Stirling Cycle Part 2 (Stirling Cryogenics)

And old, but very interesting, movie from our predecessor Philips Cryogenics about the development and technology of the Stirling engine / cryogenerator. Part 1 (of 2)
part 1: • The Stirling Cycle par...
www.d-h-industries.us

[@jasonwalters9951]

Guys, I think you should get the video digitally upgraded and preserved. This is one of the best introductory explanations of the Stirling cycle characteristics that I have seeen so far and I have looked at a lot. Most people trying to grasp the nature of the Stirling cycle long for an animation or description to accompany the equations and texts. It also has genuine historic value given the vast quantity of effort put into the Stirling by Philips even during WWII.

[@jamescooke3763]

Read an old book about this in the 1980's called "Engines for Tomorrow's Passenger Cars by J.D. Withrow". It was nice to see the boat mentioned in the book. One thing I have noticed is a preoccupation with engine efficiency, what should be the focus is how to mass produce the engine and get the price down.

[@trollmcclure1884]

this unit is so cool. Nothing breaks whether it's 700°C or -150°C You can make liquid oxygen and use it for welding or whatever..

[@jazzvickyvenkat]

wow. It is one of the best introdcution to sterling engines. Lots of effort has been put on sterling engine invented long back. it is amazing. Thanks.

[@johansteyn3516]

Great explanation and good fundamentals! Agree, this is one of those precious references one needs to preserve well! Thanks!

[@alanvcraig]

Fab! I love the mechanical parts that allow full controllability as a prime mover. Nowadays this would be so easy to do as a Stirling/Electric series hybrid.

[@jimhood1202]

Thanks. It's an old video but it's a very clear explanation of the cycle and the various uses it can provide.

[@douro20]

To think that Stirling cycle engines really haven't advanced much since the 1950s when Philips engineers built that boat. Newer high-power engines really aren't much different in design. They pretty much perfected the technology.

[@EmmittBrownBTTF1]

+douro20 Considering what we have learned from Inside Climate News and LA Times, and more recent revelation going back to 1946 involving the petroleum institute, it seems pretty safe to say the slow advancement and decline of these technologies has been quite deliberate. Sterling engines were more common the petrol engines, and Philips sold sterling engine generators into the 1970s.

[@blueckaym]

Actually NASA also did a Stirling engine project in 1986 that proved to be successful (and only lacking the power of internal combustion engines). google the Automotive Stirling Engine . Mod II ... and apparently they're still working on Stirling radioisotope generator, but with somewhat different goals - I think space oriented (where combustion is not possible)

[@michaeladams443]

This shit is pure gold man!! thanks for posting

[@gertgerttreg6063]

Brilliant video of a brilliant invention that somehow never went all the way. I would love to have one in my chimney.

[@michaelglicj8827]

Awsome explanation this should be updated

[@comingviking]

This is remarkable. Why is this not at the heart of every refrigeration system and heat pump system on the planet? Or is it, and nobody tole me?

[@Thetruebrain]

Because energy companies would go bankrupt.

[@dhaval326]

amazing

[@tedrees5989]

very good engineering!

[@helder4u]

very impressive

[@MrHighpressure]

when used as a refrigerator what is the efficiency?

[@jamesmclean9907]

Thank you for uploading this great video.

[@HoneyBerighthere-Saysarath]

Perfect

[@orionti6215]

Respect! Tesla and Stirling would be proud.

[@BenyaminMentchale]

When was that video made?

[@santallum]

Surely there MUST be more practical applications for this technology

[@robertplatt643]

What could be more practical that a silent way to go fishin'?

[@yeldarb141983]

Maybe, but don't call me Shirley

[@fitrianhidayat]

swedish submarines used Stirling engine

[@JohnSmith-of2gu]

Oh Wow. I didn't know that Stirling heat pumps could generate temperatures this extreme! What year was this series made?

[@steveforbin911]

What is the efficiency of converting heat to power out divided by heat in? This should give the percent of heat transferred to mechanical horse power out. Percent of heat efficient conversion to useable power. Where is most of the heat energy being lost? Any computer modeling to improve this ?

[@dorian1370]

Very cool and hot !

[@wrenchboostboi8994]

Imagine bringing that boat in for repairs to your local mechanic! Just to watch his confusion and reaction lol ummm uhh what is... where is..? Wtf

[@FrankensteinDIYkayak]

impressive tech but I doubt there will be performmance gains if a less efficient working fluid is used. How many realize the true ramifications of the helium shortage?

