If the system was balanced (see wobble) it would spin at least 1/3 faster... The wobble will eventually lead to mechanical failure due to the constant resonance in the unbalanced system. Great work though!
@@ShanePomeroy It would be nicee to see something which could reasonably be made on a desktop mill and lathe. If high thermally conductive materials were used and such it would be interesting to see how small it could get. I wonder how many modified off the shelf parts could be used to make it easier.
That’s sad you’ve never seen one bigger than that because mines at least twice as big, it’s also got a Effer phosphor vestment chlamydian jokitch munia- Sorry if my English is not perfect it’s not my first language
That sound is intoxicating. Record that for 2 hours and put it on RUclips as an ASMR video. That would make any gearhead fall fast asleep and the rhythm will soothe a rowdy soul........ Beautiful machine Bro
This looks like a great start. Balancing/weighting your flywheel should give you a decent boost in speed and power. Not to mention it will reduce/eliminate the shake and noise.
What i always found strange about Stirling engines is that there are a lots of small ones and really huge ones for submarines and so on but a useful engine for home use isn't available
@@dammitdad lol it was purely sarcasm. It doesn’t exist lol. My bad- thought I made it obvious with all the made up words I used. Farkle Switchmaker? Marquita Parallel? McGallion Watts? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@ShanePomeroy my dream is build one powerful enough to move a vehicle and build a bike or car. Maybe one day I'll get there. Until then, I wanna see your next project :)
The reason you can't find big Sterling engines is because they don't exist. Stirling engines work on relatively small temperature differences. Which makes the engines large and very expensive for the power they produce and heat they need to operate. They are most suited to use waste heat
@@davem5333 Sure, I agree. Even though I would like to make a big one for a vehicle just for the challenge and because I think it's cool, but it would surely be inefficient in comparison to other types of engine or electric motors.
Perfect! Throughout the whole video i was wondering how much power the producers and then you show us just that, and in more detail than reasonably expected
Fair play to you guys for that! I came across this vid looking for ways to generate power for a homestead. Too noisy for me, and would require constant attention regarding fuel, but amazing how you did it. Things that I make that run at that speed tend to be dangerous and nearly kill the dogs. Yours held together admirably. Respect. :)
What a beautiful piece of engineering! Is there any possibility for you to share any blueprints? It would be a very satisfying project to build such an engine with my kids! :-)
look up James watt condensing steam engine ... and you can duplicate their engine ... if you want a sterling cycle engine ... search for sterling cycle ... and then increase the coffee mug size toy to the size VW bug and add an alternator driven off the flywheel and you now have a generator ... that will power your basic home ... (not the freezer fridge and stove the biggest power wasters in all homes)
Great job bro, I noticed that such an enhancements could be done on it to increase its efficiency, like using light robust pistons, isolating chamber from outside, create furnace chamber in circled shape so that heat concentrated in a more efficient way, water based cooling system.
@@samuelfellows6923 What would be better than fans driven by an alternator are fans driven by the engine itself so you skip the losses due to conversion from mechanical -> electrical -> mechanical.
@@CharlesVanNoland Good idea, there is a simple mechanics to it - couple the fan to the main shaft by a visco-clutch. It can be thermal sensitive and adjust rotation of fan based on the actual heat. Very simple and reliable device, eg Isuzu used on engines designed to operate under load while standing still.
Interesting and thanks. I've seen photos of similar devices from the early parts of the last century for pumping water. Smaller gasoline engines became popular during the 1920s, also for pumping water. Note, what might be a fairly new car coolant radiator on the side of this widget.
You're the man!!!! I was so wondering roughly how much power one could harness with this sorta thing. I'm sure some physics god could improve efficiency even further, but darn 1/2 hp is epic my man. I was only shooting for 18w and then connect it to a USB for a fire powered phone fast charger, but you far exceed what I thought was possible. Great job and thanks for sharing
This engine does have huge swept volume! I think atmospheric pressure stirling engines need re-exploring with the availability of materials these days. The best non pressurised engine I know of creates proportionally 5 times as much power as mine (it is model size), but why can't this be increased in size to create meaningful HP?
Great. Keep up the good work. I think you've done a great job. Striling engines have been neglected in the past but they can be a solution to our future energy needs.
Your math is dead on. That's a clever way of measuring the torque. If I understand it correctly the end of the reaction arm is 1.5ft from the center of rotation. If it were up to me there would be a counterweighted crankshaft above the pistons. That way you could balance out your forces. Great job!
Thanks, Maths isn't a strong point, so if you see anything that's isn't quite right, please straighten me up! I like the counterweight idea, I'll right that one down, cheers
Good spot! Yes, you wouldn't believe the things I've moved using it !( new wood store, 12ft oak timber beams, engines). Hoping also to build a stirling engine locomotive at some point.
Very impressive.... I love it!!!! You should find the most energy efficient heater that you can. I've read that quarts and ceramic work best. I would love to see if an energy efficient heater could be supplied initially by another power source but then be able to run off of the power produced by the engine. With ALL my love NLL
É um motor de respeito. Quando vi os pistões sabia que teria muita força. Construí um Stirling em menor escala e senti o potencial capaz de chegar um motor destes. Parabéns e boa sorte!
