Check out the model stirling engine I bought from Kontax.
On a single cup of hot water, the flywheel turned for almost 3 hours! And on a single cup of ICE water, it turned in the opposite direction, for over 2 hours! Cool!
Stirling engines were invented in 1816, by the Scottish minister, Robert Stirling. They are technically, an external combustion engine, because the heat source is outside the piston chamber. It creates power from the differences between hot and cold, and will actually create more power on a cold day, than on a hot day.
Stirling engines are known to be very efficient, but I'm having a hard time finding reliable numbers on what the relevant efficiency range is. If you know, or find, good numbers on their efficiency, please let me know what they are.
The stirling engine must literally warm up. So, it cannot do fast starts and stops like an internal combustion engine (ICE). It is suited for long steady state operations. Another characteristic is that unlike an ICE, there have no: valves, intake, or exhaust. And so, they are very quiet. They also have fewer moving parts than an ICE, and so are more reliable. Because the heat source is outside the engine, any type of fuel can be used, such as: wood, natural gas, garbage. Even hot water, as in the case of the Kontax, if it was designed for that.
My current car generates a lot of waste heat, that you can really feel coming out from under the hood. I wondered if there was something wrong with it, but I was assured that was normal for that car.
On a long drive, I suddenly had the idea of a stirling engine that could capture the waste heat from the exhaust pipe. This could be used in hybrids. The waste heat could power a stirling engine, which would then be used to generate electricity.
Then I thought, why bother with an internal combustion engine (ICE) at all? In a hybrid, Instead of an ICE, why not just use a stirling engine to generate the electricity?
After I got back, I discovered that Dean Kamen, most well known for his invention of the Segway, is currently working on Stirling engine for use in hybrid automobiles.
http://www.dekaresearch.com/stirling.shtml
Do great minds think alike? Can I compare myself to Dean Kamen?
And I’ve since found out that another company is also working on another heat exchanger that would work on the waste heat from the ICE.
http://www.heat2power.net/en__introduction.php
They have a lot of calculations on their website, but I can’t seem to find a clear diagram of exactly how it all works. Even though they have patents:
http://www.heat2power.net/en__intellectual_property.php
the same website also talks about confidentiality agreements.
http://www.heat2power.net/en__evaluation.php
Considering how many ICE and electric motors manufacturers that exist, there are relatively few manufacturers of stirling engines around the world, and few places where the stirling is being used.
One place that the stirling engine is being used is in generating electricity at a solar energy plant in the Mojave desert. Mirrors reflect the sun’s heat onto one side of the stirling engine. The engine turns and generates electricity. All pollution free, and totally renewable. Very cool!
http://www.stirlingenergy.com/
Another place stirling engines are being used is in Swedish submarines.
http://www.kockums.se/products/products.html
http://www.kockums.se/submarines/aipstirling.html
“The Stirling AIP system is practically vibration-free, silent and wakeless. Its infrared signature is very low.”
Stirling DK, from Denmark, manufactures a combined heat and power (CHP) unit for the home. The home is heated with biofuel such as wood chips, and the stirling engine generates electricity for the home at the same time.
http://www.sd.econtent.dk/
The American company, Stirling Technology, manufactures a stirling engine for use in areas away from the power grid. It will supply 5 horsepower of shaft power at 650 RPM, and can be used to generate electricity, or pump water.
http://www.stirling-tech.com/st_engines.shtml
http://www.stirling-tech.com/literature.shtml
Ronald Steele has built a homemade stirling engine, and sells the plans for it here:
http://www.stirlingsteele.com/StirlingEnginePlans.html
For more information on this very cool motor, check out these links:
Stirling Engine Society and cool Links:
http://www.sesusa.org/index.html
http://www.sesusa.org/links.htm
PESWIKI:
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Stirling_Engines
Showing posts with label Alternative energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative energy. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wind Power 2009 conference
Wind Power has arrived!
I arrived at the Wind Power 2009 conference May 4th, 2009. The first day was a preliminary day, and I attended the all day presentations on Wind Basics.
The second day started to be impressive! I went to see a number of speakers giving keynote addresses from a number of government officials. They included: Richard Daly, mayor of Chicago. Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of the Interior. FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff. Spain’s Minister of the Interior Miguel Sebastian. After that, there was a round table discussion with Iowa Governor Chet Culver, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle.
After I left the keynote addresses, I noticed some very, very long lines of people. Many of these were people who had already registered online, and were in the express check in line. The long lines wound back and forth. I thought, wow, wind has arrived! It is now mainstream. The people who just registered that day, had to wait a long longer to get all the paperwork completed. I found out later that around 20,000 people attended. And I believe that did not include the people who also manned the booths at the trade show.
One of the things that impressed me about this conference is that it is not just another trade show, in business to make a profit. It is put on by an association that is truly committed to promoting wind power in the USA, and around the world. The seminars were very educational, and the presenters were top notch. Many came from overseas. They really wanted industry, government, and individuals to promote wind.
