colapible regenerator/displacer

Discussion on Stirling or "hot air" engines (all types)
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fullofhotair
Posts: 265
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:28 am

colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by fullofhotair »

This is not my idea .A displacer/regenerator, made of horizontal corrugated metal sheets. As the displacer reaches the top it accordians in. This eliminates dead head. The conserved heat is reserved in the metal. Dead head being the enemy of heat engines ,isn't this good? No one wants to think out side the box anymore .I bet the Chinese and Indians are. Are we really stuck in Victorian infatuation, beautiful mechanical devices.
vamoose
Posts: 267
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:16 am
Location: Australia

Re: colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by vamoose »

I think many people into Stirlings need to think outside the box just to get these engines.
Although I don't put up some of my whacky thoughts, probably in part to avoid ridicule, but also sometimes I like to keep some ideas to myself for other reasons.

I wouldn't take it to heart if people don’t respond to your topics sometimes. This is a small community with a limited group of active members with limited time on their hands. Whether they don't get your idea, dismiss it, disagree, are only watchers, or are just too busy, I think many of us like to read others thoughts..

It takes guts to put ones self out there for others to critique. Some people will only ask questions if they already know the answer, while some are never brave enough to ask questions and so only give answers.

I was looking for a quote by a clever chap named Albert Einstein, but couldn't find it, it went something like his..

“Its not the answers that win Nobel Prizes, It's the questions.”


I did find these from him though...

“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. “

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”


some more random Einstein quotes...

“You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. “

"Information is not knowledge. “

“The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. “

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”

"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. “

“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. “

“With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common phenomenon. “

“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”



In regards to your topic fullofhotair. I find myself all of a sudden out of time...

vamoose
fullofhotair
Posts: 265
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:28 am

Re: colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by fullofhotair »

Vamoose,
Thanks for the response. I know I have limited knowledge in thermodynamic etc. So most of what I come up probably wouldn't work, but I love solving problems. If just one of my ideas could advance the stirling engine ,that would be enough for me. Iam never going to apply for patent. I hope maybe someone gets an idea they could use or elaborate on. With the new materials coming out and the advances in other sciences, I believe that external heat engines have a bright future.
Bumpkin
Posts: 280
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:42 pm

Re: colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by Bumpkin »

A bit off-topic from dead space; but if the displacer/regenerator stretches to stay in contact with the engine hot/cold ends, it would have direct thermal conduction which could then efficiently pass to the air through the regenerator. Sorta like a thermally-conductive sponge that occupies the entire chamber, bonded at the hot/cold ends and reciprocated from the middle to alternately squeeze or stretch it out.
I think a directly heated/cooled regenerator is a good idea for maximizing transfer to the working gas, though the idea I'm currently messing with doesn’t use direct contact conduction but relies more on a short stroke and radiation. (A stolen Vamoose idea.)
The best thing about ideas is there's no end to them - sometimes the worst thing too. Bumpkin
PS: As to quotes one of my favorites is: “You never know if quotes on the internet are genuine.” - Abraham Lincoln
fullofhotair
Posts: 265
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:28 am

Re: colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by fullofhotair »

Bumpkin
The regenerator would be normal size. The corrugated thin metal sheets would be packed in a double open ended can .The can would be made of two pieces. One ring inside the other. The sheets would have holes in them that didn't line up, to force air flow horizontally. The displacer would have just a small clearance on it side, to force more working gas through the displacer. When the displacer hits top or bottom the displacer collapses on its self. This would remove the dead space. I found someone had though of a very similar idea already. Their idea had a solid floor midway in the displacer, so that only one half of the displacer collapsed. It seems like an improvement.
Bumpkin
Do you have the post by Vamoose, on short stroke radiation or could you elaborate a little?
Bumpkin
Posts: 280
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:42 pm

Re: colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by Bumpkin »

"Do you have the post by Vamoose, on short stroke radiation or could you elaborate a little?"

Look here: EMISIVITY/ABSORBANCE – effects and possible applications.. But I always seem to travel sideways so don't blame the excursion on Vamoose. The principle coincides with my preference of a short stroke and big bore to maximize surface area. My thought is to use the regenerator to move heat in and out of the engine instead of just for recycling it inside.

Bumpkin
fullofhotair
Posts: 265
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:28 am

Re: colapible regenerator/displacer

Post by fullofhotair »

Bumpkin,thanks
That was quite a read. If your still looking for a coating with good emissivity and absorbance, how about this. Electroplated black chrome. Its stable to 300c and anticorrosive. Chrome is pretty commonly used in electroplating. So Iam assuming sending out a piece or two to get black chromed might not be real expensive. It says it has the properties your looking for.

I read a piece awhile back about a study in Japan using mixed working gases in stirling engines. They had very good results. That is what you thought about, air and steam. I wonder why no one mention using neon alone or in a mix. It transfer heat twice as well as air. Air has atomic mass of 29 and neon 20. Its a lot easier to keep confined than say He or H. Pretty easy to come by, neon light shops.
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