This is most certainly a unique machine. I am just amazed you came up with the idea. Can you give some insight as to how this all came about Sir ??? Thanks
Most certainly. I build stirling engine Mk1 (see other videos) based on a "Rider hot air compression engine" that has two cylinders. I doubled up on this configuration and used the rockers to set each set of pistons 180 degrees out of phase from one-another. The Idea is that each set of pistons is balanced against the other sets compression stroke. That has worked out ok but I do have serious balance problems due to the very long pistons and linkages. Hope that's as clear as mud! Any more questions , please ask
@@ShanePomeroy I will watch more of your videos and send more question. I tip my hat to you for this idea. Would you believe I had a dream about this type of engine years ago when I was at a old engine and iron show. Will keep in touch for sure.
@@ShanePomeroy How about using Calculus to balance this engine. I know from my school days that all steam trains used this principle to balance the running gears precisely. Also, you will learn something new or at best get refreshed if you are a math guy. Good day Shane.
Just wonderful sir! Thanks! Im sure you have seen the UT video... The Stirling Cycle part 1 (Stirling Cryogenics) It succinctly describes an optimised machine which addresses many of your issues with efficiency etc. Well beyond my pay grade!
Very cool! 👍👍 I would have used a spring scale instead of the digital scales. Spring scale can be very robust, and is easy enough to calibrate by hanging some weights on it.
Fantastic build I wish I stayed in the same street as you. You would have a free apprentice to help you. Most of the young ones would not have a clue what that engine was all about. Keep up the good work my friend
Well done! Thanks for sharing the journey. Thinking how much is wobbling... might be beneficial to make another flywheel on the shaft that counter rotates somehow that's the lowest friction. Not certain what mechanical design is the best offhand since I'm not a mechanical engineer. Though seems a counter rotating flywheel will calm the machine down. Nice work!
I would be interested to know what benefit would have been derived from having energy produced from a conventional steam engine using the same amount of wood and coal?
Hi Graeme, I'd struggle to answer that! I think the benifit would depend on what outcome you were looking for . Steam systems were dominant over hot air engines due to greater power to weight , controlerbility of steam output, limitations of materials, good heat transfer to the water in the boiler. Hot air engines on the other hand are simple in operation, don't have boilers to maintain and quite often don't need skilled operators. Hope that makes sense.!
That's a thing of beauty but aren't you suffering losses to all the wobbling and flexing? Or is that wiggle room desirable - as in bends instead of breaking?
Took me a while to work out which cylinders were the displacers and which were the power pistons. Looks awesome, I bet that could run household electrical power.
I know you will get better numbers as you refine this machine. I notice you have a lot of compression prior to being able to run before getting really hot.. might I suggest that your timing between hot and cold can influence its ability to run with less heat, and can also be used as a throttle and torque control. I know because I do this with smaller Sterling engines. Nice work and I look forward to your progress.. still waiting for you to integrate thermoelectric energy scavengers to it!
Hi Eric, I took note of your last comment about thermoelectric energy scavengers and am looking at them with next engine. I am very interested in your engine with adjustable phase timing! Any chance of a video? Once I've sorted out a sensible electric generator on mine I'd like to move the phase timing to see what effect it has on output. All the best
I actually no longer have that however, I was thinking about a mechanical centrifugal timing avance much like in old chevy ignition dustrubutors.. But, what I did was have the cylendars 90° orientation from the other with a flexible transfer pipe and an elongated bracket mount much like an old alternator or power steering bracket. I could get it to spin low power with a tea candle then adjust it to scream with more heat.. or make it not over rev at the same time.
That is good for when the power is out. Just put an alternator on it to charge up some batteries! Should work on just wood, or does it need more heat than just wood will put out?
Batshit crazy. I'm thinking this must be very high tolerance and your spec says 3.5mm, and it works beautifully, magnificent. Someones a good welder. I cant believe how fast that things going .
Hello and thankyou, Yes I could do one! just need to sort a few things out first. It is electric at the moment but am, planning on a stirling loco when I've sorted a few tech issues
Nice concept as a sterling engine set up. But I prefer them when powered by for instance solar heat from a parabolic mirror that follows the sun during the day. But when heating with wood a simple gasification set up can help you run a much more powerful normal combustion engine and to go very efficient you could hook up a Taurozzi pendulum engine which has much less resistance/ friction in its pistons when interacting with the cilinder wall, less need for oils to lubricate etc. Cool engine design, worth checking out when one is interested in engines of any kind.
Yes, this one is a little inefficient! I'm interested with the gasification burners for future designs. Ive just taken a look at the taurozzi pendulum engine, very interesting. I'm not sure how I'd go about producing a curved cylinder through. It has made me more aware of frictional losses on the cylinder. Something I will need to pay more attention to in future designs. I'm currently building another stirling engine, check out my channel.Many thanks for your insight.
Really interesting, could you instead of heating with coal and wood heat with an electric heater because then the energy in could be measured against the energy out giving an efficiency reading. I have just discovered these engines today and they are a great hobby build because there is no high pressure steam which by experience I know is hazardous
It is already doing it, it is measuring incoming energy with respect to outgoing energy, it does not matter if it is electrical or mechanical, energy and power can be measured and converted equally.
Great work - I presume you are running the cylinders at ambient atmospheric pressure and not pressurising which would improve the power output (although leakage past seals starts to be a bit of an issue)?
Cheers - Yes, running unpressurised. We were going to run pressurised but have decided not to (don't think the seals would take it!). The main goal now is to design an engine that is very easy to assemble and this would add to the complication.
