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Using sterling engine to cycle geothermal

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:08 am
by twoartistic
Hi I am new to the forum.

I am very excited to find this forum. I have been designing, and conceptualizing low cost ways to build a sterling system with enough energy conversion to power a small pump. My interest is to cycle the solar heated fluid to store energy into a geothermal heat well. I have been working on optimizing each element of the thermal engine to limit losses. My other emphasis is to reduce the cost of the components. Last year I finally made a breakthrough that will get the cost down in the range that gets to a viable ROI. Particularly in cooler regions where a high percentage of energy costs are in heating of our homes and businesses.

I am working with an energy company to raise the money to build the proof of concept and get all the legal in place to take this to market. If you have any interest, or contacts that may have a desire to move this technology forward, feel free to contact me @ twoartistic@gmail.com

Here is a link to an online video showcase of my technical, and creative skills; http://animoto.com/play/VDBnTdYkQziDndNhpXsm4g

I am always eager to talk about engineering, design, art, craftsmanship, and sterling engines.

Re: Using sterling engine to cycle geothermal

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:02 am
by Ferraccio
Hello,
It seems that you are a volcano of ideas.
Honestly, I think you're a creative, well done.
I will look better on your site with interest.
Your risk is to be a little too broad, as the other part was the great Leonardo da Vinci.
Outside of your enthusiasm you need to understand the magnitude of the phenomena involved.
Collect the sun, in heat, has a yield discrete in quasi-direct consumption, if you transfer to the geothermal have a very low yield, high-cost, if it gets back from geothermal have a very low yield more. Do you find yourself at the end with a handful of flies.
One solution would be fine if it came a sudden ice age or quite.
Please note that most of the consumptions of our Specie (which are huge) are due to the fact that we have created it expensive (energetically) because we can fulfill them at very low cost (money).

Most of the warming of our homes goes through walls and windows, even if technology should reduce the dispersion of 80-90%.
To carry the 160 pounds of our body to 65 mph we consume the energy required to operate at full capacity 16 houses with appliances on.
When the fuel is at 60 $ a gallon, the ingenious solutions will make sense.

The Stirling engine may be applied (now) in niche situations, with a couple of interesting conditions: using the heat in different ways and from different sources, high and low temperature, solar, geothermal, combustion, when the burning means burning gas, vegetal oil, hydrogen, straw, twigs, dried cow dung, peat, solid municipal waste, biogas.
Excluding high-tech solutions with high-quality fuels, it is clear the usefulness of having power of high entropy value, (e.g. electrical) with fuel in low-tech and eco-friendly (it is not possible to operate a computer or TV directly with cow dung dried).
The focus in reducing the waste inherent with friction and disturbances necessary in design-making a Stirling engine makes it more reasonable to assume then the integration, with the electricity, the heat "waste" as to make a more efficient use of energy.

Re: Using sterling engine to cycle geothermal

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 9:57 pm
by twoartistic
Yes, staying focused is always a challenge when you are a creative type. My mind is always racing with new ideas. I do have a plan of action and taking it one step at a time. One of my backers is keeping me on track with assignments. We will be taking each proprietary element of the design through the patent process and then put them all together to create the thermal engine. It will be a long process unless we raise significant funds right away.

As fuel prices rise, these kinds of technologies will gain further interest, and once we have a working proof of concept, it will gain momentum quickly... I hope. I have a connection to a project that the Discovery Channel is doing about alternative energy systems, and may get to put the technology into the project. Keeping fingers crossed.