Building a Sterling engine: Photos and videos

Pete has built another in a series of Stirling engines, each one better than before, experimenting with permutations towards the ultimate engine.
Below is a series of video clips that takes us through the creation and installation of a
new displacer, as the previous one one was damaged during experimentation.



Here the displacer is being cut using a hot knife and guided by the chamber.


The new displacer being removed from its previous state in a sheet of polystyrene.



The displacer was not cut 100% correctly and thus needs to be filed off to obtain a maximum roundness., which is important for its smooth functioning.


To further smooth off the edges, insulation tape is being used to seal off the edge of the displacer



The displacer gets inserted into the chamber.



The top and bottom ends sealing the chamber get screwed on tightly.



More tightening of the sides, this time shot from the bottom.



The Stirling engine tries to start up, but some part of the system is losing too much energy.



Re-sealing a pipe that accesses the chamber, on suspicion that it is the part of the engine that's causing the problem.



Another attempted start of the Stirling engine



And finally, it runs, albeit slowly and with a bit of difficulty.
The next step, which will be uploaded soon, is a more optimised, smoothed-off, running of the Stirling engine.

More pics and videos to come of this project. The aim being to create one that operates smoothly and produces electricity merely from a difference in temperature, that can easily be achieved by heating the one side. Such possible heat sources include sunlight and fire.

The basics of a sterling engine: (from Wikipedia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

A Stirling engine is a type of closed-cycle regenerative heat engine with a gaseous working fluid. "Closed-cycle" means the working fluid is permanently contained within the engine's system, which also categorizes it as an external heat engine. "Regenerative" refers to the use of an internal heat exchanger called a regenerator which increases the engine's thermal efficiency.

The Stirling engine was used in small low power applications for nearly two centuries, and saw ever increasing scientific development of its technological potential. The Stirling cycle is notable for its perfect theoretical efficiency; however this ideal has proved notoriously difficult to achieve in real engines, and remains an immense engineering challenge. Nevertheless, the current technology is reasonably advanced, and the designs are useful and versatile. It continues to be used and further developed, and this device holds promise for its ability to provide mechanical or electrical power, heating or cooling in a number of applications wherever a heat source and heat sink are available.

Technically, an air-filled Stirling engine is a specific type of "hot air engine", otherwise the two categories of engines are mutually exclusive. The term "Hot air engine" is used generically to include any heat engine with air working fluid. Hot air engines may use any one of several different thermodynamic cycles, including the Brayton cycle, Ericsson cycle or Stirling cycle. Air is just one of many possible gases that may be used in a modern Stirling engine.