Stirling engine Archives – The Green Optimistic

IBM’s Photovoltaic Prototype Can Concentrate the Power of 2000 Suns

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 03:11:54 +0000

IBM Researchers have built a low-cost prototype solar dish that produces electricity and generates heat for desalination or cooling. IBM got the idea for the solar dish from the water cooling technology used in its high-end computers. The Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation has provided $2.4 million worth of funding to IBM, Swiss researchers, […]

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Solar Stirling Engine Efficiency Records Broken by Ripasso Energy

Mila Luleva — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:06:20 +0000

Solar Stirling engine efficiency has been topped this year by Ripasso Energy, a solar technology company based in Sweden. They have designed a Solar stirling dish module that set a new efficiency world record of 32%. The solar stirling engine dish modules convert sunlight in most climates, however they have proven to be most effective […]

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Thingiverse Raves About 3D Printed Stirling Engine

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:34:42 +0000

Thingiverse, touted as “Digital designs for real, physical objects. A Universe of Things!” is a website for community sharing and feedback. Thinkiverse plugs itself is a place where creative, innovative people can share designs with the world, and the creators believe that just as computing shifted away from the mainframe into the personal computer, digital […]

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New Nuclear Reactor With a Stirling Engine Could Power Space Missions

Mila Luleva — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:35:28 +0000

A new reactor concept that combines Stirling engine with modern heat pipe cooling system might provide power to upcoming space missions. The invention was created by a group of researchers from NASA and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The developers proudly show their simple, light and flexible design, which is easy to control. It is particularly […]

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Cool Energy’s Low-Temperature Stirling Engine Recovers Waste Heat as Electricity

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:00:02 +0000

The SolarHeart®Engine is the new Stirling engine developed by Cool Energy that converts low-temperature (100oC to 300oC) heat energy to electrical power output ranging from 3 kW to 20 kW, making it suitable for solar thermal electric, biomass power, and waste heat recovery applications. As a participant at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit’s Defense […]

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DIY Stirling Generator Goes to 1687 RPM

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:57:37 +0000

Stirling generators are rarely seen in the media, but they are actually one of the few options we have in turning raw heat to electricity. Indeed, some variations of the almost 200-year-old Stirling engine are more efficient than others, but it’s good to see experimenters from around the globe tackling them, and solving their shortcomings step […]

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Stirling Engine Generator by Dean Kamen Could Power Cable Installations

Benji Jerew — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:50:32 +0000

The Stirling engine generator Dean Kamen invented is small and quiet enough to be put just about anywhere, and is extremely efficient, running on a number of readily-available fuels. The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers [SCTE] Cable-Tec Expo finished today in Orlando, FL. Keynote speaker Dean Kamen holds over 400 patents worldwide, including an advanced human […]

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Six-Cylinder Stirling Engine Built by DIYer in His Garage

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:40:22 +0000

Stirling engines have been touted as a good alternative for current internal combustion engines, since they can be powered with mostly anything that burns and are much simpler than steam engines for small applications like running a car. Here’s a guy who built a six-piston Stirling engine, at home, just to prove that this old […]

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Laser-Powered Micro Stirling Engine Invented by German Researchers

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:50:10 +0000

You know how Stirling engines work, don’t you? If you don’t you can make an idea by imagining a cylinder with a fixed quantity of gas inside that expands when hot and compresses as it loses heat, creating movement and perhaps moving a piston (just like in the picture). That’s a 200-year-old idea, but now […]

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The Stirling Racer: Nice But Expensive Stirling Engine Toy Powered By The Sun

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:23:53 +0000

It's nice for a toy, but difficult to understand when it comes to explaining the true greenness of this invention. A stirling engine-powered toy just hit the market recently, combining a 194-year-old engine concept touted today for its fuel flexibility with solar power-the baby that modern science wants to grow.

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Evita: Hot Water and Important Electricity Savings From Stirling Engine-Equipped Boiler

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:00:14 +0000

I thought Stirling engines can offer great advantages if used in cars, but it never crossed my mind using such an engine in a heating boiler for your household. Evita is the name of the latest boiler made by Remeha, a Dutch company, using a Stirling engine to produce electricity and upload it to the grid.

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How to Measure a Stirling Engine's Efficiency (video)

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:07:00 +0000

The next video shows a Stirling engine while working to achieve its best, powered by a 70W light bulb. The poster also shows how he measured various parameters of the engine, like speed, torque, input/output power.

