Laminar flow Stirling idea

[Tom Booth]

For a long time I've considered the "test tube" type Stirling engines very poor at utilizing the available heat from a flame, like an alcohol burner or candle.

Glass is a really good insulator! Not very good at conducting heat. So how much or how little heat is actually getting inside the test tube to run the engine? Probably very little.

I thought for a long time that maybe a regenerator could be made of tungsten or something and electricity used to put heat directly inside the engine. No wasted, or very very little wasted heat.

Just yesterday I noticed these flameless lighters in the gas station, though at the time I was actually trying to find butane, for a different experiment.

The heating element looks great for what I have in mind, I just have to figure out how to get it inside the engine, without causing any air leaks, or breaking the circuitry. And a way for the engine to activate the switch at the right time, perhaps.

https://youtu.be/edzV3Td_Pps

[Tom Booth]

The carbon fish tank filters I ordered finally arrived today.

Carbon filters

IMG_20200803_133221823_crop_86_resize_21.jpg (72.73 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

I must say, I'm very pleased. They are much sturdier than I was anticipating

The thermal properties also, may be just what I was looking for.

It can take a lot of heat but does not conduct the heat linearly, much at all.

Carbon filter heat properties

IMG_20200803_140535852_crop_93_resize_91.jpg (32.85 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

A slice out of one of these blocks might make a good regenerative displacer for a little LTD

They are not as lightweight as I was expecting though. But pretty light. They almost have a ceramic quality and ring with a ceramic like sound when tapped with something.