The NASA Stirling Engine - Made In An Hour - Step By Step
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ย. 2014
- This is a brilliant and easy to make Stirling engine designed by NASA. It is quite a strong and violent machine but a lot of fun to make and play around with. You might be able to adapt it to be even more efficient with materials from our webshop at www.workingink.co.uk.
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Robert if you ever need material for a new Video please just redo your old ones. The new videos their visual clarity and sound of your voice are so much better for this half blind and half deaf guy. You are a Christmas gift to mankind, love you brother.
This is so damn interesting. I really like the simplicity of stirling engines and the fact that they can use almost any source of heat. Keep up the good work...
Regards, from South Africa
Nice. I just saw one of these made on another channel, but this one looks like it has superior efficiency. I've been scouring the web the last couple of days, and wound up frustrated that one can't just go out and buy a Stirling engine in a "commodity" sort of way the way you would a DC or AC motor. Looks like if you want to get into that arena you're stuck with building it yourself. So instructional material like this is great.
you can get kits at least you don't have to make it from scratch... although those are of different design than this one... Good luck.
Excellent working device with everyday materials. Thanks. A little coil above the magnet and it generates electrical power !
This configuration of stirling is quite efficient... almost no friction just gravity and contraction/expansion of gases... very nice.
I would love to see you turn this into an electric generator using a speaker magnet and coil to see how much electricity it makes
You are having way too much fun Robert. Thanks for the smile. :)
I believe i will try this one. It looks like a lot of fun.
MUDDy
is there anything that you cannot do, good god your chanale is the best thing happened to the internet
Always loved you're channel, so great to see videos and streams.. :D
Sir You are a Great Scientist Engineer.
Just found this after your recent awesome videos on your endothermic and exothermic reaction with the urea and chalk... so cool!
Excellent demonstration of what is in fact a complex thermodynamic cycle coupling two vibrating systems through the dynamics of the fluid inside that container. This gentleman seems to enjoy what he was doing and the result shows his depth of knowledge, even though it is all hidden by such simple manner of building this linear machine. I have made one similar to this but mine contains a long pipe where the air in it acts like a piston.. The displacer is directly connected to the top rubber membrane. These are NOT simple machines to analyse in detail.
Cool stuff as usual. Thanks for sharing.
cheers mate
Got to love a man that whistles 😍
Quick note: Rotary Stirling engine with two rotating chambers counter balanced with a thermal acoustic chamber to run the two off a single heat source. You have two rotating disc that are about a couple of centimeter thick or how ever you big you want. Just so they are counter balanced as they both have a hollowed out chamber for gas to expend. Then they are both connected to a tube that you put heat on. This metal tube is filled with a bit of steel scrubber or steel wool pulled apart for the thermal acoustic chamber. And you apply heat to it and it is supposed to set up standing waves of hot air that drive the rotary Stirling engine. I thought that would be a neat device if it should work. I seen some on you tube. Where the tube replaces the displacer on a Stirling.
Awesome. Can't wait to try it! :) Thanks Robert.
Does anyone a link to any research on this?
Incrivel, meu amigo!!!Eu gosto muito das variações do stirling, confesso que aprendi com você a fazer a fazer êste free piston!!! Abraços!!!
wow very nice! i love these engines. thanks for sharring
cheers mate
not passing through Sydney?
Cos I have a beer with your name on it.
Thanks for your videos.
bummer mate - just left there! - have to be next time now
Pretty good step by step video Robert!
I'm really happy now!
Good to see you and your replication!
Congratulation!
Greetings from Hungary!
Blade
glad you like it mate - your original video was an inspiration - I am going to follow on with your addition of a coil - I was most impressed and it is good to know you approve
Wow, Blade Attila NightHawkInLight referenced your TH-cams in his TH-cams about Thermoacoustics. Maybe I’m going backwards, getting at the source inspiration last, but TH-cams are next on my list.
hello there, robert, from america. what a classic! an absolutely amazing project ! i love it.
Many thanks!
Hmm. Mounted on top of the combustion chamber of my rocket mass heater. Thinking thinking. Thank you Robert 👍
Se você entendesse de filmagem e edição seria insuperável ! Mas que facilidade vc teve para fazer. Pretty good.
