Stirling Engines - the power of the future?

Stirling engines are having a bit of a revival. What are they, and how do they work? Could they generate our electricity in the future? See the follow-up video: • Stirling engines - an ...
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I like machines that show their workings. You can see all the parts of a stirling engine doing their jobs. Stirling engines are simple, but use a principle that may be unfamiliar to many viewers. One thing that you have to remember from your science classes is that gases expand and contract very rapidly indeed, making this sort of engine practical.
Stirling engines are not very powerful nor do they have great power to weight ratios. I know of one annual boat race that takes place in England on a river using stirling engines, and it is somewhat sedate.
Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.
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[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

"Its a stirling engine, and whats more its a stirling engine and you might be wondering: What's a stirling engine? Well, this is" *Video ends* I will never tire of your humor.

[@dcarbs2979]

@charles wheelock It would also need to be Stirling Engine because it's a noun.

[@GrumpaGladstone1809]

@@dcarbs2979 "a Stirling engine", capital S after Robert Stirling, small e because engine is just a normal noun.

[@dcarbs2979]

@@GrumpaGladstone1809 I got it wrong i think. Stirling engine = Noun Stirling Engine = Proper noun Sterling engine / sterling engine = adjective. Make up your own pun accordingly :-) A Stirling Engine is a sterling engine.

[@nicholasadams2374]

@@dcarbs2979 Yes. It's a sterling engine, and a Stirling engine. You got it :)

[@billynomates920]

@@nicholasadams2374 even if silver was the best material, i just haven't the sterling for a sterling sterling stirling engine but i reckon raheem has...

[@MonoMan1]

"It's powered by ice, that's cool!" Doesn't even flinch.

[@vinayseth1114]

Ya he's not Michael from VSauce.

[@RDO-tw4qn]

Lindies hard if humor.... That's what makes him so funny.

[@nadaa2370]

I love how I have become an ardent defender and advocate of the Stirling Engine ten minutes into this video.

[@ahmadtarek7763]

Rightly so, they are almost better than other engines in every way , being silent, safe and lacking any waste product whatsoever, except for the power/weight ratio which unfortunately matters a lot.

[@AcidxAnarchy]

@@ahmadtarek7763 I'm sure the power and weight ratio can be improved upon greatly. You could probably improve it a lot just by adding a more intricate pulley system lol

[@yetanother9127]

@@AcidxAnarchy I don't think pulleys would help--they'd just change the torque ratio, not the amount of energy coming out, which is useful for some applications but doesn't really help in terms of power generation. The main avenue of improvement is getting the weight down, I think.

[@Xrayflames]

@@yetanother9127 i believe that there was an effort to make an electric car where the stirling engine didnt directly cause a car to drive, rather it charged a battery which powered the car. Quoting a piece on it "The MOD II project in 1980 produced one of the most efficient automotive engines ever made. The engine reached a peak thermal efficiency of 38.5%, compared to a modern spark-ignition (gasoline) engine, which has a peak efficiency of 20-25%. The Mod II project replaced the normal spark-ignition engine in a 1985 4-door Chevrolet Celebrity notchback. In the 1986 MOD II Design Report (Appendix A) the results showed that highway gas mileage was increased from 40 to 58 mpg‑US (5.9 to 4.1 L/100 km; 48 to 70 mpg‑imp) and achieved an urban range of 26 to 33 mpg‑US (9.0-7.1 L/100 km; 31-40 mpg‑imp) with no change in vehicle gross weight. Startup time in the NASA vehicle was a maximum of 30 seconds, while Ford's research vehicle used an internal electric heater to quickly start the engine, giving a start time of only a few seconds. The high torque output of the Stirling engine at low speed eliminated the need for a torque converter in the transmission resulting in decreased weight and transmission drivetrain losses negating somewhat the weight disadvantage of the Stirling in auto use. This resulted in increased efficiencies being mentioned in the test results."

[@kyleb3754]

They are incredibly inefficient, using something like 40HP worth of fossil fuel to make 1 HP. Other than that, I would be a great advocate.

[@munch15a]

TO quote adam savage "this is not free energy but it is free to me energy"

[@pablorepetto2759]

Or as the British may put it: "this is not free real estate, but it is free to _me_ real estate"

[@Rid3thetig3r]

@David Jones It was all given back. And see how they flourish...

[@vegetorat]

@@Rid3thetig3r Turns out life is a lot easier when someone else is telling you what to do. It's a lot harder when you gotta figure it out yourself.

[@raygodwin3496]

The very best kind in my humble opinion

[@NwoDispatcher]

Like slaves and communists

[@harbl99]

6:45 -- "Churches traditionally don't move around that much." Sage wisdom right there. Not to be overlooked.

[@Clint945]

To be fair... he's not wrong! :p

[@chriscos123]

Beige wisdom

[@ptonpc]

Although in the novels by Alistair Reynolds, the churches do move..

[@sergepokorny3972]

They do tent to create big movements though.

[@str_j1649]

I've seen some and they weren't moving at all.

[@robertguttman1487]

Leave it to the British to invent an engine that could be powered by a cup of tea.

