# Stirling / External Combustion engines
**URL:** http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [November 28, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047 "2022-11-28T23:58:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/1 "2022-11-28T23:58:26Z")
You have to wonder if a Stirling or another external combustion engine will ever be powered by woodgas?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PoJ-hNphBg)
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 12:35am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/2 "2022-11-29T00:35:42Z")
> **[ST-5\_Engine.pdf](https://www.ohio.edu/mechanical/stirling/engines/ST-5_Engine.pdf)**
>
> 1797.44 KB
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### Author:  [@tcholton717](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/tcholton717)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 1:37am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/3 "2022-11-29T01:37:19Z")
This is the first time I’ve seen the ST-5 engine, Andrew. I’m going to have to put some time into studying the PDF
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/4 "2022-11-29T17:19:18Z")
This is interesting but I bet very expensive, have a query out. 5600 watts
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIBdRT0jrPc)
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### Author:  [@abreaks](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/abreaks)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/5 "2022-11-30T21:07:40Z")
I put a ton of study into stirling engines and the short answer is that they are _not_ practical.
You can’t buy one that produces any real power as a regular consumer. And you can’t readily make one that produces power efficiently either. Even the industrial / research units are kind of fiddly when all you want is a simple, reliable prime mover. Basically a good stirling engine needs to run at high temps with high pressure working gas all the while absorbing that external heat _extremely_ fast. So you want steel thats super thin with high conductivity that is also super strong and doesn’t soften or oxidize at 900c because the working gas is at 200psi. I haven’t even gotten into how you want the working gas to move fast but also slowly. Philips built the closest thing to what you want and it really didn’t work in the end. The project was shelved.
Even if you managed to get your hands on the engine and a good one at that…. an efficient “fire box” for the burner side of things is no small feat either. External combustion engines need consistent high heat but not too hot. And you have to recycle the heat of combustion in a crossflow heat exchanger with the fresh air intake lest you lose all your thermal energy out of the burner exhaust, It’s just brutal compared to bodging a choked off charcoal burner into a cheap mower engine.
If you enjoyed learning and understanding how stirlings worked you’ll get a kick out of ericsson’s. It would be easier to DIY but little research is out there for a modern implementation. Still, its worth a read if only for intellectual curiosity.
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/6 "2022-11-30T23:56:12Z")
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oFVws4X9fTI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/7 "2022-11-30T23:56:42Z")
The one the railroads use looks way more robust tho 🙂
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### Author:  [@Wayne](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Wayne)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/8 "2022-12-01T13:48:14Z")
Thanks very much for the video Andrew.
If these folks want to live a fruitful and long life I would get out of those loose fitting lab coats when working around machines ☹
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### Author:  [@ForbiddenTuna](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ForbiddenTuna)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/9 "2022-12-01T13:53:52Z")
Yeah I think I’d rather be in a coverall suit if I’m around a bunch of spinny stuff.
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/10 "2022-12-01T14:41:02Z")
One without labcoats 🙂
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr6BHVhXPtc)
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### Author:  [@Wayne](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Wayne)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/11 "2022-12-01T15:14:19Z")
Thanks for the video Andrew . I enjoyed
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### Author:  [@tcholton717](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/tcholton717)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/12 "2022-12-01T15:42:17Z")
Seems like a lot of infrastructure to do a small amount of work and it doesn’t seem like the apparatus is capable of making significant torque. IC Gasification beats this by a mile. The Cyclone steam engine seems much more useful other than having to produce and work with 1200 degree steam.
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/13 "2022-12-01T16:02:25Z")
Cool hope it is warmer there got 12 inches of snow yesterday 🙂
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/14 "2022-12-01T16:03:20Z")
Yes, I called about the cyclone steam engine they want 35 k 🙂 hehehehehe pretty silly 🙂
I have a steam engine, it is the boilers that are a bitch 🙂
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### Author:  [@r\_wesseling](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/r_wesseling)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/15 "2022-12-01T17:23:59Z")
> [@ERDOC](#):
>
> it is the boilers that are a bitch
Yup, That’s my take on the situation too. Have you looked into the [LaMont](https://forum.driveonwood.com/t/videos-not-necessary-wood-gas-related/6533/57) boiler?
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### Author:  [@ERDOC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ERDOC)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2022, 2:37am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/16 "2022-12-02T02:37:13Z")
These are pretty cool too to watch 🙂
> **[Green Steam Engine ®Home Page](http://www.greensteamengine.com/)**
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbgwDk7A4as)
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### Author:  [@tcholton717](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/tcholton717)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/17 "2022-12-02T13:55:04Z")
I think it was about 12 years ago that I first saw this Greensteam information coupled with Bluepower alternators and was very interested. Then there were a bunch of steam hobbyists that said that this system didn’t work for crap, and of course there always are people like that, but I never saw an actual working system like he is talking about in the video. Then a few years later I saw the article in MEN about WayneK and got much more interested in WG. Still, I like to see an actual complete home power system operated with one of these greensteam units.
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### Author:  [@r\_wesseling](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/r_wesseling)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/18 "2022-12-02T20:53:07Z")
About 17:00 the interviewer says “You want to tear everything down and…” But steam power is where we started back in the 1800s. From there we went to coal gas, then to an electric grid. Why? There are a lot of details I would have to go into to really explain that. But anyway I suspect that if we tore everything down and started over we’d end up right where we are now. You do not start over. You only ever go forward.
Perhaps thermal electric generators (TEGs), heated with solar. Or perhaps there will be some sort of break through in metallurgy that will allow better steam boilers to be made. Personally I think dimethyl ether (DME) made from syngas is right around the corner.
Rindert
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW10almlMv0&t=230s)
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### Author:  [@tcholton717](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/tcholton717)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/stirling-external-combustion-engines/7047/19 "2022-12-02T23:43:18Z")
I have no prejudices. I think that anything that takes the power away from the corporations and puts it in the hands of the individual is great.