EXCELLENT !
your video is amazing. i'm quiet interested in stirling engines and yours works fantastic. I understood everything in the tutorial except the last step. What are you doing with the magnets and the steal rings? where do you place them? i hope you can help me. i would realy like to rebuild this stirling.
I am re-watching this after a couple years, and saw you question. I think I can help you. The neodymium magnet at the top allows you to quickly add or remove washers (weight) from the top diaphragm. Getting the right weight, as Robert says, is crucial to making this motor run well.
good one
If you were to make that Sterling engine and put a magnet and a copper coil like with what you did with the artificial muscle generator, could it possibly be hooked up to your conductive ink to make a heater?
I wish I had your presentation skills, very good :)
cheers mate
well played.
Edit, never mind, I saw the follow up video on doing exactly the below, after I wrote the below.
If you use a bigger magnet and put coiled copper wire on the outside of it, will it generate enough electricity for practical use like charging?
Nice demonstration Robert, now you have me thinking about how to attach a coil to the top to generate electricity :)
glad you like it mate - have a look at the generator vid where id o exactly that
I was wondering if we could use the jumping mass passing through a coil to create energy, thermal to motion to electrical any thermal wastage from the electrical can be fed in a cycle again like regenerative braking to complete or improve such?
wow that was pretty cool, luv sterlings as of recently. love this design...after you intially heat it up and put top on , do you have to keep doing that or does that creat some kind of suction from the heat/cooling effect and then it will be like that for future uses. also i see it works like a piston, is there a way to attach something to it or connect it toa fly wheel, i mean can this actually produce any kind of function?
ty great vid.
mind blown, ideas running everywhere. if the counterweight were magnets pulsing through a coil would it produce enough electric to operate a heating element? enjoy the videos!
Hello Robert, did you get around to making a Sterling kit available after all?
I can't seem to find it on your site. Need two, possibly three of them. Thanks.
So simple ! Cheers :oD
cheers mate
Thanks to u
Great job now i wish i can convert it into a small generator copper wire & magnet😉
Im watching this video again and again and again and I love it.Im very curious how much efficiency does it have?..if you seperate the cold and hot sections of the canster and let the gas be the only thing that is transfering the heat its efficiency will improve.also you can add a heat sink half-out half-inside of the top baloonto help the gas have more thermo-contact with outside air...if you put a neodymium magnet and a coil on top of the heat sink you can test its efficiency under electrical load ...I love this.thank you for your video
I like your ideas mate - I haven't done that m much with this for a while but i think you are looking like you have a better grasp of this than i do - cheers mate
Well, the engine looks like it's producing 5 watts or so.... not sure if there's any point in having a heat sink or trying to improve its efficiency
@@VicAusTaxiTruckie yes but imagine being able to produce more than 5 watts with the same design and dimentions
@@alijabari8715 then I suggest a hand crank generator, less noise, no fuel required, more power. You can make out of microwave oven parts and fit in your pocket
Hello Robert, I am back to watching your Stirling Engine related TH-cams after re-watching NightHawkInLight’s TH-cams about Thermoacoustics. Actually went there for a re-watch after watching your recent TH-cam about Thermoacoustics.
I know I am late to this party, but I have a couple questions and I did look, without success, through all the comments hoping to find an answer.
I think my puzzlement surrounds the attachment of the stirrup, what you mean by a “tack washer” (it is maybe a washer with a small hole for allowing the pin of a tack to go through?), and where you use the 4M nut.
You show making a hole through the inner regulator piston diaphragm (I suspect though the tack washer), then attach the stirrup.
I know you are a wizard, I have seen you produce steam to run a Tesla Turbine from a vacuum) but could you explain that but if magic by which you get the stirrup attached?
Sorry for my late attendance. Enjoy all your shows. Thank you for sharing your genius.
Cheers!
So the can and steel wool are oscillating causing the top diaphragm to oscillate?
Amazing! Can you make a writen Desing step by step tutorial? for dummies he :-) and
2) Can this engine genrate electricity in a good scale? How did NASA get enough TORQUE to move a van.