[@veeleather_larpstrand7383]

Brilliant

[@freddiecollier3393]

Rule Britannia

[@1990Hazard1990]

just put the stirling engine on top and it will run xD

[@SriHarshaproletariat]

And an Indian will own the company

[@Burkutace27]

[British intensifies]

[@FoxRiverBridge]

"Churches don't traditionally move around all that much" Brilliant

[@gabeclancy9937]

Evidently Lindy has not heard of Warhammer 40k.

[@swampdonkey1567]

I know Churchill’s family church is a museum in Missouri it is great.

[@arthas640]

Sounds like a circuit preacher, in the early days they were basically a priest with a bible, some wine, and bread on horseback who traveled town to town in rural communities too dispersed to support a full time priest (it occurred in catholic and protestant communities but I think it was more common in rural America and canada with their dispersed farms in the midwest)

[@duskyflathead4483]

Laughs in imperator class

[@slinky6481]

Unless they're on a fault line

[@sameggenton1077]

“Churches traditionally don’t move around all that much” Clearly he’s never heard of warhammer

[@benaskalinskas4154]

that's why he said "traditionally"

[@martinlagman]

If Billy doesn't go to church, then the church will come to Billy!

[@cupofearlgreytea7651]

@@martinlagman HERESY DETECTED

[@1tuuber]

I was interested in the engine until he started talking. It's 95% his ego and 5% about the Sterling....

[@Aaron-is8yt]

@@1tuuber The funny thing is, your comment shows way more ego than he allegedly showed.

[@alerty8791]

my guess that these engines would be really good in Iceland, using the geothermal heat and the icy climate would perfect

[@0isay]

That's how man-made climate change should be done! :)

[@theenhancer]

True but geothermal is once again more efficient to heat water for steam turbines.

[@sevenproxies4255]

@@theenhancer Why not put stirling engines on top of it? I mean, with steam turbines you still have waste heat.

[@sbkenn1]

Steam turbines are easier to build and maintain. Iceland doesn't need energy efficiency. They have far more heat than they can usefully harvest, but they are too far from other populations to export it.

[@Tubespoet]

Iceland? Canada has lots of cold, does it have geothermal as well? Just thinking out loud.

[@philipocarroll]

The Stirling Engine, the engine of the future since 1816

[@sirsydneycamm1883]

Give it a chance, it's only 23:24 now. Maybe it's the engine of tomorrow.

[@BenMitro]

Just like fusion power.

[@kevinclass2010]

Mazda will probably buy the license and make a RX9 with it.

[@DavidEllis94]

@@Penguiniel Fusion with direct energy conversion or gtfo.

[@robertbennett9949]

Like nuclear fusion perhaps.....always 30 years away.

[@brandontrueblood9798]

You left out the "regenerator" which was what set the Stirling apart from the other closed cycle heat engines of the day. The regenerator is a thermal baffle and battery which thermally isolates the hot and cold sections of the engine. As the hot air passes through the regenerator a portion of the heat in the air is transferred to the material of the regenerator, as the temperature drops the pressure of the working fluid drops at a rate proportional to the change in temperature thus aiding flow from the hot section to the cold section by the induced negative pressure differential. Truly a Brilliant solution to closed cycle heat engine problem efficiency conundrum. Sorry, I had to bitch about it, my inner mechanical engineering nerd would not be quiet. Amazing engine developed by a Minister who was tired of watching members of his congregation get blown up. I love your videos, thanks for your excellent explanations and humorous descriptions.

[@Gearz-365]

We should have an era called "Stirlingpunk." Like steampunk, but with Stirling engine technology rather than steam

[@consciousness147]

BRilliant!!!

[@chaoticmasterpiece]

Too late. It's nuclear energy era soon, if not already. People are just scared of it for absolutely no reason.

[@main135s]

@Yes No Let's not forget stories like... I don't know... a tidal wave hitting Japan, causing a Nuclear Reactor to detonate as a level 7 accident. (Fukushima, 2011) Nuclear power isn't as dangerous as people say, but that doesn't mean it's not dangerous, and doesn't mean that it can't leave an area a health hazard for tens of years. Potentially upwards of 40, just to handle removing all the fuel from Fukushima.

[@antiagonista]

@@main135s it's still safer than hydro power

[@chaoticmasterpiece]

@@main135s Now, if people had stopped using steam power because they blew up, where would we be? It applies to the same area, especially since nuclear energy is now safer than it used to be, and less wasteful.

[@wheturangi]

I know of an old Stirling engine that is used for a water pump at a farm. Been there for at least a hundred years as there is a bronze plate with the year 1890 on it. It's big and clumsy, but just does its job and seems to need very little upkeep.

[@sheepieworks4974]

yeah it just goes round and round. nothing more and nthing less. no explosions. no nothing. just some warmth and some cold and there ya go

[@dangerouswitch1066]

Fascinating, i would like to see a picture.

[@graemeallan54]

photo?these were used on american farms cos wood was every where

[@ahmjamil0]

We used a Stirling engine powered fan when I was very young. It ran on kerosin/paraffin oil. There was a regenerator. My father had purchased it in the 1940's in Kolkata. We used it when there was a power outage, which was more often than not.

