Comments on: Dean Kamen’s Stirling engine car

By: akash khandelwal

akash khandelwal — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:40:20 +0000

i have been working on a car that is powered by solar energy and uses stirling engine to convert it into electrical energy.i am unable to find an appropriate stirling engine.can someone help me .i am looking for an engine that gives 600cc atleast.or 25 hp or more when converted electrically .my email id is akash_marshall@yahoo.co.in..please reply me if you have some idea related to it..

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:00:58 +0000

Just go to the Kamen patent website. It has all the details on how to make a Stirling engine.

By: mel

mel — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:53:46 +0000

Ive been building a few sterlings and they might work well in a car, i wonder if hes using a low or high temperature differential engine, i think cambridge had some powerful results from both.

id love to stick one on my karmann ghia

By: rikki

rikki — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:31:45 +0000

wow..engine car..I saw it on wikipedia as well

By: strider_mt2k

strider_mt2k — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:44:41 +0000

…perhaps a bagel?

What?

By: Mindbleach

Mindbleach — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:41:30 +0000

Warm toast won’t create or hold enough of a temperature differential, but if it’s especially cold outside and the enclosed piston is shaped properly, maybe you could sit on it…

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:46:47 +0000

Here’s another link to a full article on them.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4288743.html

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:45:51 +0000

Popular Mechanics just did an article about dish-mounted stirling engines for producing electricity. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4286850.html?page=8

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:57:12 +0000

I would second bidd145 on that.

I am curious what kind of RPM they’re getting out of the sterling in that car.

By: ac7zl

ac7zl — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:31:59 +0000

bigd145:

The last stuff I read with regard to dish-mounted stirlings was that, despite losses in the dish and mechanical losses in the both the stirling and the generator, the dish-mounted stirling was a *more* efficient producer of electricity than the best photovoltaic array (of equivalent capture area.)

stirlings, by the way, tend to run a *long* time without maintenance.

ac7zl

By: BigD145

BigD145 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:51:21 +0000

A sterling engine with a big solar reflector may not work in overcast areas, but photovoltaics will at about 80% of their normal capacity.

By: Orv

Orv — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:38:54 +0000

I wonder how good the durability of the Sterling engine is? That’s always been the sore point for Sterlings. To operate efficiently they need to run at very high temperatures, and that means they can’t use conventional forms of lubrication for the piston rings. The result is usually high ring and cylinder wall wear and a short running life.

The other sore point was always that they didn’t throttle well, but in a hybrid that’s not a big deal.

By: Mr.P

Mr.P — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:38:20 +0000

About four years back a company called ANUVU in Sacramento California was showcasing fuel cells on the show; the screensavers and showed a prototype of a sterling engine at the focal point of a 8′ satellite dish with a generator running a 3.5k generator. I have tried for the last five yours to find out about where I could get one or make one. To no avail. Just point it at the sun and electricity!

By: dokein

dokein — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:21:03 +0000

I have a sneaking suspicion this car’s range decreases by an order of magnitude if you run the A/C (if it has any). And that would also explain why Kamen’s only potential investors are in Norway.

By: static

static — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:04:35 +0000

Perhaps I just plain missed it, but it would have been nice to see more details or videos of the car in operation. After the hype Kamen put out there before revealing the Segway, it’s hard for me to take him seriously. However it would seem it finally dawned on him most of the public, needs an efficient motor vehicle capable of more than one passenger, and carrying cargo.