[@adrienperie6119]

I have to say I would love to own that little boat. Its incredibly high efficiency gives me a boner every time I think about it.

[@MitchSandoe]

Now, Imagine that instead of being fulled by gasoline, the hot thermal reservoir is maintained by solar power focused through a fresnel lens onto the hot side of the cylinder. Fresnel lenses can generate enough heat to melt copper if you focus the light correctly; with the right focusing and a large enough lens you could get real power out of this thing for free.

[@adrienperie6119]

Mitch Sandoe Yes, but you would need a pretty big lens to get similar horsepower, it would get pretty chunky. If you like efficiency by the way, check out LFTR's if you don't already know about them.

[@grandpaseed]

wonder what became of that research boat , probably destroyed .

[@tedrees5989]

I would like to get the idea of exploring the Sterling heat pump for storing energy as heat, and a Sterling engine to use the stored heat to generate electricity. Why? Climate Change. Solar energy is only available in the day. The excess daytime energy needs to be stored and used at night. The combination of a heat pump, and a heat engine has the theoretical maximum efficiency of 100%. Heat engine Emax = Thot/(Thot-Tcold) Heat pump Emax = (Thot-Tcold)/Thot. Multiply together, and you get 100% maximum throughput. Everyone will need energy storage, and the lowest cost materials should be used if practical. Suppose water is used for energy storage, and air for the heat pump. Hard to beat those prices! So assume you have two 50 gallon water heaters, and fill one with water at 0C, and the other at 80C, and both are filled using an ambient air heat sink at 20C . The efficiency of the hot heat pump would be 353 degK/60 = 588%. The efficiency of the 0C heat pump would be 293/20 = 1465%. The efficiency of the engine running with 80C hot, and 0C cold would be 80/353 = 22.7%. The hot tank would need 2.24 KWH. The cold tank would need 0.30 KWH. Assume a discharge temperature drop of 30C for the hot tank. The hot tank would then hold 6.6 KWH. The cold tank could hold the same by letting ice form. Filled with ice, the cold tank would need 17.6 KWH to unfreeze it. To get the desired 10KWH, we would need 1.51 hot water tanks. If the combined efficiency was 70%, the size of the hot tank would be 108 gallons. So for the price of 3 50 gallon tanks, two heat pumps, and one heat engine, overnight electrical storage could be obtained. Could this be competitive with 10 KWH of battery storage? Currently, the battery option is running around $20K. ... But think also of the difference in the materials required to service the world. Water vs. Lithium? Water vs. Lead? Water vs. Nickle-Iron? Come on engine experts - save the day!

[@peasant8246]

>calculating efficiency by mixing degrees Kelvin and Centigrade bruh.jpeg

[@tedrees5989]

@@peasant8246 The size of a degree C is equal to the size of a degree K. So when the difference is taken, both in either unit, the size of the result is identical regardless of the temperature.

[@tedrees5989]

@@tomfitzrugger Wow, that was quite a project.

[@ravijilaugh]

why dh industires doesnt make the stirling engines for power production. is their any inherent limitation to it?

[@HvdHaghen]

General Motors made a Stirling engine, the GM4L23, funded by public money. they did not want to go on with the project because they said the engine is a bomb. At Philips laboratories one engine exploded when lubrication material ignited during a test with oxigen as working gas. It killed one of the engineers. Philips still makes a lot of money on the research it did, because now they make cryon coolers, used to cool super conductors in MRI scanners.

[@comingviking]

@@HvdHaghen Yeah, Oxygen will do that when you combine it With lubricants. That is engineering 101 "Ten big NO-NO's when dealing With Oxygen".

[@scotttovey]

@@HvdHaghen The Stirling engine is not a bomb so one can only conclude that their design changes turned out to be. At which point, it is no longer a Stirling engine.

[@jimmartin7899]

A Stirling cycle engine that turned air to liquid that filled a Joe cell constructed out of super conducting materials to generate high frequency electricity has the liquid air boiled off producing hydrogen vapor to operate a combustion engine. This would work to operate a certain type of vehicle and air craft correct all without the use of fossil fuels? This would work correct?

[@robertheal5137]

How to seal the piston rods at 100 atmospheres? That is the million dollar question.

[@mysock351C]

All of that is contained within the housing so it probably wasn't an issue. But the output shaft had to be sealed. Now these are only used in cryogenics so they can be semi-hermetic or hermetic.

[@alexlo7708]

@@mysock351C It can't be hermatic because it must send out mechnic force thru power shaft. So they're leak for sure.