OK, Silly Question Time: If I placed the ENTIRE Stirling Engine, separate from the heat source, of course, into a pressurized chamber, would I still get an increase in efficiency?
@@TimeSurfer206 Not a stupid question! There's a chance you would get higher power output. Would be hard to say if it would be more efficient. There are pressurised stirling engines built this way.
@@TimeSurfer206 Yes - if you were to provide a sealed crankcase then pressurise the cylinders and the crankcase interior you would get an increase in performance subject to certain criteria. This is because there is a greater mass of gas being heated and cooled (i.e. the gas is denser due to the increased pressure) allowing more heat to be absorbed from the hot end of the engine and transferred via the gas to the cold end. Pressurising the crankcase reduces the pressure differential across the seal between the piston and the crankcase thus reducing pressure loss at that sliding joint. Note that as pressure increases the efficiency of your hot and cold end heat exchangers will tend to be the limiting factor on thermal transfer and thus power output. It is often the cold end that can't cope, leading to only partial cooling of the working gas and lower overall efficiency.
You can mount a fan sucking ar trough the radiator and directing this air under the firebox, so you'll have a cooling/blower with a single electric motor...
Hello What was the cost to make this excellent peice of equipment? And also the time you put in to making it too please and where did you find your plan to this as well I really like this whole set up how do you generate power too ?? Thank you
Nice piece of design & manufacture here, didn't need a lot to get going, and looks very robust ! I see that a Generator/Alternator was mounted below ready to be connected with a V-belt, did you ever use it to produce electricity ?
I would like to suggest that you use a small solar panel to energize the field windings on you alternator or a peltier cell on the fire box so as not to drain the battery.
Net specific energy efficiency? Mechanical work done versus coal burned? How would it compare to a steam engine of similar size? If you have access to a good source of free waste heat this could be a way to harvest a little mechanical work from it.
thats awesome, even if its wiggling like crazy trying to kill itself and sounds more like a power hammer rather than an engine xdd, its really cool you actually measured the torque and rpm
Awesome love it! should add a ring of magnets around the flywheel, and a few stationary coils of wire on the frame would produce electricity with out adding belts or cogs..
@@ShanePomeroy it was an idea of my dad's he wanted to do it to a water wheel, but never found the place to do it!.. i think it would work well on your sterling engine!.. cram as many magnets as you can on the wheel, could even do both sides with a coil on both sides.. be an interesting experiment..
Thanks 👍, Just need to work on the power output, size, efficiency, cost for the next one. Hoping to develop something genuinely useful for off grid use that is of very simply design / cheap
Urrrŕrrrrrr........quite alot I'd imagine! My next engjne that I'm building uses a j rocket which should improve efficiency alot. I'm interested with the wood gas producer but am worried it would be to finicky, I don't know?
Look into rocket stove designs like youtube "little aussie" and others. Another design has a slot in the back chamber and I noticed on each side of the slot, gas welding tips. There were two holes in the back where two tornado vortices were. I'm guessing that the hot air tube went all the way back and then up, like an exhaust manifold. So the preheated air was at the top of the fire box and then burned the additional hydrocarbons. Another video showed wood put in a sealed container with a small hole near the flue that made volital gases and charcoal. Now if you used hard wood the ash could be put in a barrel with tiny holes in the bottom. Pour water over the ash add lard and you have soap. Frontier soap making. That was a really nice engine you made and I hope I see the next one. Oh if you use porcelain fire brick with angle iron always put fiberglass on any metal that touches brick ect.
Hi Mike, Thankyou for the ideas : ). I need to improve the furnace of my Stirling engine! Nice idea about using fibreglass to pad the fire bricks, many thanks
I ask my self and you also if would be possible to use the heat from a pyrolysis gasifier, or if it would be more efficient. Perhaps using both the gas to power up an electric generator, and the rotations from that flywheel for another electric generator, would give a bit more efficiency.
a HUGE advantage of this type of engine is the fuel ... literally anything flammable can power it! Technically with modifications it could also be powered by ice (on a a warm day) or dry ice, liquid nitrogen etc :)
how do you take power from it? I'm doing some self research cause I've interested in Stirling engine generators. Eventually I'd like to make my own for a homestead but id like to understand how their fully used. I just found your page and am now gonna go through all of it on the generator at least.
Well done Sir! Interesting for electricity cogeneration in a house heated with a furnace. What is the temperature difference between hoy and cold part?
Okay, very cool engines. What I find interesting is you are using a Bic style cigarette lighter when in reality you should be using either a torch lighter, the ones with the blue flames that resemble a small torch or get yourself a piezo-ignition switch propane or map-pro torch. Not very expensive either way. My piezo-ignition torch was only about CA$80 and is a Bernzomatic brand.
would it be possible to run a large Stirling engine / electric generator off the heat rising off blacktop? perhaps a few extra mirrors reflecting more sunlight to charge batteries?
Yes. There are guys from Austria who manufacture 1.25 kW Stirling generators with multiple fuel options - including concentrated solar. Their company is called Frauscher Motors.
That's true. Most the progress has been made with the extremely high end (expensive) stuff. But then, we have technology / materials available now that they didn't have back then so who knows what could be done?
Really enjoyed this video….kinda would’ve like an hear a little explanation and seen more overall of machine. Looks great and a whole lot of elbow grease….ya did good….very good !!
