sharp as a tack though he did repeat the same stories a lot. No problem.

Some of my favorite stories were about his uncle, who had had mild polio and couldn't crank the old autos too well so he was a steamer man. I loved hearing stories about the Stanley and White steamers his uncle had.

Jim said if you were stuck in the mud with a steamer, you'd just open the throttle (or whatever) a tiny bit and the wheel would slowly emerge from the mud. Said you could cruise right out of a mess that with a gas engine you'd be stuck in yet! :D

He explained that the gas engine, when the clutch engages, is essentially delivering a series of hard taps and it's difficult to feather the clutch so that the wheel doesn't start spinning, whereas a steamer would exert a gentle, even pressure. Said they were fast as hell and really quiet.

I think of that every time I hear a fire engine roaring past me in the city. Oh man, what I wouldn't give for some silence.

Stanley Steamer stories
 

Don't hold out on me. I need to hear some stories about Stanley Steamers, White steamers.

Give me specifics,what you wanna know???

How long did they take to warm up? Who had the first flash boiler and who had the best? Was Bill Lear an idiot for trying to go with a turbine and dismissing all the piston guys as "backyard kooks?"