Life goes on - Winter 2018

Jeff; The first picture #617; is that a Sterling Engine driving a generator or what.? The others are just turning fans that act as fly wheel. The final ones are pumping water, but I doubt if it is a very large quantity at any one time. Over a period of time the amount of water might amount to something, but for that you would continually have to add “heat”. Why not go with a portable gas engine with a wood gas generator that you could move from generator to well to fan etc?? TomC

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I think those old Rider Ericsson Stirling pumps were decent pumps, just a lot of iron for specific power, and the start up required heating time. But, being big and slow, and few wear surfaces, should be able to work for more than a lifetime, so they have their attractive features. And those models were built before stainless steel, etc, performance gains seem quite possible.

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A 349-mile, $2.5 billion underground “extension cord” would carry #renewable electricity from Iowa to Chicago along railroad right-of-way, backed by @SiemensAG and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners

The above ground power line has been blocked for years .
The railroad extension has also been halted .
Western union was pulling fiber optic cable thru their tunnels . Then the City of Chicago blocked that somehow .
Life goes on

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Tom, I think it was a Philips MP1002 CA, 220v & 200W. I think it was produced for emergency ham radio stuff or something like that.

It would be nice to be able to generate 200 Watts (charge batteries or what ever), make charcoal (for a real engine) and heat a small shop all with one mechanical engine that is slow turning and long lasting. However, this is not on my radar sights.

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I thought the orginal usage for those Philips Stirling generators was to power a military field radio. If I remember correctly the concept was low noise from the low speed Stirling engine but in the end it was simply easier to depend on lead acid batteries. Like I said I might be totally wrong it was a long time ago I read about those they are really cool and rare.

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I really can’t recall, it was along time ago.

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Stirling generator in space

https://tec.grc.nasa.gov/rps/stirling-research-lab/advanced-stirling-convertor/

The MOD II project in 1986 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.[11][12]

The experiments indicated that the Stirling engine could improve vehicle operational efficiency by ideally detaching the Stirling from direct power demands, eliminating a direct mechanical linkage as used in most current vehicles. Its prime function used in an extended-range series electric hybrid vehicle would be as a generator providing electricity to drive the electric vehicle traction motors and charging a buffer battery set. In a petro-hydraulic hybrid the Stirling would perform a similar function as in a petro-electric series-hybrid turning a pump charging a hydraulic buffer tank. Although successful in the MOD 1 and MOD 2 phases of the experiments, cutbacks in funding further research and lack of interest by automakers ended possible commercialization of the Automotive Stirling Engine Program.[5]"…

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Ho. Hum.
And the 4th generation INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE in the newest generation Toyota/Lexus systems are rated as 40% fuel-to-useable shaft power now.
The Honda home CHP internal combustion engine piston in the same 35-40% fuel-to-engine shaft power efficiency.
The 15 years now in deployment USA based Marathon EcoPower slow, long lived cast iron single cylinder piston IC engine also certified as 35-40% fuel-to-shaft power cpabple on a contuois basis too.
These last two in true CHP systems have certified system energy capture ratings of 85-90%. THAT is the goal to rise up to in DIY.

ALL of these real-now IC piston engines could be wood or charcoal gas fueled.
ALL of the above 3000 watts on gasoline rated Honda/Yamaha and others inverter generator IC piston engined electrical generator systems can/could be wood/charcoalgased fueled too!!
1500 watts electrical easy. With farm-able engine and exhausts heats too.
Why wait,eh?

Dreamers; dream.
Schemers; scheme.
Proselytizers; pontificate.
DOers just go out and actually do meaningful, useful things. Quietly.
S.U.

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I did have 3 liter gm 4 cyl engine running on load from wood gas produced by wood gas boiler . I did this several times , smoke was very very bad , trying to get a flare. When I did get it working the boiler exceeded safe operating temperature .
Today the 2 Kw uninterruptible power supply I had running for the last four years stopped working .
I just routed around it .

It is good to hear from you Steve

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Info for southerners:
At low temps water turns solid. It’s the thruth.


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Well we have had our share of late winter too yesterday. About 0.32" of snow :smile:

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Kristijan, I hope and pray for your country a wet spring to make up for the lack of winter moisture in snow fall. Just enough so your crops grow well and bless your land.
Bob

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Another revelation for our southerners. “At high temperature snow turns to water”. The first picture show how much water we have to come in the next couple of weeks. The second picture shows the snow slid off the south facing roof, except the down spouts held clumps above them. That snow melted in place and found leaks around the down spouts. The wife drug me out of my shop to do some magic and get the leaks to stop. I’m a mechanic not a magician. TomC


TomC

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Beautiful pics Tom? No likes for the leaks though.
It seems you really had your share of snow this winter.

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Gotta love sheet metal roofing, by far the best way to go.

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The most ice we saw this winter was about 1/8 inch in water buckets and mud holes .

The birds are building nest .

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WAVES OF THE SEAS ROARING, MAN HEARTS FAILING, FOR FEAR OF THE THINGS HAPENING UPON THE EARTH.Icaint remember ware that verse is in the bible, though the weather is stranger all the time. Montana had record cold and the south record warm times. Its all part of the last days prophisyed.

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Luke 21:26 King James Version (KJV)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Very cold looking guys.- I was very hot today pulling a building through Atlanta. Sorry about the leaks. I had that porblem this winter with a sky light

Looking forward to Argos…

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Im playing catch up… Just a few notes. Tiny houses are okay in northern climates. Log cabins are like 1st gen tiny houses. Detroit is starting to pick up on it.

You might be able to add the magnetic tape to stick to the cd then add some copper wire for a coil… You might get enough to power an led light to brighten up your morning. :slight_smile: btw that is really neat!

There is some legal discussion about “activated charcoal” filters. There was some discussion in the last 5 or so years about the changing it, but it was a term reserved for filters made from petro chemicals in the US. Their distinction had to do with more uniform control of the pore sizes, and the fact they coined the term, which gets into patent law and trademark laws.

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I remember reading years ago about a motor that was powered by sun light and was used in boats before steam was used. The article said that it had steal wool in it that you pored ammonia into and then exposed to the sun and it would go.Was it some kind of a sterling engine? Has any one else ever heard of this?