I was a bit disappointed by the title. I was hoping for something akin to a sterling engine, which is powered solely by a heat differential. As long as the heat differential is present and barring any mechanical issues, the sterling engine will operate continuously without intervention.
If you bury a heatsink, and then have an air-flow heatsink, it's plausible that you could power a Stirling Engine with this kind of power output.
You wouldn't do it for $5 though. Efficient Stirling Engines with a reasonable amount of torque actually require significant engineering, and that comes at a cost. However, they wouldn't require significant maintenance, they would provide power all the time that could be stored (again, at a cost), and might be able to trickle power an entire village.
Technically, really technically, and very pedantically, I expect what you have is a hot air engine, because it's unlikely that it includes a proper regenerator, which is technically what differentiates a Stirling Engine.
However,
Yes, Stirling Engines can be wonderfully efficient, and they are a delight to watch in action. Lovely machines.
Comments
I was a bit disappointed by the title. I was hoping for something akin to a sterling engine, which is powered solely by a heat differential. As long as the heat differential is present and barring any mechanical issues, the sterling engine will operate continuously without intervention.
If you bury a heatsink, and then have an air-flow heatsink, it's plausible that you could power a Stirling Engine with this kind of power output.
You wouldn't do it for $5 though. Efficient Stirling Engines with a reasonable amount of torque actually require significant engineering, and that comes at a cost. However, they wouldn't require significant maintenance, they would provide power all the time that could be stored (again, at a cost), and might be able to trickle power an entire village.
They're incredibly efficient. There's one on my wireless router that happily spins away all day.
Technically, really technically, and very pedantically, I expect what you have is a hot air engine, because it's unlikely that it includes a proper regenerator, which is technically what differentiates a Stirling Engine.
However,
Yes, Stirling Engines can be wonderfully efficient, and they are a delight to watch in action. Lovely machines.