There were 53 seminars and many tracks. Each seminar usually had four people presenting, and one moderator. Tracks of seminars included: Project development, International track, Wind Integration, Transmission/ Markets, Technology, Policy, Business, Value Chain, Utility, Asset Management, Siting, Community/Small Wind.
All of these were very specialized areas. So, there is a lot to consider in wind. One of the recurring issues I saw discussed included variability in the wind, and the grid. The electric company would like consistent power, but because the wind varies, so does the power. There are a number of companies that are specializing in studying the wind before erecting any wind turbines. And other software companies that are specializing in predicting wind flows for the wind farms so that the utilities can plan their capacity.
There was much to see at the seminars and so I didn’t see as much of the trade show that I would have liked. But what I did see was impressive. The organizers even provided buffet lunches in the trade show halls for everyone. This was a very nice touch. You didn’t waste time wandering a long distance to get lunch, wait in line, and then walk back. Still, with all those people, you could still spend 10 minutes or more in line for the buffet.
One thing that struck me was how much was required to put up a large wind farm that could supply cities with megawatt hours of energy. It takes a number of years for the project from start to finish. Some parties involved include: wind study specialists, landowners to lease the land from, electric utilities, government, financiers, contractors to do the construction, local people who may oppose a wind farm, environmentalists, even the military who may object to wind turbines effects on their radar. The costs to put up big wind turbine projects are now measured in millions of dollars per megawatt. From one powerpoint, the average price in 2008 for large systems was about $2000 per kilowatt, so the installed price would be about $2,000,000 per megawatt. So, a 100 megawatt windfarm could have capital costs of 200 million dollars.
Small wind projects cost less. But they can have their complexities also. There is lots online about small wind already, that you can find at the American Wing Energy Association website, and the Danish Wind Industry Association.
I like to listen to successful people who speak from experience, and there were lots of such people at the conference. Overall, very impressive. If you are going to go to a wind conference in the USA, this is definitely the one to go to.
I arrived at the Wind Power 2009 conference May 4th, 2009. The first day was a preliminary day, and I attended the all day presentations on Wind Basics.
The second day started to be impressive! I went to see a number of speakers giving keynote addresses from a number of government officials. They included: Richard Daly, mayor of Chicago. Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of the Interior. FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff. Spain’s Minister of the Interior Miguel Sebastian. After that, there was a round table discussion with Iowa Governor Chet Culver, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle.
After I left the keynote addresses, I noticed some very, very long lines of people. Many of these were people who had already registered online, and were in the express check in line. The long lines wound back and forth. I thought, wow, wind has arrived! It is now mainstream. The people who just registered that day, had to wait a long longer to get all the paperwork completed. I found out later that around 20,000 people attended. And I believe that did not include the people who also manned the booths at the trade show.
One of the things that impressed me about this conference is that it is not just another trade show, in business to make a profit. It is put on by an association that is truly committed to promoting wind power in the USA, and around the world. The seminars were very educational, and the presenters were top notch. Many came from overseas. They really wanted industry, government, and individuals to promote wind.
There were 53 seminars and many tracks. Each seminar usually had four people presenting, and one moderator. Tracks of seminars included: Project development, International track, Wind Integration, Transmission/ Markets, Technology, Policy, Business, Value Chain, Utility, Asset Management, Siting, Community/Small Wind.
All of these were very specialized areas. So, there is a lot to consider in wind. One of the recurring issues I saw discussed included variability in the wind, and the grid. The electric company would like consistent power, but because the wind varies, so does the power. There are a number of companies that are specializing in studying the wind before erecting any wind turbines. And other software companies that are specializing in predicting wind flows for the wind farms so that the utilities can plan their capacity.
There was much to see at the seminars and so I didn’t see as much of the trade show that I would have liked. But what I did see was impressive. The organizers even provided buffet lunches in the trade show halls for everyone. This was a very nice touch. You didn’t waste time wandering a long distance to get lunch, wait in line, and then walk back. Still, with all those people, you could still spend 10 minutes or more in line for the buffet.
One thing that struck me was how much was required to put up a large wind farm that could supply cities with megawatt hours of energy. It takes a number of years for the project from start to finish. Some parties involved include: wind study specialists, landowners to lease the land from, electric utilities, government, financiers, contractors to do the construction, local people who may oppose a wind farm, environmentalists, even the military who may object to wind turbines effects on their radar. The costs to put up big wind turbine projects are now measured in millions of dollars per megawatt. From one powerpoint, the average price in 2008 for large systems was about $2000 per kilowatt, so the installed price would be about $2,000,000 per megawatt. So, a 100 megawatt windfarm could have capital costs of 200 million dollars.
Small wind projects cost less. But they can have their complexities also. There is lots online about small wind already, that you can find at the American Wing Energy Association website, and the Danish Wind Industry Association.
I like to listen to successful people who speak from experience, and there were lots of such people at the conference. Overall, very impressive. If you are going to go to a wind conference in the USA, this is definitely the one to go to.
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