For off-grid kinda of situations, with solar and wind power, only in very rare occasions would someone need one of these. For residential I don't think it makes any sense(danger+size+noise+too many moving parts). Even for off-grid I would think a much smaller steam engine would produce the same, be quieter, cost about the same or even less to run. Either way, you must have done it for the passion of it, and its a work of art, congrats.
Such a huge machine for only 400watts of power. No wonder the Stirling engine never really made it. However I really would like to have a small free piston Stirling engine as an emergency power generator, those are really cool because they are small quiet and efficient.
I'm really interested in that idea. I like the idea of shredding whatever biomass (dry) I can find and running it on it. I might do a separate experiment and knock together a hopper fed rocket stove type thing. I'm looking for ideas for the next engine I'm building. Cheers
@@ShanePomeroy a swing door above the exhisting door ... hinged at th bottom with side pieces eould make a hopper which could be open fo a long stick / branch and be cloed for regular operation
Hi Chris, I've applied to take it to Sticker this year so might see you there. Initially the seals were leather but I've moved over to 3mm PTFE for the hot pistons due to heat damage, Cheers
That’s awesome you quantified the power of the engine most people on youtube report RPMs only which doesn’t mean anything by itself.
Not bad on conversation considering a 1/2HP motor takes 0.367749KW to run...
If the system was balanced (see wobble) it would spin at least 1/3 faster... The wobble will eventually lead to mechanical failure due to the constant resonance in the unbalanced system. Great work though!
@@mcombatti yea they need to put some weights on it to balance it. You would make MOAR POWER, and extend the life of the engine!
But I got a bajillion volts!
Clever way to rig up a dynamo as well.
Beautiful. Never seen a Stirling engine that size running before. Thanks for putting this online!
The plan is to build another mk3 version with better power to weight but very simple (cheap!) Build. I really think its possible!
Look for "Sunpulse 500".
@@ShanePomeroy It would be nicee to see something which could reasonably be made on a desktop mill and lathe. If high thermally conductive materials were used and such it would be interesting to see how small it could get. I wonder how many modified off the shelf parts could be used to make it easier.
That’s sad you’ve never seen one bigger than that because mines at least twice as big, it’s also got a Effer phosphor vestment chlamydian jokitch munia- Sorry if my English is not perfect it’s not my first language
@@ShanePomeroy i know this sounds stupid but, is it possible to make a car using stirling engine?
That sound is intoxicating. Record that for 2 hours and put it on RUclips as an ASMR video. That would make any gearhead fall fast asleep and the rhythm will soothe a rowdy soul........ Beautiful machine Bro
This looks like a great start. Balancing/weighting your flywheel should give you a decent boost in speed and power. Not to mention it will reduce/eliminate the shake and noise.
They say great minds think alike. They are correct.
Yeah.
Just a bit more revision on the mounting constructions.
What i always found strange about Stirling engines is that there are a lots of small ones and really huge ones for submarines and so on but a useful engine for home use isn't available
@@DetroitFettyghost say what? It's a generator ?
@@DetroitFettyghost nothing pops up on a search of their catalogue for Stirling or the part number
@@dammitdad lol it was purely sarcasm. It doesn’t exist lol. My bad- thought I made it obvious with all the made up words I used. Farkle Switchmaker? Marquita Parallel? McGallion Watts? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@DetroitFettyghost dude why even put energy into all that
@@ZT_Performance literally took 10 seconds with voice to text my friend
I always search for big Stirling engines and can't find anything, so really take my hat off for this one. Congrats for such a nice project!
Kind words! I plan on building a more powerful, simpler, smaller version. stay posted
@@ShanePomeroy my dream is build one powerful enough to move a vehicle and build a bike or car. Maybe one day I'll get there. Until then, I wanna see your next project :)
The reason you can't find big Sterling engines is because they don't exist.
Stirling engines work on relatively small temperature differences. Which makes the engines large and very expensive for the power they produce and heat they need to operate. They are most suited to use waste heat
@@davem5333 Sure, I agree. Even though I would like to make a big one for a vehicle just for the challenge and because I think it's cool, but it would surely be inefficient in comparison to other types of engine or electric motors.
@@davem5333wrong, NASA has made several trucks that ran on Stirling engines, and some older submarines used them as part of the propulsion system
Awesome work guys!!!! Great power output!! Looking forward to future tests and engine 3!!
Perfect! Throughout the whole video i was wondering how much power the producers and then you show us just that, and in more detail than reasonably expected
Thank you for taking measurements and sharing the video and specs in the description. Very appreciated and very impressive.
Very kind words!
What an awesome contraption. I love the actual cup used for water. Coming back later to find out more about those tiny train tracks I see.
The train tracks are causing interest! I plan to build a stirling engine locomotive for this
You’ve done a great job! Impressive build sir. I hope your quite proud of it.
I bet your neighbors love you guys
I was thinking exactly the same thing 😂.....i think I'd prefer the guy with the drum kit.....only joking, fascinating stuff
😂😂😂😂😂, pensei o mesmo.
I spotted small train tracks going around the house, this guy intelligently didn’t forget his childhood and revisits it on occasion
Fair play to you guys for that! I came across this vid looking for ways to generate power for a homestead. Too noisy for me, and would require constant attention regarding fuel, but amazing how you did it. Things that I make that run at that speed tend to be dangerous and nearly kill the dogs. Yours held together admirably. Respect. :)
bravo! that has to be the most vigorous large homebuilt engine ever
The most incredible stirling engine i ever seen. You guys did a great job with this machine.