Tnx a lot!
Are there diagrams of this design available?
What are thoughts on using this design to make a series of these to drive a crank shaft?
WOW... best DIY Stirling setup I've seen so far......
Will this work in reverse ?
like a cryo cooler ?
I would think that there would need to be a connection through a spring between the upper membrane and weight and the displacer in order to activate the displacer but I could be wrong hopefully mr. Rob is inspired by your comment and tries it
Would putting extra holes in the inner can make it work any more efficient. like having a small hole at the bottom and maybe one small hole at the top Or even several holes. then maybe have a gear cog facing up so every time it goes up it moves another gear cog which in turn could be connected to some type of battery cell for charging etc.
Рукавицы у автора зачётные !
Very interesting
glad you liked it mate - cheers
Maybe perhaps wrapping the coil a few more times would help I would think
How displacer Works without help of power piston ,what is the role of ballon ?
Hi Mr. Murray, you've inspired me to try and attempt something similar to what you have created in this video. However, I'm experiencing some difficulties and was curious if you could offer some feedback.
My first question regards the weight on top of it all - do you recommend any way of figuring out how much you need or just playing around with it until it starts?
My next question regards the balloons you used; instead of balloons I used cut up pieces of a cut up rubber tarp, but I'm afraid they're a bit too thick. Any suggestions?
Thanks for any feedback in advance.
Try steel washers, then add or subtract them to add or reduce the weight. With the weights, it's trial and error. To thick won't work the same of course, again try it and experiment.
I think Stirling engine is going to be a wave for future .
The way of explanation was very good .
thank you Robert sir
I wonder if you could balance the cylinder in between magnets so that in the middle, it goes in neither direction but when it moves, the magnets "help" it in the direction it is headed...
have you put no thought into adding a pto to it?
Hi Robert, I am new to the channel and watching with no order. Last week week I saw your sons tippy tappy generator ( ink andPaper ) and wouldn't it work well on this engine.?
Double like !
I'd like to the the USAF/NASA sterling powered vehicle project revisited again, but this time with Nickel Iron batteries for a hybrid electric drive system.
On a crazy note you know those toothed rubber belts on motor cycles. If you wove nitinol wire on the out side of it and you put it on a planetary gear box maybe it could work as the driver for a generator powered by hot water. Just a thought. As it it would take a lot of wire to get much power and I seen the woven nitinol on the new mars rover. The idea is to make a toothed rubber belt like a steel belted tire but woven with nitinol instead and make it into a toothed belt as motor for a planetary gear set up because you could get more torque for slow moving generators or some speed if you use the little planet gears through a planet carrier.
Hello I’m sorry but I can’t see what you do, do you have the instructions somewhere? Or were is this kind of generator described?
Brilliant video and design. However, I should point out that when working with small parts, you should probably have a hands camera to see what you're doing and the parts. Just a heads up ,friend.
that is awesome. Now for me to make one and figure how to put on my 10 foot D parabolic microwave dish ;)
Hiya sir, do you think this could be repurposed for cooling at all please sir, have a lovely rest of your day 😁
This might be useful to a few accentrics out there, but much of a free piston sterling engine can be abstracted to being the equivilant to two passive radiators, add a coil and magnet (aka make one a speaker driver) and suddenly you have a way to measure it as a tuned mass system (and also a way to generate electricity)
Im really tempted to take a passive radiator and a small subwoofer driver and see how the impedance measures, if I'm lucky the plot will look familiar
Un jouet astucieux
Do you have a link to NASA's Stirling Engine design?
Hello, thank you for responded to the comment on graphene.
I wanted to know out of curiosity if the ink that you sold me was, if it gum or not?
Thank you good day.
no worries mate
Hi Unc, hope your doing well my friend.
Very cool proof of concept! I realize these engines have been around for a long time, but this is the first one I've seen made entirely from stuff you might find around your house.
I particularly like how you used the steel wool to fit the smaller cylinder to the larger one, that's pretty industrious.
it also acts a regenerator mate and so improves efficiency
The way I understand that that is what actually makes it a stirling engine as opposed to just a hot-air Engine That was Mister Stirling's innovation it increases efficiency to the point of making it practical
where can i get the first big tin? what is the first big tin?