[@ballHand]

very cool

[@putheflamesoutyahoo1503]

still have it?

[@vinayseth1114]

I actually came here after watching a post shared on Facebook showing the type of fan you just mentioned! Thanks for sharing :)

[@ahmjamil0]

@@putheflamesoutyahoo1503 No, that was almost 70 years ago.

[@bobcostas6272]

Neat

[@patrickeh696]

A Stirling engine powers the quietest and most deadly attack submarine in the world...

[@archivearchive9457]

Hi do you have any links and why a Stirling engine was used? I'm doing a project about Stirling engines and would love to know where they're being used and for what reasons they chose to use Stirling engines

[@patrickeh696]

@@archivearchive9457 Why? Low noise for one. The USN had it attack an alerted Carrier group TWICE and both times it penetrated ALL ASW assets and sunk our super carrier. Go to the sub manufacturers website

[@justarandomtechpriest1578]

@@archivearchive9457 theres a type of sonar that detects noise from the sub engine

[@timearly5226]

@@archivearchive9457 The secret to the world’s most silent submarine saabgroup.com/media/stories/stories-listing/2015-02/the-secret-to-the-worlds-most-silent-submarine/

[@pagarb]

@@timearly5226 yeah but I understand that every so often the crew has to do what Lindybeige did, which is to put their hands on the engine to restart it..

[@Jaxon_America]

"From flywheel to good!" Lindybeige-2k16

[@antonhaeffler784]

I'm currently writing a paper on a Swedish energy company which uses stirling engines to take advantage of excess gasses from heavy mining operations. Normally these gases are too "rough" to be used so they are just burned straight into the air. Since the stirling engine only needs a temperature difference, it can operate using the heat created from the burning of these excess gasses. Therefor, a lot of energy that was previously wasted can now be turned into electricity. It's really interesting how something so simple can work. I think this technology has huge potential for the future.

[@evoliveoil]

Can I read your paper?

[@antonhaeffler784]

@@evoliveoil It's sadly not published anywhere, and it's in swedish. But you can look up the company if you want, it's called Ripasso Energy. :-)

[@evoliveoil]

@@antonhaeffler784 Thanks.

[@SkullCandy5671]

i wonder if it would be more efficient to use those gasses to spin a turbine

[@CUBETechie]

@@hakimmohamad6216 in Iceland they use the Steam to power the turbine.

[@founoe]

I'm looking forward to Stirling-punk.

[@xiaoxiao01]

i thought the same thing xD

[@fernandocabette6050]

You might want to look into solar punk, it is already thing. Quite interesting actually.

[@foodfoodfood8898]

The cities in the book series Mortal Engines are powered by Stirling Engines. Though the cities don't exactly remain still... Peter Jackson is producing a movie of it in December 2018.

[@Strideo1]

I think it already fits in with steam punk, really. No reason to create a new genre for it.

[@fernandocabette6050]

I guess it could be kind of a anti steam-punk if you will. While steam-punk is usually dark and dystopian, compounded by the dirty looking soot etc, a stirling punk could be the exact opposite as with delivering clean and fresh energy.

[@d_knightly7225]

This could well be the most interesting video I've seen on KZbin.

[@ravensmith8614]

My partner and I enjoy your videos during our breakfast. Our kind of nerd beyond words and she is thankful for your content.

[@bitfreakazoid]

That transition to the trying something hot segment. Was not expecting that and I busted out laughing.

[@TheTank1900]

This could be really useful to me as an amateur science fiction writer. I was looking for a method to 1) get rid of excess heat without massive heat dispersers, and 2) provide some power to the internals of a ship without putting a massive nuclear reactor or something and taking some of that power from the engines and routing it into the ship. This could be really useful for both of those tasks. Thank you, Lindybeige, for proving that you never know when learning for the sake of learning might come in handy.

[@lindybeige]

Be careful if you mean SPACE ship, because seawater around a submarine carries heat away whereas the vacuum of space does not.

[@moosemaimer]

You need something to turn heat energy into radiation so it can be emitted into the vacuum. The space station has large radiators unfolded from its modules, that look like solar panels only white.

[@NarpytheCrimeDog]

The vacuum of space does allow heat to travel through it, though. Not as well as an atmosphere, but heat does travel through space.

[@HammaneggsAirborne]

As Lindy said, space can't carry the heat away very well. The reasoning behind it is that because space is nearly empty, you can't really get the heat dispersed very well. In water you have lots of particles in which to send heat, and it can dissapate into the rest of the water. In space, well, you just have the occasional particle hit you. IMO, you would be better off with some sort of system that dispenses something with low mass and high heat capacity. Rockets work so well because they are shooting most of the heat that they generate away from themselves in the form of very fast particles.

[@ZombieSurvivalist11]

Great video Lindy! I enjoy your video and almost always learn something. It might be a cool video idea if you compare and contrast different energy sources. Like the pros and cons of nuclear power vs wind turbines or hydroelectric damns vs geothermal wells and just do one big video on how they all could work and the most viable for the future. Might be a long video but I'm sure a lot of people would be able to learn a lot from it. Greetings from the U.S.!