Cheers, just need to iron out a few issues : )
@@ShanePomeroy It seems already old school made. With black paint and gold stripes would be amazing.
@@ShanePomeroy I look forward to see you iron out the buggs.
What a beautiful piece of engineering! Is there any possibility for you to share any blueprints? It would be a very satisfying project to build such an engine with my kids! :-)
look up James watt condensing steam engine ... and you can duplicate their engine ... if you want a sterling cycle engine ... search for sterling cycle ... and then increase the coffee mug size toy to the size VW bug and add an alternator driven off the flywheel and you now have a generator ... that will power your basic home ... (not the freezer fridge and stove the biggest power wasters in all homes)
Great job bro,
I noticed that such an enhancements could be done on it to increase its efficiency, like using light robust pistons, isolating chamber from outside, create furnace chamber in circled shape so that heat concentrated in a more efficient way, water based cooling system.
And put a fan on the coils/car radiator, - directly driven/12v fan powered by alternator
Also using weights to balance the flywheel or fix whatever else is making the engine shake
@@samuelfellows6923 What would be better than fans driven by an alternator are fans driven by the engine itself so you skip the losses due to conversion from mechanical -> electrical -> mechanical.
@@CharlesVanNoland Good idea, there is a simple mechanics to it - couple the fan to the main shaft by a visco-clutch. It can be thermal sensitive and adjust rotation of fan based on the actual heat. Very simple and reliable device, eg Isuzu used on engines designed to operate under load while standing still.
I’m just impressed that someone has made one of these that is actually useful
Thank you for this video! Your neighbors deserve compassion! ;)
Certainly the largest Stirling engine I've seen. Well done, lads.
Interesting and thanks. I've seen photos of similar devices from the early parts of the last century for pumping water. Smaller gasoline engines became popular during the 1920s, also for pumping water. Note, what might be a fairly new car coolant radiator on the side of this widget.
You're the man!!!! I was so wondering roughly how much power one could harness with this sorta thing. I'm sure some physics god could improve efficiency even further, but darn 1/2 hp is epic my man. I was only shooting for 18w and then connect it to a USB for a fire powered phone fast charger, but you far exceed what I thought was possible. Great job and thanks for sharing
This engine does have huge swept volume! I think atmospheric pressure stirling engines need re-exploring with the availability of materials these days. The best non pressurised engine I know of creates proportionally 5 times as much power as mine (it is model size), but why can't this be increased in size to create meaningful HP?
Great. Keep up the good work. I think you've done a great job. Striling engines have been neglected in the past but they can be a solution to our future energy needs.
they are by nature a bit inefficent specially when compared to turbine engines.
Your math is dead on. That's a clever way of measuring the torque. If I understand it correctly the end of the reaction arm is 1.5ft from the center of rotation. If it were up to me there would be a counterweighted crankshaft above the pistons. That way you could balance out your forces. Great job!
Thanks, Maths isn't a strong point, so if you see anything that's isn't quite right, please straighten me up! I like the counterweight idea, I'll right that one down, cheers
Wow! Beautiful machine; and it sounds amazing. Going to have to go back and watch all your videos on this!
Awesome, thank you!
Great video. I *love* that you have a small track presumably for moving heavy things around (3.54), from the garage to the backyard etc.
Good spot! Yes, you wouldn't believe the things I've moved using it !( new wood store, 12ft oak timber beams, engines). Hoping also to build a stirling engine locomotive at some point.
Maybe it's a regular size track and they are just enormous people
What an excellent example of an old technology that could be very useful these days.I love how you use coal too.
Scanned your video list, definitely subscribed, I guess I’m just going to jump down the stifling rabbit hole once again! 🙂 I love this kind of stuff.
Very impressive.... I love it!!!! You should find the most energy efficient heater that you can. I've read that quarts and ceramic work best. I would love to see if an energy efficient heater could be supplied initially by another power source but then be able to run off of the power produced by the engine. With ALL my love NLL
É um motor de respeito.
Quando vi os pistões sabia que teria muita força.
Construí um Stirling em menor escala e senti o potencial capaz de chegar um motor destes.
Parabéns e boa sorte!
At least 50 percent of its power goes into that "dah-dah-dah" sound I believe. :D
stirling motors follow the carnot cycle so only 30% become electricity, the 70% are the dah dah dah and heat
This is most certainly a unique machine. I am just amazed you came up with the idea. Can you give some insight as to how this all came about Sir ??? Thanks
Most certainly. I build stirling engine Mk1 (see other videos) based on a "Rider hot air compression engine" that has two cylinders. I doubled up on this configuration and used the rockers to set each set of pistons 180 degrees out of phase from one-another. The Idea is that each set of pistons is balanced against the other sets compression stroke. That has worked out ok but I do have serious balance problems due to the very long pistons and linkages. Hope that's as clear as mud! Any more questions , please ask
@@ShanePomeroy I will watch more of your videos and send more question. I tip my hat to you for this idea. Would you believe I had a dream about this type of engine years ago when I was at a old engine and iron show. Will keep in touch for sure.
@@ShanePomeroy How about using Calculus to balance this engine. I know from my school days that all steam trains used this principle to balance the running gears precisely. Also, you will learn something new or at best get refreshed if you are a math guy. Good day Shane.
