would a block of ice work

[wardle3]

I was wondering if anybody has tried to freeze water in the cooling part or would that not work. any ideas please... thanks

[tmk]

i saw an engine at the maker faire which was similar to a LTD in shape, but the bottom plate was basically an aluminium heat-sink, with a block of ice frozen around it

the hot side was just the air, and it ran fine

-tmk

[Administrator]

A Stirling engine is a temperature differential engine. It runs on the difference in the two temperatures.

The greater the difference between the two the more potential it has. But you can also lower the temperature on the hot side if the cold side also goes down in temp. Or visa versa.

Just keep the hot side hot and the cold side cold (Macdonalds would be happy) and it will run all day. (or the hot side warm and the cold side freezing) LOL

I have run Ice cubes and water in the cold side of the tin can engine and it runs faster (at first) and longer before the water heats up and it slows.

DB

[antidartan]

I have a dry ice supplyer down the road, that should be cool. No pun intended.

[Cartech]

Ice works well especially for first runs or when your having trouble with a new design. It will help you from adding too much heat to get it started. Just keep the melting water out of the inside! I needed ice to get my first engine running the first couple times until I fixed all the lttle things like extra friction. Dry ice is even better, just don't burn yourself with it. It evaporates without leaving liquid and is much colder than water ice. It will stick to you skin, handle with care and keep away from the kids and never place in a small air tight container. The container may explode as it heats (melts) up if not allowed to evaporate freely!

[SScandizzo]

One other tip,

be sure to build your tolerances with the engine's application in mind. Cold causes metal to contract, heat causes metal to expand; and different materials and thickness are affected differently!

-Stefan