[@GusCraft460]

Actually, close to the equator you could basically modify it to word as a sort of solar-sterling engine. Paint the top black to absorb heat and keep the bottom in in the shade and you can still get a decent output, especially considering that you aren’t even using fuel.

[@Caesar-do2pl]

Could also make some sort of water cool at the bottom.

[@Plus_Escapee]

Robert Sterling was one of the scientists that Tesla took great interest in. I don't belief this platform has been applied to it's maximum potential yet, so I'm sure it will play it's part in future energy production.

[@Someloke8895]

There is actually an automatic teaspoon machine, a Stirring engine.

[@absurdist5134]

It'll revolutionize the world. Well, maybe not, but it'll definitely be a hit in Britain!

[@jeffsmith8197]

I had a clothes washer once that was 31 years old, required little energy and worked perfectly. Couldn't cook very well, though.

[@crestfallensunbro6001]

why were you cooking with a clothes washer?

[@jeffsmith8197]

matthew hurley Because I thought that she could do more then one thing. :-)

[@charleswood4635]

Jeff : Bet you ate a lot of soup.

[@TheGreatSteve]

You've mentioned two shit bands in this episode, One direction and Cold plate.

[@TheSecondVersion]

Thumbs up for the wordplay

[@TheGreatSteve]

Vito C Coldplay wordplay no less. :-)

[@BL4D3RUNN3R0M3N]

Really cool to see a video of someone so knowledgeable & passionate about such an obscure technology. I think we all have that one weird passion we can relate with. Thanks for sharing!

[@Barttek]

This is amazing! As I was learning physics in school, I always wondered if there is an engine, that could turn heat into power instead of just disposing of it.

[@trouts4]

Well.... steam turbines :)

[@Ganbalf]

Stirling engines are great. Sweden has a submarine powered with a stirling engine, The US has come to call it "Swedens little carrier killer" It is close to impossible to detect, The US navy literally could not find it, During exercises it "sunk" several of the US's atomic submarines and the largest aircraft carrier, The USS Reagan and was still not detected. The sub is called the HMS gotland

[@Ganbalf]

Swedens politics might be littered with feminists, and our army may the small AF, and we may be pacifists, But we do know how to build military equipment

[@arudegesture]

Yeah, because we're selling it to anyone willing to pay. Shameful, really.

[@antred11]

While quiet submarines are definitely a lethal threat, let's not forget that this happened during a time where the US Navy was exceptionally crappy at anti-submarine warfare due to negligence and excessive post Cold War budget cuts. They are trying to remedy those problems now. Also, a sub that was set up specifically to test the US Navy's ASW defenses is one thing. Actually finding the carrier group out in the ocean, positioning the sub to intercept it and then penetrate its defenses and attack the carrier is quite another.

[@marklarizzle]

antred thats interesting.

[@BigBoss-sm9xj]

Lazor XD I love it

[@Ricardo8388]

Cold is what you feel when the object STEALS your energy to HEAT itself

[@Ricardo8388]

Like water steals your heat to evaporate which it finds more comfy

[@weebmarck9833]

NOOOO NOT MY HEAT I WILL KILL IT

[@1234macro]

Damn you and your elementary education!

[@Ricardo8388]

Lord Geezmo Well I like to explain things in its elementary form..so all dummies understand :)

[@pandemiceclipse6596]

I can finally say I'm so hot that it makes things melt!

[@AnAfricanApe]

I have a lab lesson today at Uni and we're using one of these for our experiment this week. I came here to get a head start and I'm glad I did! I feel like I'm going to go in much more prepared now. Thanks!

[@beshkodiak]

I do so enjoy your so British calm but enthused way of speaking. A couple of my professors spoke this way and it kept my interest up to pass with rather good grades.

[@TheTrueReiniat]

You could even attach them to standard combustion engines to get extra power from the wasted heat.

[@niffenator2395]

Or use a turbocharger to better effect

[@foobar201]

No. The stirling engine is less effective in carrying heat away from the primary engine than a proper cooler, thus the cool end of the primary engine is not as cool anymore and it loses efficiency. The loss in the primary engine is always greater than what the second engine would produce.

[@evil001987]

+niffenator An engine with turbochargers are still producing waster heat. +foobar201 The heat will still have to go somewhere. The cooler can carry the heat away from the engine and to a stirling engine. And it doesn't matter if it can produce energy for all of the lost energy in heat. If it is effective enough to make up for its weight it can add to a more fuel efficient car.

[@niffenator2395]

Patrik Lilja ALL heat engines must reject some heat in order to work. A turbocharger can be used to increase the thermal efficiency of the engine however by recovering waste energy from the exhaust.

[@evil001987]

Yes? So? That is waste energy from the exhaust. The stirling would not interfer with the turbocharger as it will be powered by the waste heat outside of the exhaust.

[@greyareaRK1]

You'd think we have stirling engines everywhere here in Canada. So long as the energy produced is greater than the energy lost via heat to the engine. We'll have to install these on our igloos, post haste.