How about a Free-Breeze Stirling engine fan would cost me fella ?? I would love to one built if you would be interested Sir. Thanks
Just wonderful sir! Thanks!
Im sure you have seen the UT video...
The Stirling Cycle part 1 (Stirling Cryogenics)
It succinctly describes an optimised machine which addresses many of your issues with efficiency etc. Well beyond my pay grade!
Very cool! 👍👍
I would have used a spring scale instead of the digital scales.
Spring scale can be very robust, and is easy enough to calibrate by hanging some weights on it.
Fantastic build I wish I stayed in the same street as you. You would have a free apprentice to help you. Most of the young ones would not have a clue what that engine was all about. Keep up the good work my friend
Well done! Thanks for sharing the journey. Thinking how much is wobbling... might be beneficial to make another flywheel on the shaft that counter rotates somehow that's the lowest friction. Not certain what mechanical design is the best offhand since I'm not a mechanical engineer. Though seems a counter rotating flywheel will calm the machine down. Nice work!
I would be interested to know what benefit would have been derived from having energy produced from a conventional steam engine using the same amount of wood and coal?
Hi Graeme, I'd struggle to answer that! I think the benifit would depend on what outcome you were looking for . Steam systems were dominant over hot air engines due to greater power to weight , controlerbility of steam output, limitations of materials, good heat transfer to the water in the boiler. Hot air engines on the other hand are simple in operation, don't have boilers to maintain and quite often don't need skilled operators. Hope that makes sense.!
That's a thing of beauty but aren't you suffering losses to all the wobbling and flexing? Or is that wiggle room desirable - as in bends instead of breaking?
lol 😀, I think your right on both accounts! It's fair to say there is a lot of room for improvement, all the best
Took me a while to work out which cylinders were the displacers and which were the power pistons. Looks awesome, I bet that could run household electrical power.
I know you will get better numbers as you refine this machine. I notice you have a lot of compression prior to being able to run before getting really hot.. might I suggest that your timing between hot and cold can influence its ability to run with less heat, and can also be used as a throttle and torque control. I know because I do this with smaller Sterling engines. Nice work and I look forward to your progress.. still waiting for you to integrate thermoelectric energy scavengers to it!
Hi Eric, I took note of your last comment about thermoelectric energy scavengers and am looking at them with next engine. I am very interested in your engine with adjustable phase timing! Any chance of a video? Once I've sorted out a sensible electric generator on mine I'd like to move the phase timing to see what effect it has on output. All the best
@@ShanePomeroy I posted in a facebook group, same group I found your videos shared called "Sterling Engines Group".
I actually no longer have that however, I was thinking about a mechanical centrifugal timing avance much like in old chevy ignition dustrubutors..
But, what I did was have the cylendars 90° orientation from the other with a flexible transfer pipe and an elongated bracket mount much like an old alternator or power steering bracket. I could get it to spin low power with a tea candle then adjust it to scream with more heat.. or make it not over rev at the same time.
That is good for when the power is out. Just put an alternator on it to charge up some batteries! Should work on just wood, or does it need more heat than just wood will put out?
It runs on wood fine and it doesn't need to be a hot fire
What an incredibly English-looking machine. Down to the funny teacup being used as a water reservoir. I love it.
You are a rock star! Well done! Great looking build!
Batshit crazy. I'm thinking this must be very high tolerance and your spec says 3.5mm, and it works beautifully, magnificent. Someones a good welder. I cant believe how fast that things going .
Lol, I'm as surprised as you it even works!
So awesome!! I saw the train tracks. What's up with that? What's your goals with your engine? To power something?
I've got a 5" gauge ride on railway around the house. Currently it is electric but I have dreams of building a stirling powered loco!
Really cool engine! But couldn't help noticing the garden train tracks in some of your shots, was wondering if you had any videos regarding that. Ty
Hello and thankyou, Yes I could do one! just need to sort a few things out first. It is electric at the moment but am, planning on a stirling loco when I've sorted a few tech issues
Would a belt driven fan across the radiator at the top allow more cooling for the cycle or would that slow it down?
Hi Rob, Good question? Maybe it's something I could play with
Great,
How can I build or have one
You could buy this one if you wanted lol. It would save me lots of time fiddling about : )
@@ShanePomeroy thanks for your offer, but I need a modification ; to use the heat of the sun instead of burning wood,
Waiting for your reply dear sir
@@ismailramadan2528 that's a tricky one! Have you got a way to track the sun so the heat is always focused in one place? Cheers
@@ShanePomeroy there is an application and I saw it in RUclips
Nice concept as a sterling engine set up.
But I prefer them when powered by for instance solar heat from a parabolic mirror that follows the sun during the day.
But when heating with wood a simple gasification set up can help you run a much more powerful normal combustion engine and to go very efficient you could hook up a Taurozzi pendulum engine which has much less resistance/ friction in its pistons when interacting with the cilinder wall, less need for oils to lubricate etc.
Cool engine design, worth checking out when one is interested in engines of any kind.
Yes, this one is a little inefficient! I'm interested with the gasification burners for future designs. Ive just taken a look at the taurozzi pendulum engine, very interesting. I'm not sure how I'd go about producing a curved cylinder through. It has made me more aware of frictional losses on the cylinder. Something I will need to pay more attention to in future designs. I'm currently building another stirling engine, check out my channel.Many thanks for your insight.
