Solar Stirling Engine

[faizan2410]

I want to make a stirling engine using solar energy for an engineering project. I want to attempt producing 100watts but I am unsure of where to start and how to proceed with the project. Please guide me and name some reference books that can come in handy. This is my first attempt ever at fabricating an engine so any kind of help will be appreciated. Thanks!

[theropod2]

Ian will be along with the appropriate links to the books you'll need and some other references.

I think the simple approach might be best, and I'm going to attempt a large LTD engine build over the summer. I'm going to use a big sheet of acrylic 3'X5' to let the sun pass into a flat black displacer and a big hunk of aluminum for a cool end (maybe with water spray cooling). If I can get 30 watts I'll be on top of the world.

One approach might be to built the walking beam engine our host has been kind enough to share. If you can get one of those working, and then working off concentrated sunlight, you can have a baseline from which to draw valid comparisons. I still see no real reason a much larger version can't be built. Sunlight can be combined to start making real heat, and it's free. I think an old 2 meter satellite dish could be covered with random hunks of broken mirror, glued on with silicone, and the focal point would be deadly if aimed correctly.

Anyway, I'm very interested in such a solar Stirling project as I live off grid, an any watt I can make, reliably, I should be making. If I can get my one big LTD to work, and make any power at all, I might just make a bunch and cover my south facing hillside with Stirlings. I just need to figure out a starter so I don't have to attend them.

[Ian S C]

faizan 2410, first question; what do you have in the way of a workshop? Ian S C

[faizan2410]

Thankyou for your replies. I was thinking of using a parabolic solar dish or a fresnel lens and a gamma type engine since its easier to build (according to my research). I have lathe,milling,shaper and planer at my university workshop but i can access other workshops aswell if I need to.

[Ian S C]

That sounds like a wonderful workshop, I haven't been to University, but a friend who has, has a bit of expirience, Thats Dr Don Clucas designer of the Whispergen, when he was at Canterbury Uni, here in New Zealand, they have quite a Stirling Engine lab there.
If you have not built a Stirling Engine before, find a small, simple, but tested design and build it, get it going well.
If you look in my gallery, you will find a motor labeled my 2nd engine (or something like that), this motor is normally powered by LPG, but I'v got a freznel lens about 2ft x 1.5ft, this on a hot summers day will drive the motor to just over 5W, with LPG the power is just about 5W. The consentrated suns rays are hot enough to etch a mark on the stainless steel hot cap. That motor is a 1 3/4" bore BETA type.
A good book to start of with is by James G. Rizzo "The Stirling Engine Manual" vol one is a good start, vol two a bit more advanced. Another book worth getting is a free down load of Andy Ross's book "Making Stirling Engines". Ian S C

[faizan2410]

Ian SC your collection looks amazing, you have done some pretty good work here.
My partner and I have decided to build a smaller working engine to get the grasp of things and make points of all things important. We may even use this one for our presentation but for the final project, we are aiming for 100 Watts which hopefully we will be able to achieve. I have downloaded Making Stirling Engine by Andy Ross and will buy James G. Rizzo's The Stirling Engine Manual and also Stirling Engine by Walker.

[Ian S C]

Good for you, you sound as though you are going about this in an orderly fashon, before too long you will have a working motor. Ian S C

[Ian S C]

Hi Mike, I presume that you want to power a Stirling Engine/hot air engine using solar heat, a smaller motor will run well from a parabolic reflector, at least 12" dia, preferably more, or a large freznel lens, I'v got one that was made to fit in front of a TV screen. To generate power the solar gathering gear must increase in size in proportion with the size of the motor, and the expected output. My building is restricted to a minimum type budget, so my motors don't always look too fancy, as they are built from whatever I can find, although I try my best to use the correct materials in the right place. Ian S C

[PSmeall]

yes I am very interested as well. Came up with a real simple design, but you need high temperature linkage parts for it to operate effitiently. Here is a video simiiar to what I was messing with
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRMhaVrLLs0‎
Nov 11, 2007 - Uploaded by tsport100
"More efficient" in which way, cost or energy? Sterling motor are approx 30% energy eff but are still mostly ...

[PSmeall]

Note you can buy some expensive but well made sterling engines here, that may be usable in a solar project. I thought of also playing with a solar powered gas turbine using refrigerant gases.
some toy type sterling engines that may be useful for a solar project.
http://ministeam.com/acatalog/Double-Cylinder.html
http://ministeam.com/acatalog/Triple-Cylinder.html
http://ministeam.com/acatalog/Quad-Cylinder-.html
with glass cylinder
http://ministeam.com/acatalog/Glass-Cylinder.html
Low temp large area desings might be the way to go ?
http://ministeam.com/acatalog/Low-Temperature.html
the last two would be good to use to help work out the best design for your collector.

Now these would be no where near 100 watts, but maybe start by making smaller models of your design that might just put out a few watts to begin with, then build your big 100+ Watt generator from there ?

A fairly advanced facility https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~wang30y/csp/ ... cDish.html

[Ian S C]

PSmeall, with a small unpressurized motor you would be very lucky to excede 10%, you would need pressurization to get to 30% efficiency. Cost dosn't come into it when I build a motor, my way is to build them for as little as possible, nothing if possible. IAN S C