Stirlingengineforum.com

Hi All,

It's been a while since I posted anything here, and I have had to re register with a new user name. Only the 2 on the end is new. Congrats on the new server and software.

My questions revolve around the following engine. The link is to a youtube video.

Link

These look like a very large scale LTD engines in a gamma configuration. The language is German so I cannot make out what is being said. Nevertheless the two engines shown seem to be making some usable power. One is pumping a fair amount of water. If any of you are capable of translating the info I would be very appreciative.

I live off grid and I feel I have the location to harvest sunlight to drive such an engine. This would allow me to keep my batteries more easily charged and add to my RE system.

Technically what hurtles would need to be overcome to build such an engine? Do you feel a salvage patio door would work for the displacer face? Is the power diaphragm a part of a truck air shock? Would the crank need to be one piece? Any guess as to power output on either engine with heat from the sun?

Thanks all,
Roger Stephenson

There is not really any useful information, only general information for people who do not know the stirling engine at all. In example the last sentence is, that stirling engines can convert sun light into mechanical energy directly.

kind regards
Soeren

Litteral translation:
On his model, the inventor shows us the heart of his 'sun machine': The Stirling Engine. You can also say 'hot air motor'. Eckhart Weber has of course no sun in his working place, but a torch or a small flame work as well.
Stirling engines can also immediately transform solar energy into mechanical energy.

I have a question about scaling up Stirling engines.
I think there's no reason why a Stirling engine cannot be scaled up, but I'm not completely sure.
Imagine a very large gamma machine, f.i. 10 metres in diameter. Would it work completely the same as a coffee cup machine?

In the youTube video, a flat plate Stirling is shown, and I can imagine that you could make a plate so big that it covers a whole house roof. (And then of course adjust it in a way that it runs silently instead of the noise of the video.)
What could be the reason why almost all Stirling machines are so tiny?

Would the roof be blocked from absorbing heat by the engine itself?

How about inverting the engine and shade the cool side? Isn't that what the big flat plate is showing?

Having only built the walking beam engine I'm the guy that needs a pro to come along and help out.

RS

I'm still waiting to see how the 55 gal drum "can" engine works out. There have been quite a few fairly large engines made and are pushing small tractors and small boats around but I've never seen a large "LTD" yet. It seems possible but I'm betting the increase in size would of course increase the weight of all the moving parts and you would still have what the hand size models achieve, just enough power to over-come the friction to function...if that. Up scaling non LTD types have trouble evenly heating the hot end cap and then you have the same old problem, you might as well use another engine type (IC) to produce more useful power from the fuel you are consuming. There does seem to be some promise with the large mirror reflector / stirling generators being built.

Yes, I've read about the sun powered arrays of these engines, and the DOE web site says they're working on ~2KW designs. However I contacted the administrator of the Sandia Lab overseeing the government research and he disagreed with the DOE claim of smaller version of these being developed. I've read about another company, based in Washington state that is building a system in this watt range. Still, I see no offers to the public of such a system by anyone. The market is surely there.

The first engine seen in the video is moving a fair amount of water with each stroke. I wish I knew where this engine was and could find out from the builder a couple things. If I could power that very engine with sun, which Arkansas has a good summer supply, and spin a low cutin speed 3 phase alternator, I could sure use the power in my off grid lifestyle! Heck if it was only 50 watts I'd build 4 or 5 and be set. I don't know the gallons per minute that machine in the video is pushing, but it looks like a good deal. In conjunction with my solar and wind RE sources I think I'd have it made.

Hi RS,

If you have'nt yet got the german website translated, as a last resort you may want to try

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

Just paste the german website's URL into the "Translate a webpage" field then select the "from and to language" as "German to English" then click on translate.

The translated page may not be an exact word for word translation and the grammer may be a bit way off. But I personally make do with this option many a times.

All I have is the YouTube link. I think I can understand what the main point of the commentary is. I need to know where these engines reside and if I can find some data about them. It looks like a museum setting, but could be anywhere.

I'll keep you suggestion in mind, and thanks.

RS