Really interesting, could you instead of heating with coal and wood heat with an electric heater because then the energy in could be measured against the energy out giving an efficiency reading. I have just discovered these engines today and they are a great hobby build because there is no high pressure steam which by experience I know is hazardous
It is already doing it, it is measuring incoming energy with respect to outgoing energy, it does not matter if it is electrical or mechanical, energy and power can be measured and converted equally.
Great work - I presume you are running the cylinders at ambient atmospheric pressure and not pressurising which would improve the power output (although leakage past seals starts to be a bit of an issue)?
Cheers - Yes, running unpressurised. We were going to run pressurised but have decided not to (don't think the seals would take it!). The main goal now is to design an engine that is very easy to assemble and this would add to the complication.
OK, Silly Question Time: If I placed the ENTIRE Stirling Engine, separate from the heat source, of course, into a pressurized chamber, would I still get an increase in efficiency?
@@TimeSurfer206 Not a stupid question! There's a chance you would get higher power output. Would be hard to say if it would be more efficient. There are pressurised stirling engines built this way.
@@ShanePomeroy Might be worth a try...
I might give it a shot with some of the smaller models, as they'd be more easily encapsulated.
@@TimeSurfer206 Yes - if you were to provide a sealed crankcase then pressurise the cylinders and the crankcase interior you would get an increase in performance subject to certain criteria. This is because there is a greater mass of gas being heated and cooled (i.e. the gas is denser due to the increased pressure) allowing more heat to be absorbed from the hot end of the engine and transferred via the gas to the cold end. Pressurising the crankcase reduces the pressure differential across the seal between the piston and the crankcase thus reducing pressure loss at that sliding joint. Note that as pressure increases the efficiency of your hot and cold end heat exchangers will tend to be the limiting factor on thermal transfer and thus power output. It is often the cold end that can't cope, leading to only partial cooling of the working gas and lower overall efficiency.
Punkstream fans will love this for sure!!
You can mount a fan sucking ar trough the radiator and directing this air under the firebox, so you'll have a cooling/blower with a single electric motor...
Great idea, thankyou
Hello
What was the cost to make this excellent peice of equipment? And also the time you put in to making it too please and where did you find your plan to this as well
I really like this whole set up how do you generate power too ??
Thank you
Hi Damond, The cost was about £1000 for materials (mostly laser cutting) and 3 months or so to build
Nice piece of design & manufacture here, didn't need a lot to get going, and looks very robust ! I see that a Generator/Alternator was mounted below ready to be connected with a V-belt, did you ever use it to produce electricity ?
I would like to suggest that you use a small solar panel to energize the field windings on you alternator or a peltier cell on the fire box so as not to drain the battery.
The great thing with that it means you don't rely on the battery! Might not even need the battery, I'll look into it!
And what if you use solar light with sun lens ? :)
awesome job, was just wonedring, does it have a pump that is cyclyng the water around??
Kind works. No , the circulation is simply due to the thermosyphon effect (heat goes up!), cheers
Have you considered adding a heat powered fan to blow on the fire?
Net specific energy efficiency? Mechanical work done versus coal burned? How would it compare to a steam engine of similar size?
If you have access to a good source of free waste heat this could be a way to harvest a little mechanical work from it.
thats awesome, even if its wiggling like crazy trying to kill itself and sounds more like a power hammer rather than an engine xdd, its really cool you actually measured the torque and rpm
I bet your neighbors love you haha! Very cool system, love it!
That is the number one comment about the neighbours, lol
Awesome love it! should add a ring of magnets around the flywheel, and a few stationary coils of wire on the frame would produce electricity with out adding belts or cogs..
That is a great idea and also adds to the simplicity of things! When I build Mk3 I'll try to incorporate that, thanks
@@ShanePomeroy it was an idea of my dad's he wanted to do it to a water wheel, but never found the place to do it!.. i think it would work well on your sterling engine!.. cram as many magnets as you can on the wheel, could even do both sides with a coil on both sides.. be an interesting experiment..
It's always good to have your da helping out.
Well done lads ! When it comes to Prepping, I prefer your machine to a solar panel of equal output.
Thanks 👍, Just need to work on the power output, size, efficiency, cost for the next one. Hoping to develop something genuinely useful for off grid use that is of very simply design / cheap
Amazing, great product made in the garage, I really like this kind of expertise.
Thank you very much!
Yes, but how many watts in?
Also... you could rig up a nice wood gas burner in the firebox, make good charcoal or biochar in another fire.
Urrrŕrrrrrr........quite alot I'd imagine! My next engjne that I'm building uses a j rocket which should improve efficiency alot. I'm interested with the wood gas producer but am worried it would be to finicky, I don't know?
Look into rocket stove designs like youtube "little aussie" and others. Another design has a slot in the back chamber and I noticed on each side of the slot, gas welding tips. There were two holes in the back where two tornado vortices were. I'm guessing that the hot air tube went all the way back and then up, like an exhaust manifold. So the preheated air was at the top of the fire box and then burned the additional hydrocarbons. Another video showed wood put in a sealed container with a small hole near the flue that made volital gases and charcoal. Now if you used hard wood the ash could be put in a barrel with tiny holes in the bottom. Pour water over the ash add lard and you have soap. Frontier soap making.
That was a really nice engine you made and I hope I see the next one. Oh if you use porcelain fire brick with angle iron always put fiberglass on any metal that touches brick ect.