[@greyareaRK1]

I could put one on my winter coat.

[@Papierflugzeug95]

It's not possible to produce more energy than you lose, however you can use the energy that goes to waste otherwise (heat, for example, in a factory).

[@jeffthecoder]

In the future after ww3 you'll be burning your landfills to make electricity using stirling engines

[@greyareaRK1]

Don't be ridiculous. Burning landfills just attracts the radioactive megachihuahuas.

[@charleswood4635]

All the way from Mexico ?

[@Persephon94]

Just thought I come back to this video: This was the one that hooked me into subscribing to you, and later inspired one of my nation's submarine navies in their subartic seas.Keep up the good work Lloyd!

[@erg0centric]

Please consider the irony of measuring Sterling Engine output in Watts, the inventor of the reciprocating steam engine.

[@temkin9298]

It makes sense On a different note: Don't you feel like these engines could be viable when there is a great difference in temperature like magma in antarctica. Then again when you try to do that you will inevitably heat up the surrounding air. Maybe in a different planet. One in where it is -45°C. Can be also used to heat up the planet.

[@ghostwheelppk]

We could create a new unit, pounds Stirling - feet per second.

[@stenrod2383]

But the real question is, can it power a bren gun?

[@peridoodle2644]

The real real question is, can we design a Bren gun that requires a Stirling engine to run?

[@garethbull2226]

Think bigger. Can it power a Tesla death ray?

[@jackdaniels4975]

Can we design a Bren gun that uses the power of a Stirling engine that shoots pummels?

[@eclipseslayer98]

Think even bigger, can it power a pommel catapult?

[@jackdaniels4975]

Eclipseslayer98 A pommel minigun?

[@liamcraven4936]

I thought the video had ended 24 seconds in. Great job, it made me laugh more than I should have.

[@robertdouville74]

Bravo, I love it, I add today to my knowledge in mechanics, the counter part of what I was familiar with the electric thermocouples, who can use the differences in temperature to create energy also.

[@rudsong35]

"What is a Stirling Engine?" - Loydboy: Well... this is! Directed by George Lucas

[@MikeysPsyche]

GEEZ! The damn "BEIGE!" scared the absolute shit out of me!

[@WumbologistPhD]

I like to think of the suggested Stirling submarine. In a tense moment the captain orders the whole crew to do jumping jacks in order to heat up the inside of the sub even more to get just a bit more speed and escape!

[@dingchavez09]

The Swedes use a sterling powered submarine! The Gotland Class. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotland-class_submarine

[@djdm2603]

wasn't there a Finnish sub that used one and beat the US navy in a War Game because it remained undetected because of no radiation signature or signal noise? think i saw a video on it by real engineering...

[@djdm2603]

rigegs ty

[@robertgoff6479]

The Gotland is awesome. It uses two Stirlings that appeared to fit in a 2-meter cube each. They're powered by diesel fuel and compressed oxygen, cooled by seawater, and the diesel exhaust is compressed on board and retained until it can be safely discharged. It was completely invisible to US anti-submarine assets, both active and passive.

[@axel0_02]

@@robertgoff6479 I find that very unlikely to be invisible to active sonar... I suggest that the crew found a good place to hide in. I don't know what happened in reality I just think that my version is a bit more possible based on what I know (which is something, on how an active sonar work... but close to nothing on the war game that we are talking about)

[@biblehistoryscience3530]

Your reference to Brownian Motion (say a nice hot cup of tea) reminded me of the Infinite Improbability Drive from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Well done, old chap!

[@trevorthieme5157]

10:50 That has to be one of the more pleasant intermissions to listen to! lol

[@LadyLunarSatine]

This has me contemplating something for a fantasy setting where some enterprising spellcaster/engineer figures out a way to place gates to the Elemental Plane of Fire and the Elemental Plane of Water on opposite sides of a massive Stirling frame in order to power a death ray.

[@JudgeDeadMJ]

That'd be great, actually.

[@ancapftw9113]

Solemn Howler why not just trap air elemental in VAWTs?

[@josephpotter5766]

assuming magic that violates physical principles and machines that rely on those physical principles means that it is almost always a trivial exercise to create perpetual motion or over unity engines in fantasy settings... as a writer and creator i find it much more interesting to try and explain why they have not been created already, as otherwise every fantasy setting undergoes a magitech based industrial revolution as soon as you start applying common sense engineering.

[@blazednlovinit]

Keep a lobotomised dragon on top of one?

[@Jmat-tc8zs]

That sounds pretty awesome

[@Destiny1G]

was really thinking that the video was going to be 40 seconds long.

[@Fredministrator]

now and then I come back here just to watch the first 20 seconds again

[@Gr8thxAlot]

This is like an updated "Secret Life of Machines"! Love it, nice work.

[@agylub]

Lindybeige. The missing Python

[@jMcWill781]

This one earned my thumbs up in the first 35 seconds

[@olliephelan]

Its so graceful , ye could watch it all day .