Robert I have seen an even simpler design yet. The displacer did not move at all (adds drag and friction) instead it was stationary but as in your design there was a membrane on top. The "displacer" (more a can open on top and bottom) had some steel wool wound around it as the regenerator. So the air would be heated inside this displacer can, the membrane on top would start oscelation and shove the air through the regenerator around the (displacer can) to the top where the piston membrane sitzt just as in your design. What would you say, it this design in even more of less beneficial ? I think it might be more beneficial because the displacer which is a huge part does not move inside and thus introduces drag to the air. At the same time I think the benefit might be lost because the small membrane moves less air to the top. I am really not sure of what to make of it.
What are the dimensions ? and the stroke length ? What speed would you guess does it oscillate at ?
Beautiful video Robert, keep them coming.
cheers mate
use a linear fresnel from a rear projection tv and a heliostat to focus the sun
JohnnyQ90 (?) does that.
Dear Robert, your studio it's amazing but i can't see what you do in detail. The wide shot is not for tutorials
On it. 🖖
Put a magnet/s on the moving piston and a stationary coil/s around that and you get quite a powerful and useful generator, pretty sure that's what NASA did.
could put magnets on that and make power from heat far more efficiently than a thermocouple. And or drive it with a mechanical energy and make heat or refrigerate with it..
Hi @Robert Murray-Smith, does your conductive ink do EMI/EMF/RF shielding? If not tested yet, here is a quick way: paint the inside of a box with the paint. Put a camera with a cell phone inside. Close the box for a minute an watch the video afterwards to see if the phone lost signal. There is a big market for this. Does the paint stick to plastic?
It has been tested and works very well and yes it sticks to plastic now - the results of the tests are on the fwgltd.co.uk website
Hello. Watched all of your videos with great appreciation! though half of it went over my head surely. Have been trying to replicate your Stirling engine build. I understand the concepts and It is built exactly as you have shown. it is air tight so the top membrane gets quite inflated when applying heat and quite strongly pulling in when cold. I have a feeling I'm getting the weights on the top wrong so my question is what sort of weight you got on the top there roughly? 100g? 500g? Sorry if this information was already given. thanks for your time.
O Sweed you are on the right track mate - the weight is important to tuning the engine - what i did was glue a small neo magnet on and then use large washers until it worked then weighed the washes - it was around 150g - but each one will be different and you will have to play with the weight until you get it right
Robert Murray-Smith Thank you for the answer. I have been trying something similar as you suggest in the video. Will get it running soon.
O Sweed cool - look forward to seeing it mate
Robert Murray-Smith
hello again. Still couldn't get the Stirling going. I altered weights from 50g all the way to 330g, adding 10g at the time. On some weights it feels like it wants to take off (jumping up and down for 20 quick times and stops) and on others it resonates less. I added a water jacket and found that the engine stops functioning when I put ice there. It comes back to life when ice melts. I modified the balloon membranes to marigold gloves and it is appear to be more resilient. Stirling still inflates with heat and pulls in when cold. The inner section displacer has a small hole to the body and I am able to blow inside through it and inflate the displacer's membrane, it shoots the air back out through the hole and deflates the membrane. It that correct? What am I doing wrong? I am heating it until there is some inflation of the top power membrane and then try to start it by tapping on the top. If you can point out if im doing anything wrong form this description, it would be great. If unclear i will be able to post a demonstration vid. Cheers
O Sweed what are you heating it with?
Cool! Have you used magnets and a wire coil to generate some electricity ? The Biowatt Wood Stove use a Free Piston Stirling to make 60 Hz AC while you warm your cabin in winter. Don't know shout summer. Read somewhere long ago about Stirling Engines being use in Thorium fueled Nuclear power plants to keep costs down. Stirling had some advantages over steam turbines but I don't remember what it was. Have you tried running it with dry ice? Keep the hot end at room temperature and chilling the cold end with dry ice.
