Stirling Engine!

[mattb28]

This is something that I am kinda curious about. Could the stirling power a Hummer. Because you gotta figure, as far as a solution to gas guzzlers, the Hummer, a main problem with that, it could help. Or maybe even for the military. Using them in Humvees, although that isn't very realistic I guess. There are too many of them. I am waiting for somebody to come along with an invention that will save us from the pumps. If I had a Hummer at this point in time, I would be losing it. Gas, maintenance, and u become a target. Why not fix that, so that, not just Hummers, but all SUV's and trucks, can be improved. Jonathan Goodwin has come close with his biofuel stuff, but from my understanding, you still gotta make the stuff. I'd want something a little easier to obtain. Any opinions?

-matt b.

P.S. - If gas ever comes down, and I win the lotto, I will consider it NOT!! lol

[MrForbes]

The Stirling won't be any help for cars, as far as I can tell. And the bicycle has already been invented.

It takes a lot of energy to move a big vehicle, and concentrated energy isn't free in most places.

It's a great problem for young minds to be working on, though! One way to get involved is the SAE supermileage competition.

[mattb28]

There is one website that claims you can build an electrolyser(?) fuel cell. U can get energy by splitting the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that make up water. The parts can produce a large amount of hydrogen. Sounds good, but u must be dedicated to take that on. There have been guys who have tested stuff like this, they might power a small gas engine, but not an SUV I would think. A neat idea though. Someday, somehow, someway, the world should have a better source of fuel, that will be cheap enough for all to afford, and enough of this relying on foreign oil, and practically begging for it, which ain't a good thing.

[MrForbes]

The hydrogen booster idea is pretty interesting...it separates those who understand the laws of thermodynamics, from those who don't

Think about the energy flow. The engine is running on gasoline and air, and it has an alternator that is turned by the engine, and recharges the starting battery and also provides electrical power to run the various things on the vehicle, such as lights, ignition, etc. The alternator therefore is powering the hydrolizer, which separates the hydrogen and oxygen from the water. However, it takes more electrical energy to separate them than you can get back by burning them in the engine!

The whole thing is a scam....although it seems likely that people who put these things on their cars actually do use less fuel, for an interesting side reason. They generally are true believers, and so they fully expect the device to improve their mileage, so they (consciously or subconsciously) change their driving habits, which results in an increase in mileage. In fact, it appears that instructions included with some of the systems for sale state that you have to drive differently with the device. What a happy coincidence!

I have yet to see any published report showing valid data for specific fuel consumption of an engine equipped with one of these things. And a double blind, carefully controlled mileage analysis is unlikely to ever happen....the true believers all know it improves mileage, and the skeptics (who actually might be interested in the results of the experiment) already know it won't improve mileage, so we won't bother to do the experiment because it's a waste of time.

[Rosiebotboss]

Those wonderful guys on Mythbusters did the experiments with the H2 electrolyzer (and other high mileage apparatus) and their results were an actual decrease in mileage and a pretty big boom when they introduced straight H2 from a bottle. They had reasoned that the decrease in mileage was due to the fact that not enough H2 was being produced, so they, in typical Mythbuster fashion, "ramped up" the dose!

Great segment. They did a good job busting the high mileage myths...

[Gdeaver]

Yes, Sterling engines are amazing devices. They will be used in the future to reclaim work from waste heat. For cars, BMW is testing a 2 stage sterling engine that they added on to one of their large V8's. Should be available for general purchase in the fall in European markets. The press release I read stated that it added about 45 HP at cruise speeds. Auto engineers have done an amazing job over the years of improving the combustion efficiency and lowering the pollution of internal combustion engines. However, the internal combustion engine is thermally inefficient.

[Krystine T.]

I love Stirling engines! I've designed one out of brass and aluminum. Hopefully someday soon I will actually get around to making it. The one I’ve designed, which will run off of a small candle, won't be anything more than a conversation piece, but it is a great demonstration of how to turn heat into work. I've also learned that if you run the engine in reverse, for example, off of a small dc motor, it will actually create a hot and cold side. Because of this the engines are also used in cryogenics.

[mattb28]

Awesome input from everyone! The stirling is quite the device. I just wish someone would get to the root of the problem with fuel, and fix it. When they had the televised presidential debates a few months back, John Mccain had said if he was President, he would put out a $1,000,000 reward I think it was, to the first person who can get you, the consumer, 100 miles to the gallon. A guy has already done that. Jonathan Goodwin, but he charges a lot, so financially it doesn't make sense for most people. Biodiesel, is cheap, around $1.50 for b20 I think, not sure though, we are headed in the right direction, things are goin so slow, so many things stand in the way. I might sell my car, and just ride a bike to work, or just take the bus.

[MrForbes]

The little cars in the supermileage competition get between a few hundred and 1500 mpg. They aren't practical for transportation, though.

$1,000,000 won't buy much product development these days.

The government can help by raising mileage requirements, which forces carmakers to sell smaller, lighter cars. Fuel prices will have to get very high before folks who can easily afford $50k+ SUVs really have to worry about the cost to operate them. Depreciation is still the biggest expense!

[mattb28]

I have seen a few trucks around here with biodiesel stickers. It's still doesn't solve the problem. Biodiesel is still in a developmental stage so to speak if you ask me, it's hard to come by. Not every station has it. It might be cheaper, but slightly more work involved in getting it in your tank. As far as regular cars, not sure. Pretty much every station in Framingham is around $4.00, which too me is nuts. I hope the sierra club and the environmentalist groups are happy, a lot of people are gonna ditch their SUV's and many truck driver's will quit if this keeps up at the pumps

[Pat Major]

Interesting 15 minute video from GM in 1969, includes a Stirling powered car. http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...78756207191901.
Form your own conclusions as to how difficult this problem is to solve and how far we have come

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by Pat Major

Interesting 15 minute video from GM in 1969, includes a Stirling powered car. http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...78756207191901.
Form your own conclusions as to how difficult this problem is to solve and how far we have come

Fuel Cells & Hybrids & CVT's
Oh my!!!