Stirling Engine - How it Works
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2011
- www.stirlingengineforsale.com/
An animation showing how a Stirling engine works. A stirling engine operates by transferring air from one side of the engine to the other, this is done by the displacer. This air then works upon the power piston which in turn rotates the crankshaft which moves the displacer and on and on it goes until a heat source runs out or the engine reaches equilibrium
What is a Stirling Engine?
A Stirling Engine is an external combustion engine. Most engines that people see and use everyday are internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engines require a specific fuel ie. a four stroke engine need petrol/gasoline, a diesel engine requires diesel fuel, a jet engine requires kerosene etc.
A stirling engine however can run on almost any fuel source, some of them can actually run in reverse on a cold source of energy as opposed to a hot source of energy.
There are several types of stirling engine. The one i find most interesting is the Gamma type. They can be made to run on the heat of your hand, or in reverse on the cold of an ice cube, engines like these are called low temperature differential stirling engine (LTD Stirlings).
The original stirling was invented in 1816 by Robert Stirling. At that time steam engines were just in their infancy and the metals of the time were not as strong or reliable as they are nowadays, as a result many people lost their lives due to steam engine boiler explosions. Robert Stirling took it upon himself to design a low pressure engine and came up with the stirling cycle engine.
Unfortunately, while the engine was very quiet and used less fuel than steam engines of the time, it lacked the power to be widely used during the industrial revolution or for any transport purposes. Even to this day no major use has been found for the stirling engine in all their forms. Modern diesel engines are now more efficient than the most efficient Stirling engine ever built, although stirling engines do not have anywhere near s much money or resources pumped into their development as diesel engines would.
In the 1970s, Ford, GM and the American Motor Company spent millions of dollars developing a family sized car powered by a stirling engine. The reason it did not sell is because unlike most other engines, a stirling engine needs to be heated up for a short while before it will run, obviously people do not want to have to start a fire underneath their cars every morning before they go to work. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![[TH] 2024 PMWC x EWC Main Tournament Day 2 | PUBG MOBILE WORLD CUP x ESPORTS WORLD CUP](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TgEFw285vXA/mqdefault.jpg)
No probs, glad you understood it, it took me quite a while to make. I have animations of other types of engines if you are interested, 2 strokes, 4 strokes, diesels, beta and gamma stirlings. Thanks again.
Even for a lifelong technophobe like myself, I found this easy to understand. It deserves an award as an example of how to teach something from scratch, something few scientists and technicians are able to do. Please make more of these for everything else and put them on Wikipedia.
The displacer needs to be almost as big as the displacer cylinder but not so big that it rubs off the inside of the cylinder - make it slightly smaller so it does not touch the sides, all the displacer needs to do is transfer the air from the top and bottom of the chamber, it does not need to be airtight, hope that answers your question.
All the air inside the chamber is at nearly the same pressure since the displacer doesn't form an airtight seal. The pressure above and below the displacer is nearly equal, so the net force on the displacer from air pressure is near zero. The power piston is affected by the difference between external atmospheric pressure and internal chamber pressure. Since the external pressure doesn't change much, any change in internal pressure results in a net force on the power piston.
awesome animation
Excellent explanation....Looking forward to more useful videos from your channel...
In the model i have created above (and which i plan to create in real life), i have drilled a hole into the top plate to accommodate the power cylinder & piston. However in most other models there is simply a small hole drilled below the cylinder to allow transfer of air between the displcer cyl & power cyl.
very interesting video, I can see many possibilities with this. by making use of my own well water for cold and my wood fuel heating for the hot. yes can see this working very well and easy. but have to think of the best way to do it and do the trial and error stuff lol. but it would work year round for sure
Excellent explanation, it would have more impact with audio, but the graphics are really good.
Awe explanation! Thanks!!