[@olliephelan]

yeah , stick it on a cool can of beer and let the fans cool your face ! But meditate to nothing If your concentrating on something your not meditating , your concentrating

[@olliephelan]

FlyingAxblade emmm.....yeah , I suppose it would ......But on a scorching day , and you want a cool beer / put it on your can and it could fan your face (for a while )(i think)(maybe).................... I want Lloyd to muse about the roman dodecahedron

[@olliephelan]

FlyingAxblade I was just searching it , and a chap actually knitted a perfect set of gloves using each hole for the different fingers and the "nodes" were essential to knitting it . And it makes sense considering most were found in cold Gaul rather than warmer countries . Theres a vid on him doing it . I was a bit skeptical at start but when I saw the finished result it was convincing .

[@olliephelan]

FlyingAxblade ill go there then. But my channels content is varied . Not sure what youd be looking for . My brother works building cryostats for universities and institutions around the place , and works one week a month in the IQOQI....but I never knew how to upload the vides he sent me .

[@Pizzagulper]

I love the ideas mentioned here. One thing That I would like to add about it not working well in hot climates, is you may be able to undo that problem a bit, by having water running over the top plate via aqueduct, or just building it on a bank to a water source. It would be most useful, in a wilderness domestic sort of setting. Also thanks for the great description of how it works. I looked up how they work, and people kept giving conflicting and confusing answers. Most of their answers didn't seem like they would work, so it's nice to finally find one that makes logical sense.

[@williambianchi2006]

You, Sir, are an excellent teacher. Many thanks.

[@axiezimmah]

Wow, I never knew lindy could make a video of only 30 seconds.

[@AwakenedSaxon]

One good setup would be focusing sunlight onto the top plate while the bottom plate is submerged in some sort of running stream/river.

[@nikolaspersson1052]

If you have a stream you might as well use a water wheel or hydroelectric generator directly. If you have non-running water though it might be a good heatsink.

[@Nevir202]

I had a similar thought, but for residential use. Focus the sun onto the top and have the bottom plate be the lid of a water tank hooked up to the mains. The water will be somewhat warmed in the process, so if you are in a cold place you can get slightly warmer inlet water to your whole home. But if you're in a hot place where you don't want your "cold" water being any hotter than it already is, just use it to pre-warm the water that is going into your water heater. Either way, whenever you use water coming out of the tank it will slightly boost the efficiency of the unit by replacing some of the warmed water with cooler water.

[@TheMadJestyr]

Or alternately you could use the earth as a heat sink.

[@stevesloan7132]

Wow, he actually used the phrase,"Brownian motion!" Magnificent! Bravo! What's next? Boyle's Law? Keep up the good work pal!

[@johnrobert6127]

Must say I saw these years ago and loved the idea. Powered with heat or cold. Brilliant potential

[@gralha_]

Love that transition

[@pcarrierorange]

But what if you strapped a sniper rifle to it? Can it end my opponents as rightly as a pommel? THESE QUESTIONS NEED ANSWERING!

[@spud4242]

now if we use the barrel of a spandau as the hot end......

[@Hypersim]

Thanks to your excellent explanation, I FINALLY understood the theory of a Sterling motor, thank you very much for that!!

[@tonymoon4525]

Just love your enthusiasm. The Best Of British. Thank you.

[@bigfil1981]

"churches don't tend to move around that much."

[@hharvey6492]

"traditionally"

[@Snailman3516]

actually, the Antarctic idea is pretty good, Lindy. The center of the earth has a lot of radiation heating and it is set to last for millions of years. Unless we do some very stupid things to the earth, the Antarctic will always be incredibly cold as heat radiates out of the Antarctic.

[@Snailman3516]

it won't heat up the Antarctic because the heat will just radiate into the sun. It's the trapping of that radiation that leads to all kinds of climate change. Simply moving raw kinetic energy into the Arctic won't change anything unless it is on a scale that would fry the earth.

[@mattpelzek3809]

There's a particularly good place for it: Mount Erebus is a volcano in antarctica. Extreme heat and extreme cold, all in one place.

[@absurdist5134]

Well, yes, but we don't actually use much energy in Antarctica. I think you'll find transporting the energy to anywhere useful to be somewhat of a hassle.

[@Snailman3516]

Absurdist then just move some industries to Antarctica.

[@absurdist5134]

Equal opportunity means a job for every penguin!

[@philipdemaeyer1665]

Brilliant! Good explanation, thank you Sir Lindybeige.

[@fauseth]

You are my most favorite presenter. I dig your style. Thank you for the videos.

[@MGoudsmits]

we used sterling engines for cooling the thermal imaging sensor for our tank night vision cameras around 1987. when you drive the engine from outside it will cool down on one side

[@Stettafire]

3:30 That same method is used to power my step dad's fan. It works, you see because it's on top of an enclosed fireplace, the bottom is hot, but the air above it is colder, so it powers the fan using the differential. It's useful because then the fan blows hotter air back into the room.

[@guythepirate]

That is a peltier cell however, a bit different.