[@mysock351C]

Semi-hermetic, then if one wants to be technical. Im sure they spent quite a lot of time investigating the sealing technology as they still use these engines today in cryogenic plants.

[@workinalday4351]

Where did Robert Stirling get the equipment to manufacture the cylinders, pistons, push rods, compression tubes! Seriously the guy was a priest! It's not like he had millions! I've made some small Alpha and Gamma Stirling Engines, basically toys, or working models and this was pretty difficult! Robert Stirling was making the Beta Type version that is shown in this video. I don't have the means to do that. That's a pretty complex engine even by today's standards. He was making these with his brother in the 1800's WTF!? How!? Seriously I can't find that information on the internet. I find all kinds of information about the guy, and Wiki's about the history of the Stirling engines and their predecessors! But it all just gives variations of the same information. Robert Stirling was a Priest who wanted to give people something safer than the steam engine because steam engines were exploding and killing people! So he made his heat engine with his brother, and they gave a working model to some locals to pump water and then the guy went back to his church work, and people started to make his engines all over the place. Nothing that I can find shows how he cast his materials, this stuff today gets done in a machine shop. Was this old school foundry type stuff with sand and clay' molds? Because all of the information on Steam Engines of that era show that they were extremely laborious to make! They were made by companies that had lots of money, and steel and foundries with lots of workers.

[@scotttovey]

Have you read the wikipedia.org page? Robert Stirling converted a couple of steam engines into Stirling engines. The problem back then was that the cast iron of the steam engine was too thick and could not hold up to the high temperatures that were being used.

[@upgrade1373]

We will now extinguish the lights.

[@frederickbowdler1509]

Hi be nice to see a hybrid gasoline hot air engine running off waste exhaust heat

[@buder5116]

give me dem engine !!!!

[@jimmartin7899]

Why not design a cryogenic cooler out of super conducting materials that turned air to liquid that feed back onto itself to reach ultra low temperatures and create a high frequency electric generator using atmosphere to produce high frequency electricity? A smaller version could provide air conditioning and a power supply for electric vehicles and air craft? Do you think it could work?

[@terrytytula]

Why isn't this motor being used to heat and cool? Is there something wrong with it that I missed? one of these motors in your furnace could keep you warm in winter and cool in summer

[@ultort]

This is exactly what is done with with heat pumps...

[@HyperSpify]

@@ultort I thought heat pumps used traditional refrigerants based on evaporation & condensation though, not a gas cycle like the Stirling engine.

[@madvulcan8964]

Imagine hooking up the Stirling Engine in the boat magnetohydro motor.

[@comingviking]

MadVulcan I recall Reading that the Swedish navy did exactly that With one of their submarine classes. In the late 70's I think it was. At the time I did not know what a Stirling engine was, and the Author apparently assumed that this was common knowledge and did not elaborate. But what it means is that the subs could very easily recharge batteries even while submerged, by using compressed air to stabilize the athmospheric pressure in the sub. Unlike diesels that will suck Your brain out Your ears if allowed to run without a snorkle. Of course, even a Stirling engine will not be able to run indefinitely on stored air alone, but the system appears way more flexible. Also a lot less noisy than a combustion engine.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

@@comingviking One of those subs was able to score a hit on a US nuclear carrier during a naval exercise because of how silent they are.

[@comingviking]

@@gearandalthefirst7027 Scoring hits on US aircraft carriers with a battery powered sub is not that hard. Carriers are great for power projection when the aim is to bully small nations. As actual weapons of war they are somewhat overrated.

[@peters972]

In those days your invention resulted in a video with many pauses. These days it goes public and you become a billionaire.

[@HealthCarePro]

Just an idea...cool down the air to liquify it. Then pump the liquid air to a nozzle which is at 700 degrees. The liquid air will instantly turn into gas and produce pollution-free jet propulsion.

[@divoulos5758]

Yeah but it needs energy to do that. It's not an infinite power source

[@dragan3290]

Isn't nitrogen harnessed using a Stirling engine?????

[@thakorbhairathod1909]

Akira Kurosawa and the

[@zippolag]

why does it start over after it ends? o.O

[@dnomyarnostaw]

Because the displacer piston pushes the "used" air" back to the opposite temperature area.

[@Digitallyferal]

Time is a flat circle. Why are people still enamored with Stirling engines? Maybe when they digitized the old film the end of film was taped to the beginning so old film played in a loop?

[@chuckels431]

Ray Watson Ray, I believe he is referring to the video not the engine cycle.

[@jasonwills1116]

Andeventuallytheboatfloatsawayontheprevalingwind

[@jimmartin7899]

Liquid air air is 71% nitrogen? Can this nitrogen be infused into water and used on crops has fertilizer?

