- Joined
- Oct 15, 2020
- Messages
- 208
My friends,
In the mad lab there is something brewing! Seriously, I'm getting rather ridiculously excited as she nears functionality.... been working on it for a few years.... MWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
You'll see soon!
Anyways, it is likely that there are many here who have been-there-done-that with the Stirling Engine. I've made one, but it never worked - alas, the past and whatnot.
SO! You likely know that if you take a Stirling and run it with a motor, the "hot spot" actually gets stupid cold - used as a heat-pump in cryocooling; there was even a Coleman cooler made this way, but they're discontinued and now psychotically expensive. Surplus Stirling cryocoolers are indefensibly expensive on Ebay.
Too bad I don't have a new machine shop.... OH, WAIT! (It's even paid off now!!!!!)
From what I gather, the easiest method for me would be a "Gamma-Alpha" type - it's Gamma because it uses a displacer (rather than two pistons), but it's an Alpha because it gets its 90 degree phase differential by virtue of the cylinders being at right angles, but both rods being pinned at the same place on the crank.
Making the Hot/Cold cylinder of aluminum or copper (with a thermal gasket between sides), then wrapping them with soft-copper tubing would allow a pretty good heat exchange between both the hot and the cold sides - heat being exchanged to a brine solution.
From what I understand, the regenerator can be cotton, or likely rayon - as again, it is a heat-pump rather than an engine and cotton/rayon acts better at low temperature than the common steel-wool.
Here is my question: I have an Airpot (graphite-ceramic piston in Borosilicate glass cylinder) that I intend to use as the power piston (though for a heat-pump, I don't know that the name is appropriate). What volume ratio ought I use when making my Hot/Cold cylinder in which the displacer runs?
Anyone know? Given the swept volume of the power piston, what ought to be the swept volume of the other cylinder? Bigger I think, but how much bigger? I've got some copper pipe, and some much larger aluminum seamless so....
This gizmo would then be the 12volt powered beating heart of the Mark V version of the super secret awesomeness that I hope to be showing quite soon!!!
Thanks for reading
In the mad lab there is something brewing! Seriously, I'm getting rather ridiculously excited as she nears functionality.... been working on it for a few years.... MWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
You'll see soon!
Anyways, it is likely that there are many here who have been-there-done-that with the Stirling Engine. I've made one, but it never worked - alas, the past and whatnot.
SO! You likely know that if you take a Stirling and run it with a motor, the "hot spot" actually gets stupid cold - used as a heat-pump in cryocooling; there was even a Coleman cooler made this way, but they're discontinued and now psychotically expensive. Surplus Stirling cryocoolers are indefensibly expensive on Ebay.
Too bad I don't have a new machine shop.... OH, WAIT! (It's even paid off now!!!!!)
From what I gather, the easiest method for me would be a "Gamma-Alpha" type - it's Gamma because it uses a displacer (rather than two pistons), but it's an Alpha because it gets its 90 degree phase differential by virtue of the cylinders being at right angles, but both rods being pinned at the same place on the crank.
Making the Hot/Cold cylinder of aluminum or copper (with a thermal gasket between sides), then wrapping them with soft-copper tubing would allow a pretty good heat exchange between both the hot and the cold sides - heat being exchanged to a brine solution.
From what I understand, the regenerator can be cotton, or likely rayon - as again, it is a heat-pump rather than an engine and cotton/rayon acts better at low temperature than the common steel-wool.
Here is my question: I have an Airpot (graphite-ceramic piston in Borosilicate glass cylinder) that I intend to use as the power piston (though for a heat-pump, I don't know that the name is appropriate). What volume ratio ought I use when making my Hot/Cold cylinder in which the displacer runs?
Anyone know? Given the swept volume of the power piston, what ought to be the swept volume of the other cylinder? Bigger I think, but how much bigger? I've got some copper pipe, and some much larger aluminum seamless so....
This gizmo would then be the 12volt powered beating heart of the Mark V version of the super secret awesomeness that I hope to be showing quite soon!!!
Thanks for reading