The Hunting Dynasty
Efficient by nature, elegent by design.Archive for Gas
The Stirling engine. A sterling idea.
Stirling engines were commonplace around 1880 to 1920 but fell out of fashion with the advent of the electric motor. But what are they? They are a ‘closed-cycle regenerative heat engine‘.
Lesley Bossine, Ex-top bod at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum, explains “Basically a Stirling engine is unlike a diesel car or steam engine where you have got to put a fuel in. The Stirling engine works on pure heat, so you can power them on solar power, geothermal energy or waste heat.”
Originally invented in 1816 by the Rev Dr Robert Stirling, they are closed circuit combustion engines. They are silent, and work by using heat to warm a cylinder. Within the cylinder, air expands with an increase in pressure that in turn drives the engine.
True Stirling engines also incorporate a heat store called a Regenerator, which stores heat energy during one part of the cycle and releases it later, making it even more efficient.
“The person that can crack Stirling technology and scale it up into a viable energy source will become a multi-millionaire.” says Bossine.
Here’s how to build one
You can do it if you B&Q it…
B&Q recently announced its decision to phase out sales of patio heaters, once its seasonal stock runs out in 2008.
They certainly get ‘efficient by nature’ recognition from us here at The Hunting Dynasty, especially because this information is culled from B&Q’s case study on the Carbon Trust website
Additionally, in August 2007, B&Q introduced buying standards on energy using products,
water using products and lighting. These aim to increase the proportion of energy
efficient products sold and to gradually phase out inefficient products. The retailer
plans to develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor sales volumes of
low impact products and has set a series of targets around the introduction of
energy efficient products. These range from ensuring that all domestic washing
machines, dishwashers, electric cookers, fridges and fridge freezers will be classified as ‘A’ rated or above according to the EU energy standards by 2010 to phasing out all traditional incandescent light bulbs (40 watts and above) by 2011, providing sufficient capacity exists.
