I did not say adiabatic anything. That was Fools interpretation he pulled out of his ass.matt brown wrote: ↑Sat Dec 07, 2024 1:45 pm Tom - here's how to calculate adiabatic expansion and compression. I've posted this several times since this is
(1) the easiest way to calculate the change in temperature or pressure based on volume change
(2) where table of values eludes PVT relationship
I did another similar post not long ago where I walk thru each calculator step (for any timid guys who come along) but I couldn't locate it.
adiabatic PVT calcs.png
I said isothermal compression to 2 ATM results in a volume reduction to 1/2 the heat of compression being removed.
If the pressure is then reduced back to 1 atmosphere the temperature of that same mole of gas will drop by 1/2. That is BEFORE absorbing any heat allowing the gas to expand.
Half of 300°K (approximate ambient) is 150°K or about -123°C or -190°F which is about 80°F below the temperature of dry ice.
It should then be a relatively easy proposition to run a Stirling engine on dry ice to start, use the Stirling engine to compress air isothermally to a mere 30 psi or more, using only simple air cooling by a radiator, then allow the compressed and cooled air to expand through a turbine to reclaim some mechanical work as well as impart additional cooling to the exhausted air by such work extraction.
That exhausted air should then be well below the -109°F temperature of the dry ice. And can therefore be utilized to keep the dry ice refrigerated. Or, after startup, the dry ice should no longer be needed as the cold exhaust can simply be used directly to cool the cold side of the Stirling engine.
This is nothing new, of course. Peter Lindemann has been advocating for this for a decade or more, but personally I had assumed that such a system would require extremely high pressure.
Perhaps high pressure is not actually necessary at all. A mere 30 psi seems quite sufficient for an "ambient heat engine" of any sort.