Does a medium sized SE exist that could charge 12 V car battery properly?

Discussion on Stirling or "hot air" engines (all types)
Tom Booth
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Re: Does a medium sized SE exist that could charge 12 V car battery properly?

Post by Tom Booth »

Spacefog_ wrote: Fri May 17, 2024 7:52 am ...Just hope this is not another one of those SE's building up to be a small bomb by self pressurization.
Another one?

There seems to be only one alleged or rumored anecdotal case of some such explosion, supposedly at the Phillips lab. Apparently not reported by the lab itself. about which practically nothing is known, who was involved, actual pressures involved, circumstances etc etc.

I've explored this question in depth in this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=5469

I could find nothing concrete to substantiate the rumor.
Spacefog_
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Re: Does a medium sized SE exist that could charge 12 V car battery properly?

Post by Spacefog_ »

Another one?

There seems to be only one alleged or rumored anecdotal case of some such explosion, supposedly at the Phillips lab. Apparently not reported by the lab itself. about which practically nothing is known, who was involved, actual pressures involved, circumstances etc etc.
Correct, that was the one I was referring to. Actually read it on Brent's site interestingly enough https://www.stirlingengine.com/ . I will read the thread. Maybe it's just anecdotal evidence at best then
Spacefog_
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Re: Does a medium sized SE exist that could charge 12 V car battery properly?

Post by Spacefog_ »

Another one?
During research I checked with ChatGPT (make of that what you will) that wrote: ''During 1950/1951 the engineer/technician Gerrit de Groot was fatally injured when an unexpected explosion occurred during a test of a high-pressure hydrogen Stirling Engine at the Philips laboratory in Eindhoven, The Netherlands." It also cites the book 'The Philips Stirling Engine by Clifford M. Hargreaves'

https://books.google.bg/books/about/The ... edir_esc=y

At this rate I think it'll be cheaper to get a library card )
Stroller
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Re: Does a medium sized SE exist that could charge 12 V car battery properly?

Post by Stroller »

Spacefog_ wrote: Fri May 17, 2024 5:33 am
Stroller wrote: Fri May 17, 2024 4:42 am The only other viable route from wood-fire to battery charging seems to be Thermo-Electric Generators. TEGs. The modules are coming down in price - around $15-$20 for a 6.5W unit on AliExpress. 10 of those plus some watercooling kit and a heavy duty heatsink to keep the hot side thermally and mechanically stable. Along with some sensors and thermionic valve control or bimetallic strips to prevent burnout, that could give you a silent and long lived 65W output. I've bought 10 cheaper units at $2.50 each to play with and learn from before I try the pricier ones. That's the other nice thing about TEGs. You can swap out dead modules for new/better easily without having to do a full redesign or remanufacture of your generator.
I hear you. I've already been down that rabbit hole as well :smile:

https://www.reddit.com/r/woodstoving/co ... oelectric/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bCVMh5iXAQ

https://indigirka2.weebly.com/indigirka-2.html

The general consensus seems to be that if you don't baby the TEG's they'll get damaged, because they could only take a certain amount of temperature. Know anyone with long-term experience with TEG's that can vouch for their durability and efficiency?
The INDIGIRKA-2 looks great! 50Watts and a warm stove to cook on too. I'll call back with the results of my own experiments. I'm hoping I'll get around 8Watts from my 10 TEG array, which will be around 1/4 the physical size of the unit on the INDIGIRKA-2. I will need around 50Watts eventually, if I'm going to keep my diesel heater running 24/7 and the woodstove 6 hours a day. I'm considering a secondary unit for the diesel heater exhaust to pass through before it goes through the heat exchanger that warms my bathroom towel rail.
Spacefog_
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Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2024 3:08 am

Re: Does a medium sized SE exist that could charge 12 V car battery properly?

Post by Spacefog_ »

The INDIGIRKA-2 looks great! 50Watts and a warm stove to cook on too. I'll call back with the results of my own experiments. I'm hoping I'll get around 8Watts from my 10 TEG array, which will be around 1/4 the physical size of the unit on the INDIGIRKA-2. I will need around 50Watts eventually, if I'm going to keep my diesel heater running 24/7 and the woodstove 6 hours a day. I'm considering a secondary unit for the diesel heater exhaust to pass through before it goes through the heat exchanger that warms my bathroom towel rail.
Great, wish you luck. Here you got chinese tegs that look similar https://www.thermonamic.com/pro_view.asp?id=828 .
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