@vascoa Hi, i use AutoCAD for construction of the model and Bryce 5.5 for rendering and animation. Bryce is a free download, you should look into it, fairly easy to use as well, there's tutorials all over TH-cam
@demnlordd666 No its not a stupid question at all. Yes the two cylinders are connected to each other ie. any change in volume from the main cylinder pushes or pulls the power piston, altho its actually the outside atmospheric pressure that is affecting the power piston - when the pressure in the main cylinder lowers, the outside atmospheric pressure pushes the power piston down and vice versa. Hope i explained that properly
wicked :D
Cheers mate !
I like the video I liked the explanation, one suggestion though if you could make the power piston and the displacer piston contrasting colors it would make the video much easier to follow. As is the case of showing the video to kids.
Do you drill a hole in the top plate to accomodate the power cylinder and piston or is the power cylinder resting on top of the top plate?
thats awesome! can this be used to make a generator to charge a battery bank perhaps?
This does make me wonder though, if a Sterling engine is built at high altitude (Denver?) and then transported to a lower altitude (Miami), will it be able to run on an external heat source? I would think that it wouldn't since there won't be enough cooling at room temperature to reduce the internal pressure below the external atmospheric. I suppose of you cold sufficiently cool the cold side below room temperature, you might be able to get the necessary pressure difference?
Another superb video! Your 507 series are excellent too.
Thanks. I'm not sure if i'll continue with the 507 series, they're not very popular and might not be worth the time it takes to make each video.
I'm afraid interest in mechanics on YT is extremely low when compared to titillating music videos, abusive nonsensical rants and New Age nonsense. Television was originally an educational tool though you'd hardly recognize it today. Keep the fine work ;)
Great video and dead on example. However, I don't think this engine will run. You can only make the pressure difference by cooling because you can't get enough access to the hot end to heat it. I think your design is as original as possible though. What is the bore/stroke for both pistons? Beautiful animation too. What CAD did you use?
so question, is the power cylinder open on the bottom into the main chamber? meaning that the air in the unit changes volume pushing and pulling the power piston? or are there to separate sealed chambers relying on transfer of heat between the the two alone? prob a stupid question but I had to ask
No probs, glad you liked it :)
That was amazing ..
I'm wondering... how come the air pressure is only acting upon the power piston but the displacer seems immune to it and is only pushed by the inertia of the flywheel
ok, but then, if the displacer piston doesn't have an airtight seal, can it stil displace colder or warmer air? wouldn't it just slide through the air or can it properly displace it?
wonderful!
Hi...
What Software do you use for this construction\animations?
solidworks?
Good vid by the way..
I have a geothermal source this design is great for.
Do it , hook a generator up to it and you've free electricity :)
Why is there a hole in the displacer?
Actually, Philips made some machines in the 50th and developed the technic a lot. Then the Stirling engine is used at Kockums in Sweden when they make submarines. They are partly powered by sterling-machines.
can you put some audio plz
title should read "Stirling Engine - How it Works backwards"
nvm... i think i got it.. looks cool I'd like to buy a model one because making one from a soda can requires some tools that i don;t have(letcon and stuff)
what's with the weird french "quand voyagez vous? quand l'avion arrive a Londres?"!?
Dear Sirs,
What you know about internal combustion engines by now is already history. See the most efficient diesel engine ever made. Buy the patent: Construction diagram and construction of KOLEV MOTORS
All news you can see on our channel in TH-cam: todornicolov1
Best regards
Kolev Motors
You gotta be a quicker reader than me.
I like the part were he talks
Computer heat sink applications.
We are so advanced in technology if the government's concern was to respect the earth by using cleaner energy than the money they take from us in taxes would go to the solar panel and other clean energy systems instead of military. Im just saying we have drones and far advanced technology and many smart people in the world and your telling me that Gaddafi gave all his citizens free health care and free education and housing and we cant figure out what plan to choose in america open your eyes.
Go to WoodPrix page if you'd like to know how to build it. Great solutions for everyone I think.