Stirlingengineforum.com

Hi I an, Thanks. I've seen the free piston configuration. Fabrication seems somewhat more complicated than what I'd like to tackle, but the spring/magnet mechanism did address my curiosity. Linear alternators might not be my first choice afterall. I found a better description and illustration of the...

Sure, a swashplate would be awesome, but I haven't determined how to make one or if I have the skills to do so. Also, instead of wondering if electomagnetic forces of the alternators could replace the function of a flywheel, maybe the muti-bellow arrangement and 90° linkage will do so? Furthermore, ...

I like the idea of using bellows instead of pistons--yes, I have seen the youtube videos--though I haven't seen a model for bellow friction losses. It solves the sealing issue, and it seems that it would be much easier for a DIY build, maybe even with pressurized working fluid. Since I don't have a ...

If you had a cold store with a sufficient heat capacity and thermal mass, you could take it down to the stagnation temperature for greater Carnot efficiency. Of course, it would be cyclical, and it would need to be insulated very well. Water might work, if you can contain it without breakage as the ...

I had another thought. Allow me to think aloud. Reducing the non-radiative losses makes the CPE more efficient, which changes the balance, which changes the crossover differential. Cutting the non-radiative losses to .25W m^2 moves the optimum radiator temperature to -29°C, which gives an output of ...

Houston, we have a... The losses in the compound parabolic emitter must be reduced for this idea to be practical for producing power from ambient heat. With current local temperature at 6°C and a dew point at 2°C and with the radiator at -26°C, before losses the net radiated output is 149.3W m^-2. T...

skyfridge, I read somewhere of someone running a refrigeration unit from a wind turbine. Ian S C Thanks, Ian. I guess I didn't finish the thought. I'm going to find a way to finish this prototype, and I am confident that it will work. It is often very windy here. Someone in town told me that annual...

Also, coupling the sky emitter on the cold side with a solar collector on the hot side could be a lot of fun, but that would require a larger battery bank to store the energy when the sun is shining.

Of course, there will always be a crossover point for maximum power output vs. ΔT vs. Stirling engine Carnot efficiency vs. radiator temperature vs. weather conditions vs. radiator surface area. Raise the Carnot efficiency to a more optimistic 58% of Carnot and tune it for a larger ΔT for a greater ...

I'm here. I live off the grid and am looking for sustainable ways to git 'er done. We have a 200W solar array with a 12V 300(?)Ah deep cycle battery bank. It's not much, but it works for us. I've been looking for a sustainable refrigeration solution that doesn't involve a consumable resource. I've d...

If the basic requirement for the function of a Stirling engine is a heat source and a heat sink, other than the occasional rain, bat droppings and roof rats, why couldn't one use ambient temperature as the heat source and the much colder sky, via radiative cooling, as the heat sink, to move a Stirli...