I' ve been reading in this forum quit a while and i did watch some videos about stirling engines.
It looks very cool.
I build my first engine now. I hope you will like it.
It will be a beta type engine.
It is going to be made of metal cans.
I want it to run on a smal tea candle.
The displacer chamber
Last edited by TheGermanDude on Fri Aug 29, 2014 4:58 am, edited 2 times in total.
today i made a big advance. The engine runs. But it needs two tea candles.
I will try to improve it today.
1. use more fine steel wool and i will try not to compress the steel wool for the displacer.
2. relocate the connecting rod of the displacer. I will drill it trough the piston.
3. make a new piston of gypsum and coat it with epoxy and graphit.
4. place the work pioston in the center
One thing that could improve the power out put, on top of the displacer, beside the power cylinder put some ice cubes, or even some water to assist the cooling. The piston you have will have quite a bit of friction, and not a very good air seal, but I can not think of an improvement just at the moment.
Ian S C
questions to the RPM:
Can the RPM be conmtrolled by changing the angle of the crankshaft?
I expect a greater angle make the engine faster, a smaler make is slower?
Right now it got ~90°.
Maybe a slower running engine will have more power?
It got already watercooling, no watercycle, but evaporation. The top of the displacer chamber is covered with water. Hard to see in the movie.
It runs for hours on a tee candle in a test. Until the candle expires.
I dont want ice becaus the engine shall work on its own. D:
Making a good working piston was the most difficult thing.
Polystyrol with epoxy would mabe have less weight? Did somone test that?
The sealing of the working piston quiet well i think. It is oscilating by air pressure when pulled out rapidly.
Could the heat transport inside the displacer be reduced, interrupting the steel wool with polystyrol?
Is the heat transport through the steel wool wasting mouch power?
Dude, The displacer is worth experimenting with, although any gains will be small, every bit helps.
If you can adjust one of the cranks, it can be worth trying, move it say about 5*, and try, then another 5*, and keep going until it won't go, note the most powerful/fastest position. Go back to 90*, then repeat the experiment in the other direction. You might find that 90* or very near it will be as good as you will get.
If your engine is powerful enough, a small fiction brake measuring in gram / mm, or ounce / inches is a useful instrument, along with a non contact tachometer. With that you can work out the power of the motor.
Ian S C