+ufoengines this is pretty much all i did with it mate - i have quite a few projects on and didn't go that deep into this one - but your suggestions a good ones - did you try them?
I had know idea that you could build a free piston stirling with stuff from around the house so you post is pretty cool. Now I'm thinking that if you drove the "free piston" with a solar powered electric motor it might become a useful enough cooler to chill my cooler full of beers. This also might be a solution for a self chilling beer can! Place the can in sun light for a few minutes the solar stirling combo does it's cooling thing and ta da ! a chilled beer for after mowing the yard, or something.
+ufoengines lol - nice one mate - i can see a market for that lol
Read decades ago that the president of the mighty Continental Can Corporation said if somebody can come up with a self chilling soda /beer can that is cheap, safe and recyclable that they would make that dude richer then Bill Gates! Neat! Has not happened yet, smart phone app or otherwise. Lots of cool patents on the idea though.
+ufoengines well - you sound like the guy to get it done mate
I just tried to replicate this with two cans of Pringle’s potato chips…didn’t work 😢 Can’t figure out why. I think this model requires a lot of heat to work and as used Pringle’s cardboard cans with tin bottoms, I cannot heat it too high. Could that be the reason? Brilliantly simple design though and I will replicate this no matter how long it takes!
is your NASA Stirling model using same method as the sunpulse 500 Stirling ? . To me it looks like using same concepts.
no idea - never heard of that until now - it's based on the NASA design so if the sunpulse 500 is base on the same design i guess the answer is yes
I recognize your accent! What part of South Carolina are you from? LOL We are quite the anglophiles and greatly appreciate your video! Thanks!
+Joseph Stokes lol - cheers mate
really though, I think all you need to do is suspend a coil in the vicinity of the NdFeB magnet, and you'll get some sort of current flowing.
yes I know, I can do it myself, but your shop is much more neatly sorted than mine, and you are already a well established presenter.
it's not that mate - it's time - i have a ton to do and not enough of it - if you do it - i don't have to and if you don't do it the chances are i never will as i just don't have time - plus if you do it you will learn something new and share that learning and so help everyone - kind of pay it forward idea here
Robert Murray-Smith OK.
I will probably do that the next time my kid needs to do a science fair project.
She likes stirling cycles.
i tried it with slightly different materials. aluminum canister slightly wider and shorter, slightly different tin can, etc. It did not work. Is there a plan somewhere that specifies optimal internal and external can volumes and other specs so that I can troubleshoot?
+Jonathan Passey trouble shoot by adjusting the weight on top of the rubber mate - it is a tuned device
+Robert Murray-Smith Thanks for your quick reply. I did try three different weights by sticking large washers on with neodymium magnets. I think my stirrup might be hitting the diaphragm and interrupting the cycle. I dunno. I may tear it down and rework it a little later. For now I think we are going to experiment with Gamma-type Stirlings.
+Jonathan Passey fair enough mate
@@jonathanpassey I wonder if using aluminum is allowing the heat in the lower “hot” end to dissipate to early.
now... explain why it works? Like how is it or why does it not have to have a wheel to create the 90 degree lead like a two cylinder one does? It is great, but why does it work video Please.
If this gets about, my stocks and shares portfolio which is based mostly on Petrochems will plummet :)
this thermo acoustic engine put a smile on his face 😄 pretty cool stuff
So how do you get work out of it? It seems kind of weird that NASA would make a Stirling cycle engine that requires weight to work. Since most of their output is aimed at a microgravity environment. I'm guessing that one wouldn't do so well on the ISS for instance.
A Stirling engine using a similar design in space would use a spring instead of a weight.
In fact any Stirling engine generating any significant amount of power would be considerably more robust.
here is animation of NASA Stirling engine th-cam.com/video/P1FwrDZKfKk/w-d-xo.html
that's an odd question mate - how do you think you would get the work out? It's actually a resonant system so springs, weights, pistons - it's functionally all the same thing
Dana Gould
ok cheers
@@ThinkingandTinkering you did such a great job upscaling from the Soda can variety. Was your preheating step to mitigate not having a hole in the stainless steel can? I didn't see you do the pin hole in that one. :)
This is very interesting!
