Watching [Jam BD] build this working Sterling Engine from nothing is awe-inspiring. He literally did with what he had on hand. Even his build log forgoes phrases like “I ordered a…” in exchange for “I didn’t have any so…”.
The cylinder heated by a candle is a pipe stuffed with aluminum foil which was hammered flat to get the best seal possible. The CDs prominently featured on the final product act as the fly-wheel. To ensure that there is enough mass [Jam] ganged three of them together. There is also a counter-weight affixed just off-center to help keep the wheel turning. The gears shown above were actually used more like mounting plates to build a cam. Looking at the body and frame of the device makes us wonder how in the heck this thing actually came together?
We can’t get enough of these kinds of hacks, which is why we had to go back and watch the tuna can Sterling Engine one more time.
Stirling not Sterling. It would be nice if it produced Sterlings, though :)
LOL, yah beat me to it, I was going to comment about the spelling mistake too.
I love Stirling engines, I have been making many models, they are very energy efficient and extremely quiet.
Too bad real world uses of it is not as easily implemented.
Also sad that it looks like the ASRG is in funding trouble.
I love Stirling engines too, would like one in my car. And a Sterling engine is just a Stirling engine made of 92.5% silver.
I always thought that a stirling engine would be a good way to cool spent fuel rods. Us the heat of the fuel rods to drive the cooling pumps. It could even be self regulating and would not need external power.
I think it’s an efficiency issue: it’s more efficient to heat water to turn turbines that generate electricity that is used for water pumps than to use a stirling engine.
Using a water turbine system would be a lot more dangerous, due to the risk of the water seeping into ground water.
Anyway the amount of energy generated would be significantly smaller than what you’d get in a nuclear plant. Better to seal it off than to risk anything for such low yields.