[@_tyrannus]

guythepirate Absolutely not. Here's an example of what he's talking about: www.stirlingengine.co.uk/d.asp?product=VULCANSTOVEFAN

[@guythepirate]

Aha thought it was one of these www.ecofan.co.uk/woodstove-ecofans.html Never seen a Stirling version! Thanks

[@davidross5770]

SO = IN THE DEAD OF WINTER AND THE DEAD OF SUMMER - ONE OF THESE MACHINES PLANTED IN THE GROUND WITH THE HEAT OF THE EARTH IN THE SUMMER COOLING IT AND THE HEAT OF THE SUN WARMING IT WOULD MAKE IT RUN BEST AND DURING THE WINTER WITH THE HEAT OF THE EARTH WARMING IT AND THE COLD OF THE AIR COOLING THE TOP OF IT AGAIN IT WOULD WORK BEST USING THERMAL ENERGY OF THE EARTHS CHANGES COMPARED TO THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE.. HMMMM ... this engine would slow down in the spring and fall compared to the winter and summer

[@Alive6371]

I love the way you explained it. Keep up the good work ! ❤️

[@martentrudeau6948]

Thanks Lindy, very nice explanation of a brilliant engine!

[@JamesK89]

You have very distinct character and are so interesting to listen to. That being said you remind me very much of John Cleese.

[@jonfenrir1018]

I get what you mean :') Less high pitched than Cleese tho

[@kinshaw3086]

he reminds me of a highschool history teacher who went through a rough divorce and his wife took everything so now he has to live out of his car, love his vids tho haha

[@kinshaw3086]

​@Joel Smith how are you not embarrassed to use a joke that lame? no originality whatsoever bro

[@adamcetinkent]

Cleese? Surely Chapman?!

[@dadkinson]

@@kinshaw3086 that is some imagination you got there :)

[@miken7918]

and it was in a blackened saucepan, I would've liked the video, but did you see the state of his saucepans

[@mitchrils]

mike n He's made a video on it.

[@miken7918]

That was the joke

[@guitarlover1204]

use that blackened saucepan of yours to do a facepalm mate.... a facepan...

[@reececrump8483]

awful. horrible sauce pan maintenance. his family should be ashamed

[@mortimersnead5821]

Since this is an engineering video, the black residue means that his range is burning it's fuel inefficiently. A well designed gas stoved, working properly should give off nothing but clean blue flame. Because of this, Lloyd's utility bill is a little higher than needs be, but the marginal cost is probably too small to justify a new range.

[@circuitdotlt]

Thank you for interesting video. Micro cogeneration is still in it's infancy, but these things are slowly coming to residential market. In my case I am heating my house with natural gas (from pipes, not bottles), which is 3 times cheaper here, compared to electricity. So I started looking in to electricity generation from heat. Found your video. All is nice, youtube is full of these demonstration units, however I am still to find a working unit at 10kW or so.

[@hermitoldguy6312]

You can convert a car engine to burn gas.

[@circuitdotlt]

@@hermitoldguy6312 Do some calculations :) New engine will fail in one-two years and will need oil changes every week.

[@hermitoldguy6312]

@@circuitdotlt Nicolaus Otto was making gas engines in the 1860's (hence the Otto cycle).

[@circuitdotlt]

@@hermitoldguy6312 I run my car on gas, too. But it's not the same as 24/7 operation.

[@jdraper12]

I'm about halfway through your video, but it may interest you to know that Sterling engines are perfectly viable and are used for spacecraft power generation. They have a fairly decent specific power

[@WILD4X4D]

Cody sent me here

[@ryaanali8710]

Aden Cox same

[@oscill8ocelot]

Yep

[@midgardaskr362]

Aden Cox same

[@parkerjohnson4048]

Aden Cox me to

[@walugusgrudenburg3068]

Aden Cox same

[@muhammadschuitema1443]

It could work at the equator. Plop the bottom in a lake and paint the top black you,d get a heavy temp difference.

[@northrupthebandgeek]

That'd be a useful way to get these working reasonably-well in a hot desert, too. Dig the "cold end" deep underground (where it's cooler) and fill that underground reservoir with water, and maximize the amount of heat on the hot end.

[@User_2]

northrupthebandgeek | not really sure about that.. isn’t sand relatively good at insulating? I’d imagine the area below the engine would just heat up and - almost - equalize the temperature after a short while.

[@northrupthebandgeek]

@@User_2 Right, but then at night it'll get cooler at the surface and equalize the other way.

[@bilbobaggins7137]

Parabolic mirrors aimed at the plate for the heat, the bottom on a lake? WELL done.

[@eewweeppkk]

At that point you have to ask yourself if the temperature difference between the water and heat from the sun produces more energy for a similarly shaped solar panel. I couldn't tell you the answer, but pointing out that you're trying to use a source of energy that we have already been utilizing.

[@slackerpope]

Excellent video and very interesting. I've always wanted to see a video like this. Thank you! Cheers!!!

[@pointer2null]

First video of yours I've every come across and I love your style!

[@varencilator2285]

I'm designing and making a stirling engine cryocooler for a senior design course so this was fun to watch.

