Stirlingengineforum.com

Hello Everybody,

I am a final year engineering student, and my thesis is investigating the possibility of making use of Stirling engines in rural communities to generate small amounts of electricity. We are aiming at nothing more than about 10 Watt output (enough to power a cellphone charger is more or less the goal).
The scope of the project does not include the actual design of the engine, but rather focuses on the economic feasibility as well as a Life Cycle Assessment of the engine.
As such I am looking for fully developed plans of a (probably beta-type according to most of the research I've done) engine which will generate more or less enough power for this project.
I have a full workshop at my disposal, and I am willing to purchase the plans.

PLEASE HELP ME FIND A SUITABLE DESIGN!

Any advice on the matter would be MUCH appreciated!

Regards,

Rick

PS: Unfortunately I will not be able to pressurize the engine, and it will have to run with normal 1atm air :)

Hi RickKotze,

Have a look through approtechie's videos he makes some pretty powerful low budget engines over 10 watts,
and i've read somewhere that he is involved in tech solutions for developing countries..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwrWFb4dcDw

another youtube video (there are others)..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEv2mwEQGik

Don't fall for this one (It Wont Work!)..
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/epi ... y-one-puck
Read these for explanations..
http://www.solarheatengines.com/2013/03 ... wont-work/
http://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/categ ... nce/fraud/

Have you searched on ebay or amazon for some examples?
http://www.amazon.com/Stirling-Charging ... B004AFRQIU

As far as actual blueprint plans i don't have any (maybe others do), but if you take some time to navigate throughout the forum and threads you might come across some useful posts and links (or at least inspiration).

Have you ever seen these BioLite cooker chargers-
http://www.biolitestove.com/
They're Thermocouple powered not Stirling, but still pretty cool..



vamoose

Vamoose!

Thank you so much for your reply! I was just starting to lose hope for my project as the time restraints are becoming very scary. I unfortunately don't have time to play around with the design stage (although I have built a can-engine to familiarize myself with the system- and for the fun of it) and desperately require working drawings that can be made into a working machine as soon as possible so that I can start with the analysis ASAP!
I have contacted mazaq86 from your second youtube video, and I hope that he will be able to provide me with either a working engine of sufficient power and the details of the materials used - or with the fully detailed plans so that I can manufacture the parts in my universities workshop and get it going as soon as possible.
I feel that this will be a mutually beneficial relationship as I will be putting a lot of work into the analysis of the engine (and Im sure that mazaq86 will be interested in the results)... And of course he will be doing me a huge favor by letting me use his design for my study.
I will keep you updated on the progress of the project, and might just be asking for some more insight/advise at a later stage :P

Thanks again! :)

PS: I have not seen the BioLite stove before, but I have come across videos of peltier generators and "campfire" generators and all sorts of craziness that seem to work on nothing less than modern magic! Haha, great stuff! thanks for all the links! :)

There are more engines to be found (just keep looking, finding this stuff took only a few minutes) ...
Check out other videos on his channel too!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPGvDj1aguE[/youtube]

here is one of the Stirling engine generator setups Demonstrated in the video..

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Desktop-Stir ... 980&_uhb=1

another decent size stirling with a generator from ebay..
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hot-Air-Stir ... 82c&_uhb=1
vamoose

Vamoose you have a knack for finding these things! Haha, thanks again! :)