Stirlingengineforum.com

It's mind boggling that you could by a 200w Philips Stirling generator in 1954. And yet over half a century later, nothing.

Agreed Tom, not a Ringbom at all. Keep in mind that although the magnet system is near frictionless, the piston must overcome the full force of the magnetic pull at bottom dead center to allow the displacer to fall away, so it is not a free lunch. Also note that dwell is only accomplished at the hot...

I've often thought the best chance of getting such an engine to generate any output would be to build an axial flux type low RPM permanent magnet generator into the flywheel to eliminate losses due to gearing. That may be the answer. I found this 5 watt permanent magnet generator I might try. https...

Its also worth noting that the basic LTD design is the only one(I'm aware of) that is in use for wood stove fans today. That says alot about ease of manufacturing and practicality.

Tom, I wish this forum allowed editing, to be clear I'm looking for suggestions for types of electric generator motors to power with the stirling. I too am hopeful for this design. It shows an impressive amount of torque when on a fresh cup and after a cold soak. I realized quickly I will have to im...

Finally got my LTD Stirling in the mail. She runs well and should be a good test bed before I build a larger model. First order of business was to 3d print some nylon gears(1:8.3)to spin a generator at a reasonable speed while running the Stirling where I think peak torque will fall, around 60-100rp...

Matt, it sounds to me that you are describing Tesla's earthquake machine. And unless one of us has the brilliant spark of Tesla, we are stuck driving a piston with pressure gained from temperature. I notice as I type this that a google bot is active on the forum. Maybe we can have chat gpt solve thi...

Don't suppose you've stumbled across my new heat engine "Ringbom"-ish type design with no cold side. Interesting...I had attempted to make an open cycle engine of similar theory. I understand the concept but I don't see that working closed cycle with no cold side. Please prove me wrong th...

Some food for thought..... It is well known that Stirling engines operate much better on helium The thermal conductivity of air and helium is .026 and .15 W/mK respectively Gay-Lussacs law states that all gases expand similarly with temperaure Heat gained during the compression of gas is nearly inst...

Fascinating stuff for sure. I'm curious where you stand Matt, do you believe you have a complete understanding of the Stirling cycle in practice? I am completely impartial to how exactly the cycle works. I feel our only rational move is to tweak the cycle to get max power. It's unfortunate that othe...

Some would consider that you still have a regenerator or heat gradient in the space between the displacer and chamber walls. If you don't mind my adding some color to your whiteboard. Of course not. I agree, that area can be viewed as a regenerator. Though the lack of relative surface area against ...

Thank you I did not see that option. displacer theory.jpg Tom, as I've said, what I believe is happening, is that the engine is poorly timed and is robbing its own power to cool the cold side. By doing so it is losing out on most if not all of the second (atmospheric driven) power stroke. You could ...

Maybe this will work? https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZfnnckvYuunYKT6MazvQnnQTaKlEJZKfSVgAetcBT0WOXd_UmJyTEsr54kqNlQTyAUT6r_uV9-ic9iVPCQ7yv6wZ-2YMNpXRIrjur2283sONx86xNUuYcb8UmChOT21lgtzwjUHREaTHbsHlgDunJDRQOSoSrcfIf_LkXhWWtsjoxan0cVMBFDbUeiPs0qB4PwrqinCTOK7egm1VUFI9k1lNnoiX44_5Hn0rj0NDXJi1P85U9PaA...

Not profitable enough?

I think it is just much MUCH more profitable not to market to the general consumer.

Agreed.

A low compression ratio is I think, an unfortunate consequence of the design rather than the "key to it's effectiveness". Consider that a high compression ratio creates a relatively large change in volume. A low compression ratio creates a relatively small change in volume, which brings u...