Stirling Engine

The Stirling Engine was invented in 1816 by the scottish Reverend Robert Stirling.

It operates on the principle of heat transfer, fueled by a difference in temperature between a 'hot' space and a 'cold' space in which pistons move.

The engine will work when the difference in temperature between the two spaces is large enough for the engine to overcome it's internal friction. A Stirling Engine is an 'External Combustion Engine', where the source of heat is placed outside the engine proper. This makes for a very quiet operation.

Thermodynamically Stirling Engines are quite complicated, but mechanically they can be quite simple.

Philips in the Netherlands and General Motors in the United States have spent fortunes in order to perfect the Stirling Engine, but neither of them - or the two combined, for they cooperated for a while - could make a Stirling Engine that could compete with the internal combustion engine for automotive applications. The biggest stumbling block was the lack of throttle response, which was perceived as crucial and a long lived 'seal' to keep the working gas confined to the engine.

The operation of the stirling engine is not complicated. There are no carburetors, ignition systems, valves, or other complicated mechanisms. Stirling engines run off of the expansion of air as it is heated, and the contraction of the same air as it is cooled. The source of heat can be wood, fuel oil, sunlight, or geothermal sources. Cooling can be achieved from water, air, or even ice cubes