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Panasonic Revives The Stirling Engine For 10 kW Waste Heat Recovery System

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:17:14 +0000

estir Co., an in-company venture of Panasonic led by Teruyuki Akazawa, thought that it would make a good business reusing the otherwise wasted heat from Panasonic's plants, and reimplemented Stirling engines, seeking to make them more efficient than ever.

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31% Efficient Stirling Engines Used to Convert 1.5MW of Arizona Solar Power

Cristi — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:28:23 +0000

Stirling engines are known to mankind for about 200 years but they are not so widely used today, except maybe for the pacemakers and long-distance robotic spacecrafts. This will soon change as 60 stirling engines will be used in Phoenix, Arizona, to harvest solar power which will be converted into electricity.

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NASA Planning to Use Nuclear Powered Stirling Engine for Moon Base

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:16:09 +0000

NASA is said to be the forerunner of the newest invented technologies, even before the military puts an eye on them (or sometimes the second to use them). Still, some NASA officials have decided to use an old technology, such as the Stirling engine, to generate electricity on the future moon bases.

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Solar Stirling Engine System Working in Colder and Darker Areas

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:22:55 +0000

Stirling engines become more and more used and promoted among alternative energy circles. The interesting fact with them is that they can be fueled by any source of heat, and the cleaner the source is, the better the stirling engine does to the environment.

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SunCatcher's Stirling-Engine Based Solar Concentrators to Start in 2010

Mike Sandru — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:42:05 +0000

Tessera Solar and Stirling Energy Systems (SES) have unveiled new designs of their SunCatcher system at Sandia National Laboratories' National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF).

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Dean Kamen's Stirling Engine Hybrid Scooter Runs on Anything

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:16:11 +0000

The inventor of Segway (you know, those 2-wheeled self-balancing personal transporters you see in touristic cities - I saw one in Rome) is now specializing in Stirling engines - the grandfather of the steam engine and more efficient than current gasoline engines.

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DEKA Revolt: First Hybrid Stirling Engine Car – Powered by Anything!

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:03:45 +0000

Dean Kamen, a UK inventor, has just released to the public a modified electric Ford Th!nk, hacked in his DEKA labs. DEKA is his company located in Manchester Millyard. Kamen's modified electric car has a Stirling engine onboard, into the trunk. He uses the stirling engine mainly to defrost and heat the car, because the systems doing that are huge power consumers.

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How To Make a Low Temperature Differential (LTD) Stirling Engine

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:17:40 +0000

LTD stirling engines are interesting. They harvest the temperature difference of the environment versus a cold object, and using this they power some pumps. I don’t know the efficiency of this stirling engine, but it would be a nice idea for the hot areas of the world to put in some ice in your car […]

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DIY Stirling Engine Boat Tutorial

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:08:15 +0000

There are many ways for building a stirling engine boat. You can either use a frame of square lumbers or fiber-reinforced plastic. However, piling thick balsa boards can also do the trick and can get you with a minimal concept powered by a stirling engine. The most expensive part of this project is the stirling […]

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MSI To Make Self-Cooled Stirling Engine Motherboards

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:59:54 +0000

If you ever had to do with a computer, or with buying a computer by parts, then you surely have heard of MSI. They are a big Taiwanese manufacturer of computer motherboards (those boards that you put your microprocessor and memory on). They’re not on the top of quality and performance, but they sell well, […]

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Solar Stirling Engine Video

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:55:39 +0000

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Build a Can Stirling Engine in 10 Easy Steps

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:51:38 +0000

Can stirling engines have fascinated me and not once was there will to put them into action, but no time. Here’s how you can build a can stirling engine out of materials you can find in your home. #1 – Prepare the materials To build the most simple Can Stirling Engine you need: 10mm-thick wood board 10mm-thick […]

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Home Made Stirling Engine Video

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:45:30 +0000

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The Stirling Engine (or hot air engine) Explained

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:38:11 +0000

1820, when steam engines operated everywhere, Robert Stirling, a Scottish vicar, and his brother James built a new engine. They used an outside burn, additionally hot air was sufficient for the operation of the engine. This principle has theoretically already been developed by the English flight pioneer Sir George Cayley twenty years earlier. Stirling proceeds […]

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