[@AveImperatorProductions]

It's been a dream to have a "strictly no languishing" sign of my own one day, lindyisms live on forever

[@ZoeSummers1701A]

You present science very, very well. Like the 1970’s BBC open university programmes of my youth. You have a new subscriber and I’ll share with my friends.

[@ComratZeUbermensch]

That point you mentioned at the end about heating your home and getting power, Exists already, installed one of those in 1 or 2 houses already Runs of gas to heat your home, heats up the engine somewhat directly and the room temperature does the cooling effect Pretty neat

[@Kurtlane]

Wow! This gives me lots of ideas. First, this might be useful in deserts after all. First of all, it often gets very cold in deserts at night. Water often freezes, which is how sherbet was originally made: fruit juice in the desert was exposed at night, and covered up in blankets to keep it cold in the day. So that made be used to make ice for the engine. Besides, even in deserts, caves are reasonably cool, if they are deep enough. So an engine would work if it is installed between the surface and a cave, or just a deep enough hole in the ground. The other idea is that one might reverse the function and use the thing (it would no longer be an engine) to quickly equalize the heat difference when this is required. Please feel free to spread these ideas. Thanks.

[@mcpartridgeboy]

wow good video i had no idea a sterling engine could cure loanliness and depression for 20 mins , thankyou ! basic science is really interesting to me !

[@jamietough7024]

Btw love yer videos mate..... Your content is very refreshing, factual and enjoyable.

[@frequentfiler]

"And it's another first for Britain!" sounded like the Pathe' newsreel announcer.

[@geennaam1201]

i'm just imagining that insulating plate to be some guy with a high pitched voice jumping up and down yelling: ahh thats cold, ahh thats hot, ahh thats cold, ahh thats hot

[@curtisbrown547]

the qeustion is can it power a modified spandau that shoots katanas

[@worldsfutureleader5952]

god damn it

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

Only katanas with pommels will do enough dmg to be useful!

[@inferno7181]

But only of those pommels can unscrew

[@almachizit3207]

As long as they end them rightly

[@TheAussieincalgary]

Enjoyed this, entertaining and educational, even though I have known about this for years and built one out of a paint can, a milo tin, tomato paste tin, a ballon water pipe joiner a CD and bed roll foam.

[@WJack97224]

Thanks for the demonstration and education. Good on ya mate.

[@EpicOcrafters]

Because of this and other affiliated videos (we know who) I am currently designing and building my own stirling engine for my course in college. Thank you, for being an inspiration!

[@timehunter9467]

Was it a success?

[@aliceyogart3408]

You forgot to talk about the easiest version to make, "The PC heat sinks" They don't require any mechanical moving parts like Stirling Engine but work on same principle. Putting out more watts depending on difference between plate and other side. Of course intended to cool the CPU it can be removed from an old computer then used to make electricity. But it's nice to see the old technology.

[@govindarajd3248]

Cody sent me here and now I'm subbed!

[@vikvikviyakviyak]

that was the best lindybeige video I've ever seen

[@VYxFrost]

then one day, Sterlingpunk!

[@bengineer8]

xD

[@dangerouswitch1066]

Lol

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

Lobbying by Big Steam killed off Sterling before it could catch on.

[@coyoteannabis1192]

I actually wrote a story a few years ago about a goblin city powered by a massive Stirling engine. Underground aqueducts passed water over the cold side. The warmed water then flowed through a huge, city with parabolic solar array which brought it up to supercritical temperatures to power the hot side. The flywheel, located beneath the city, was so large the engine could be completely shut down for a week and it would still be spinning enough to generate power.

[@nicholi8933]

That was really neat, I came from Cody's Lab. Now back to his video. Thanks for the information, it was really neat.

[@itisyarb]

This is a really entertaining and informative video, fab work!

[@blueberry1c2]

Lindy's introductory video on thermodynamics. Can't wait until the video on the refrigeration cycle!

[@iksnyzrog]

I came here from Cody's channel but I clicked the up next video, not his link. Great video

[@terryendicott2939]

You do not have to go to Antarctica but look at the geothermal pools in Iceland. Iceland it self can be a bit chilly too.

[@Grumpy_old_Boot]

True, but then, Iceland have some nice geothermal power plants as well. :)

[@RichyArg]

then the question would be, what is more efficient, using stirling engines or the turbine generators most geothermal plants use

[@terryendicott2939]

You would have the same question with Antarctica, but Iceland would be closer and less expensive to run test.

[@Holynub]

Why not both? Don't geothermal plants also have wasted heat? What if this was attached near the exhaust portion of the plant, and it could capture/use some of that waste to provide even more electricity at only the cost of construction and maintenance. Now, is this cost efficient/economical at a municipal level. But that's something they'd have to investigate if they were to implement these.

[@nonfunctionalslackfill]

Terry Endicott yes but the also have letters like þ and đ.

[@AlkalineGamingHD]

saw this recommended for weeks and i avoided it because I thught it would be one of those crappy informal videos that just shows off something I already know exists. This was a million times more informative and interesting. Well done

[@davidvassallo4563]

@lindybeige I’m getting into a farm and I feel like a larger design can at least run my water and light. Really interesting stuff