Hi Mike, Thankyou for the ideas : ). I need to improve the furnace of my Stirling engine! Nice idea about using fibreglass to pad the fire bricks, many thanks
Have you heard of matches, a lot safer way to light the paper..
No? Is that some new fangled technology 😁
@@ShanePomeroy 🤣🤣
Bet the neighbours are pleased to hear you running it.
That is the number 1 comment from people! So much so I've bought a sound meter to measure the noise!
I ask my self and you also if would be possible to use the heat from a pyrolysis gasifier, or if it would be more efficient. Perhaps using both the gas to power up an electric generator, and the rotations from that flywheel for another electric generator, would give a bit more efficiency.
a HUGE advantage of this type of engine is the fuel ... literally anything flammable can power it! Technically with modifications it could also be powered by ice (on a a warm day) or dry ice, liquid nitrogen etc :)
The most efficient way to generate electricity with sunlight is a Stirling engine.
@@kr6dr You could do thesam with a flame gulper engine.
That's the most beautiful steam-punk machine I have ever seen
how do you take power from it? I'm doing some self research cause I've interested in Stirling engine generators. Eventually I'd like to make my own for a homestead but id like to understand how their fully used. I just found your page and am now gonna go through all of it on the generator at least.
Hi Nick, the simplest option I tried was an old hoverboard motor as a generator
Fantastic work! What's the displacement?
I've had to just work it out because I've never added it up! It turns out to be a whopping 11.9 litres!
Well done Sir! Interesting for electricity cogeneration in a house heated with a furnace. What is the temperature difference between hoy and cold part?
This thing is awesome nice work
Great but how do you stop it
I just hope the fire goes out eventually! (There is also an air valve I can open as well : )
This video has it all! ...cool engine, cool motorbike, little train track. =D
Is the water pumped around the system into the radiator?
No pump, just natural convection
Sounds like it needs oil somewhere.. very loud. Cool test. Thanks :)
Okay, very cool engines. What I find interesting is you are using a Bic style cigarette lighter when in reality you should be using either a torch lighter, the ones with the blue flames that resemble a small torch or get yourself a piezo-ignition switch propane or map-pro torch. Not very expensive either way. My piezo-ignition torch was only about CA$80 and is a Bernzomatic brand.
Super cool project. Looks like some balancing would help
Amazing !
When did you first build her.
Are you using
The power from the fly wheel? Somehow?
Hi, built last year. The inertia in the flywheel carries the engine to it's next power stroke and it also smooths things out! Regards
If I ever did this in my yard let alone on the sidewalk I'd be arrested within minutes, your very lucky. Great stuff. Cheers.
How energy efficient would this be? How many Watts of electricity would this be able to generate?
would it be possible to run a large Stirling engine / electric generator off the heat rising off blacktop? perhaps a few extra mirrors reflecting more sunlight to charge batteries?
Yes. There are guys from Austria who manufacture 1.25 kW Stirling generators with multiple fuel options - including concentrated solar. Their company is called Frauscher Motors.
First time I've seen a Stirling engine operate. Not much progress on this engine design in the 50 years since I was in college!
That's true. Most the progress has been made with the extremely high end (expensive) stuff. But then, we have technology / materials available now that they didn't have back then so who knows what could be done?
@@ShanePomeroy check out lindebeiges video
Pretty cool, any videos of the build?
Sorry, I wasn't really doing you tube stuff back then!
Bet it really goes down well with the locals!
Really enjoyed this video….kinda would’ve like an hear a little explanation and seen more overall of machine. Looks great and a whole lot of elbow grease….ya did good….very good !!
Wild, looks like it is going to break apart at any moment.
lol! who knows?
Do you have construction plans for this machine... I would love to build one for myself
No plans as such (just ideas and drafts!). I'm planning the next engine to be simpler to construct and better!
Looks exactly like the one my grandmother used as the motor for her Harley Davidson menstrual cycle
For off-grid kinda of situations, with solar and wind power, only in very rare occasions would someone need one of these. For residential I don't think it makes any sense(danger+size+noise+too many moving parts). Even for off-grid I would think a much smaller steam engine would produce the same, be quieter, cost about the same or even less to run. Either way, you must have done it for the passion of it, and its a work of art, congrats.
Such a huge machine for only 400watts of power. No wonder the Stirling engine never really made it.
However I really would like to have a small free piston Stirling engine as an emergency power generator, those are really cool because they are small quiet and efficient.
Very cool I want one did you build this from plans?
Designed and built this one using ideas from everywhere!
Could you dig a deep hole and use the heat from that to power it?
would a 45° hopper help fuelling ?
I'm really interested in that idea. I like the idea of shredding whatever biomass (dry) I can find and running it on it. I might do a separate experiment and knock together a hopper fed rocket stove type thing. I'm looking for ideas for the next engine I'm building. Cheers
@@ShanePomeroy
a swing door above the exhisting door ... hinged at th bottom with side pieces eould make a hopper which could be open fo a long stick / branch and be cloed for regular operation
@@ShanePomeroy
same idea as a trash chute door
would love to have seen this in sticker, only down the road from me..
can i ask what material the doughnut seals are made from that seal the pistons?
Hi Chris, I've applied to take it to Sticker this year so might see you there. Initially the seals were leather but I've moved over to 3mm PTFE for the hot pistons due to heat damage, Cheers