Do you think it can be used to superfreeze stuff?
no idea mate - sorry
Robert Murray-Smith thank you! I've been investigating since last nihght and since the process is the same it might be possible to cool down suff by using this method, but we would then to have a mechanical method to drive the membranes instead of using heat displacement. I'll look into it further! I think I've figured out a way to bust out good amounts of energy of compact TECs, but I need to get into cryogenics to test the idea... Making a stirling engine for this purpose has a very very steep learning curve, but in theory if the temperature difference is wider on each side of the tec, the more power and effectiveness you can get from it! Let's see what happens!
absolutely mate - it is an interesting idea but as you say very often trying it and seeing is the only real answer - let me know how it goes
NightHawkInLight looks into this in his TH-cams on Thermoacoustics.
I love the sound of a finely tuned Stirling, If anyone is interested Israel has set many records in solar efficiency with the same type single piston Stirling. I have made a test rig of 64, 6" x 6" mirrors in a dish shape, to reflect focus the sun to a heat pick up. I have gone a different way in solar energy for now. If anyone would like my old dish project & wants to continue on with my work please let me know. I have one patent-able concept for efficient energy transfer to over also. Peace Out!
awesome
Hi, I'm interested. I wanted to know if it's possible to generate 5-7KW using solar stirling system. And if I use Compound parabolic troughs instead of a dish, what maximum temperature can I expect if lower is about 20 degree C
try it and see
Hi Dan, do you still have the dish, I'm interested. I am also planning to build an engine and would like some help if you can.
Skylar, where are you located? I have dish pieces at machine shop. I think he would actually like it out of there. I have the mirrors in boxes at home. you would have to pick up everything in a large pick-up truck. My heat pick up / exchanger / is "patent-able" & I would like to partner with an investor on that. I'm actually working on a new bad ass tracker on my solar array & will work perfectly on the dish array.... hhhmmm
Does anyone know which cans he is using? I want to know the dimensions, so I can try to build one
The large outside one is a 1.5 qt (l) storage can with a plastic see-through lid. The inside one is from a 10 oz (300 ml?) canned vegetable can.
Can he run it off a cup of hot tea tho? That's the British challenge!
😀
Hi Robert , your varied interest amaze me , been following stirrings for many years and Attila's diaphragm design appears to be the first practical and affordable design that could be used for actual battery charging applications
Have you any idea what would make a long lasting diaphragm material ? Could it be a piezo electric material as well ?
Can this be upscale to something about twice the size of attlia's large engine
? Could the diaphragms be strong enough to allow pressurized helium By the way great job and video as always
CHeers mate glad you like the vid and agree the design is excellent. Unfortunately all the questions you ask are best answered by experimentation - but, having said that - I think you would get good results with all the ideas you suggested - particularly the piezo version - personally I think with a little redesign this would be an excellent LTD engine - I have had a thought about that - i just haven't had time to do anything with it
I had a hard time seeing exactly what you were doing because the camera was too far away. Will look for more detailed sites
It looks far to sensitive to a variety of external factors (especially those weights and the elasticity of those rubber membranes).
Isn't there a more robust way to make a Stirling engine?
of course there is - but this is such a cool machine
How is it that the balloon and the electric tape won't melt? Can you specify (aproximately) height and width ratio of the principal chamber vs the displacer?
Gonzalo Giovannelli specified on video
oh Mr Murray i have a great Idea, put on the top of this Stirling the same from a shaking lamp. You can get electricity .
good idea - give it a go and let me know what happens
it is possible this Stirling build as a low temperature. for 30 or 40°C. Maybe with lighter materials? What do you know?
yes there are quite a few how to builds on youtube
@@kaybreter644 TH-cam producer, “Just Have a Think” has a TH-cam about Stirling Engines and he puts one of the little “Bought on Amazon” working models and has it running on his cup of tea, then puts it on a cut of ice water. The SM slows to a stop then starts, on its own, in the opposite direction.
So the actual temperatures aren’t as critical as the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides.
When are you in Oz?
Alice Springs
Links to the original design?
+CowLunch go to atilla's site mate or try nasa's site
Really needs a few closeups