About the Stirling Engine
The Stirling engine is a very interesting type of a heat engine, which is well known for its efficiency and simplicity of operation. Important features, which I could identify by reading information on the Internet, are the closed cycle operation, the possible usage of normal air as a working fluid, the possible usage of any fuel and others. For me personally, it is an amazing piece of technology, which might be used for example as a low cost solution for generating electrical power in places where you don't have access to the power grid. It also can be used to harvest energy from different energy sources like sun or wood stoves.
Now look at these facts:
1. The Stirling engine has been invented in 1816, but till now, it practically has not been used. I personally have never seen an industrially-built machine.
2. There is still an active widespread ongoing research in improving the technology of the Stirling engine and finding new applications.
These facts seem to be contradictory, but they are true. And my explanation is, that there are many people, who believe, that the internal combustion engines can not dominate forever. The Stirling engine is robust, efficient, cheap and will probably find its real application in the near future, if the price of energy continues to increase.
The Stirling engine is a very interesting type of a heat engine, which is well known for its efficiency and simplicity of operation. Important features, which I could identify by reading information on the Internet, are the closed cycle operation, the possible usage of normal air as a working fluid, the possible usage of any fuel and others. For me personally, it is an amazing piece of technology, which might be used for example as a low cost solution for generating electrical power in places where you don't have access to the power grid. It also can be used to harvest energy from different energy sources like sun or wood stoves.
Now look at these facts:
1. The Stirling engine has been invented in 1816, but till now, it practically has not been used. I personally have never seen an industrially-built machine.
2. There is still an active widespread ongoing research in improving the technology of the Stirling engine and finding new applications.
These facts seem to be contradictory, but they are true. And my explanation is, that there are many people, who believe, that the internal combustion engines can not dominate forever. The Stirling engine is robust, efficient, cheap and will probably find its real application in the near future, if the price of energy continues to increase.
