The Stirling Engine - AstroMedia
The revolutionary concept of this hot air engine was invented as early as 1816 by the Scottish priest Robert Stirling. Fully functional, it runs for up to 20 minutes on a cup of coffee.
The principle is as ingenious as it is simple: in a sealed cylinder heated on its underside, a piston pushes the enclosed air back and forth between the hot and cold sides. The air expands and contracts each time, and this is converted into a rotary motion via a working piston and a crankshaft.Any heat or cold source that can be used to generate a temperature difference serves as the energy source - from open fires to solar energy to otherwise unused heat or cold.
Tip: Place the Stirling engine on a cup of boiling hot coffee (tea or water will do, of course), give the flywheel a little push to the left, and the frugal device begins to stomp quietly - for up to an hour! But that's not all: place it on a cold compress or a cold pack from the freezer and turn the flywheel to the right. Here it stomps even longer.
You can find a detailed illustrated building report here.
| Aspiration scale: | Challenging |
|---|---|
| Time Line: | 3,0 Hours |
pre-cut and printed construction cardboard
for assembly, 4 x DIN A4
with detailed building instructions
extensive accessories: laser-cut aluminium plates, low-friction plastic axle bearing, wire bending parts and small parts
Size of the assembled item: approx. 16.5 x 12.6 x 12.6 cm (H/W/D)
Der Stirling-Motor - Deutsch€26.50
€25.18
€23.85
€23.06