The Stirling engine is a heat engine in which the working fluid (gaseous or liquid) moves in a closed volume, in fact it is a kind of external combustion engine. This mechanism is based on the principle of periodic heating and cooling of the working fluid. Extraction of energy occurs from the emerging volume of the working fluid. The Stirling engine runs not only on the energy of burning fuel, but also on almost any source of thermal energy. This mechanism was patented by the Scot Robert Stirling in 1816.
The described mechanism, despite its low efficiency, has a number of advantages, first of all, it is simplicity and unpretentiousness. Thanks to this, many amateur designers are trying to assemble a Stirling engine with their own hands. Some succeed and some don't.
In this article we will look at how to make a Stirling engine with your own hands from improvised materials. We will need the following blanks and tools:tin can (possible from under the sprat), sheet metal, paper clips, foam rubber, elastic band, bag, wire cutters, copper wire, pliers, scissors, soldering iron, sandpaper.
Now let's start assembling. Here is a detailed instruction on how to make a Stirling engine with your own hands. First you need to wash the jar, clean the edges with sandpaper. We cut out a circle from sheet metal so that it lies on the inner edges of the can. We determine the center (for this we use a caliper or ruler), make a hole with scissors. Next, we take a copper wire and a paper clip, straighten the paper clip, make a ring at the end. We wind a wire on a paper clip - four tight turns. Next, we solder the resulting spiral with a small amount of solder. Then it is necessary to carefully solder the spiral to the hole in the cover so that the stem is perpendicular to the cover. The paperclip should move freely.
After that, you need to make a communicating hole in the lid. We make a displacer from foam rubber. Its diameter should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the can, but there should not be a large gap. The height of the displacer is a little more than half of the can. We cut a hole in the center of the foam rubber for the sleeve, the latter can be made of rubber or cork. We insert the rod into the resulting sleeve and glue everything. The displacer must be placed parallel to the cover, this is an important condition. Next, it remains to close the jar and solder the edges. The seam must be sealed. Now let's start makingworking cylinder. To do this, we cut out a strip of 60 mm long and 25 mm wide from tin, bend the edge by 2 mm with pliers. We form a sleeve, after that we solder the edge, then it is necessary to solder the sleeve to the cover (above the hole).
Now you can start making the membrane. To do this, cut off a piece of film from the package, push it a little with your finger inside, press the edges with an elastic band. Next, you need to check the correctness of the assembly. We heat the bottom of the can on fire, pull the stem. As a result, the membrane should bend outward, and if the rod is released, the displacer should lower under its own weight, respectively, the membrane returns to its place. In the event that the displacer is made incorrectly or the soldering of the can is not tight, the rod will not return to its place. After that, we make the crankshaft and racks (the spacing of the cranks should be 90 degrees). The height of the cranks should be 7 mm and the displacers 5 mm. The length of the connecting rods is determined by the position of the crankshaft. The end of the crank is inserted into the cork. So we looked at how to assemble a Stirling engine with our own hands.
This mechanism will work from an ordinary candle. If you attach magnets to the flywheel and take the coil of an aquarium compressor, then such a device can replace a simple electric motor. With your own hands, as you can see, making such a device is not at all difficult. It would be a wish.