[@robertheal5137]

Nitrogen is almost insoluble in water. And anyway, you can't mix liquid nitrogen and water. The first thing that would happen, is the water will freeze.

[@OKFrax-ys2op]

A few moving parts and high-efficiency equals something very remarkable! Imagine, tapping into solar and creating a generator for it?

[@jimmartin7899]

Could you not use induction used for cooking to heat the pistons on a sterling engine? More heat would mean more RPM's correct? Would that make an electronic engine that could replace the internal combustion engine? Novartis ; )

[@jjgunt]

You'd have to use electrical energy to operate the induction apparatus which in turn then powers the engine. Therefore you could simply use the electrical energy to run motor all by itself. Using the Stirling engine as an intermediate just increases heat loss; lowers efficiency.

[@jimmartin7899]

Make piston generate its own energy ancient pyramid technology and no I will not explain it to a Jesuit clone buggy!

[@jimmartin7899]

Induction field can do much more then just generate heat. Stuff they don't teach you in free Masonic drone school. ; )

[@jimmartin7899]

Hay those Manson engine pistons would generate their own electricity and heat an engine that powered itself. No more fossil fuels imagine that? LOL wait do you know how to charge a battery with limestone or basalt? 

[@jimmartin7899]

Manson engine is a very cool toy.

[@dustinkrejci6142]

I did not from what I remember, know Sir Stirling was a Minster. funny, I am going to be a Christian missionary and I am looking at a way to generate power of various kinds for various reasons. I feel Like Right Jesus Christ is wanting me to do this, finish his,Sir Stirling, work.

[@AndrzejZawww-qh7jd]

Tak lali azot

[@sammy5576]

imagine a huge paper coffee cup on the top to collect the liquid air the system could be used as a mechanical battery

[@jimmartin7899]

Why not use a Stirling cycle engine to produce liquid atmosphere to fill a tank then use an emitter to separate the oxygen and hydrogen? Then use a Joe cell with a different frequency to produce HHO to be used in a combustion or jet engine? This would work right? No more need for fossil fuels?

[@EmmittBrownBTTF1]

Hot and cool. pun intended. Pity, Koch turned out to be so, well, evil.

[@lavrentievv]

'Pity, Koch turned out to be so, well, evil.' How so?

[@mikeorjimmy2885]

They are the ones that got the laws passed so that if you install solar for power at your house you have to pay the power company for lost power.

[@dnomyarnostaw]

The whole dirty story here - only in the USA www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-koch-brothers-dirty-war-on-solar-power-193325/

[@scotttovey]

@@dnomyarnostaw Thanks for the link to the anti-solar campaign. I don't care if it's the leftist demanding everyone adopt solar, or these monopolists demanding nobody adopt solar. Neither side has either right or business doing so. The only outcome is hurting people and the obvious clue is Nevada's retroactive fine placed on those that have solar on their homes. Total swamp environment there.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

@@scotttovey the leftists don't want everyone to use solar, the liberals do. Us leftists want everyone to do whatever's sustainable, and solar isn't there yet

[@jimmartin7899]

Would not the Stirling engine become a cold cycle engine from the liquid air leaving it to generate a steady flow of high frequency electricity from the super conducting materials it was constructed out of? It would operate non stop and if constructed correctly would not have any friction points from how super conductors work or even using gadolinium in its construction generating magnetic bearings? This could work correct?

[@badpancake8972]

THis engine LOOK LOOK IM AWSOME IM THE FUTURE!! internal combustion engine and oil companies: ima end this this mans whole career

[@timdekleijn8910]

Oil companies wouldn't be threatened by the stirling engine, since it can run on liquid fuel. The problem is that is isn't all that practical for automotive purposes, they tried it on a bus, which wasn't a succes. They also tried to make stirling powered field generators, but these didn't function so great either.

[@Jalae]

@@timdekleijn8910 the real issue is that these would best be used in highly distributed - home scale situations. Sure it doesn't have the peak power needed for car use, but for constant power generation it becomes a dangerous threat to institutional hegemony. like could you imagine homes using radioactive heating connected to one of these? hell even in a permaculture type situation where it's fed with wood in a rocket heater... it's no wonder this stuff has been stifled.

[@Xrayflames]

@@timdekleijn8910 it did work in a car, was both powerful enough and more fuel efficient. The important thing to note is that one doesn't need gasoline to power the sterling, with other fuels being explored

[@Kaslabarak]

We need fart motor right now.