Stirling engine for autonomous power supply at home

For more than 200 years, the so-called external combustion engine invented by Robert Stirling has been known:

The engine circuit is quite simple, it has fewer parts and assemblies, in contrast to an internal combustion engine. In its design, the working substance (as a rule, air) moves in a closed loop and is not a consumable substance. Only heat is supplied to the system. Unlike a steam engine, turbine or internal combustion engine, where a working substance (water, steam, liquid fuel) must be supplied and removed into the system. The Stirling engine can operate on any source of heat: wood, coal, gas.

Stirling engine diagram:

And animation of the work process:

More heat is applied - faster piston movement and shaft rotation. Also, this scheme of external combustion can have a fairly high efficiency - up to 90%.

If you search for pictures on the Internet, you will see only demo or desktop models, homemade models that, at best, rotate a small generator that can only charge a mobile telephone.

Almost no industrial or production model. It was still possible to find an English model of a gas boiler, powered by natural gas with the function of generating electricity by a Stirling engine:

Called WhisperGen (silent generator) They write that in 2012. up to 400 such installations have been installed in Europe. Cost: 1.5 thousand. Euro.

Another model:

Gas powered. Electric power: from 2 to 9 kW. Engine speed 1500 rpm. Weight: 470 kg. Price: 4125 Euro (not known as of what date).

But basically, the search will give you the following photos of souvenir models or homemade products:

If souvenirs are just a demonstration of this scheme, then the latter can at least generate electricity by heating the cylinder with a candle or an alcohol lamp.

You can buy yourself such a souvenir:

How is it possible that with versatility (operation on various fuels), simplicity of design and, if possible scaling in size - the Stirling engine remains a long forgotten engine that never got distribution?

In the same England at the end of the 19th century. manufactured industrial designs that were used as water pumps:

This is the 1895 Stirling engine. Powered by a wood-burning boiler, which can burn coal. Information about this copy that has come down to us in a video taken from the transmission of the Discovery channel:

There are only two drawbacks to such an engine: the warm-up time and large dimensions with low power.

Judging by the size, the engine is able to rotate not only the pump, but also the generator (via a belt overdrive). And this is already the path to the autonomy of any object in remote forest areas.

I think that the monopoly in the field of energy resources did not start this engine. Profiting from the sale of fuel for internal combustion engines is much more profitable than simply producing installations for autonomous electricity and heat supply.

I recently posted an article: Pyrolysis gas generator boiler for generating electricity

But pyrolysis to obtain fuel (and even more so, purified from contamination) gas is a more complicated way. And besides, the resource of the internal combustion engine is reduced. A Stirling engine of similar dimensions to a pyrolysis boiler for driving a generator is a simpler design. Can be used as a drive for a pump, generator, hoist.

In the middle of the 20th century. not all remote villages in our country were yet with centralized electricity. Driving generators from Stirling engines would solve their problems. Why didn't you release such installations? Although pyrolysis boilers were installed on trucks by the thousands! Perhaps they did not know or none of the engineers suggested. Or are there "pitfalls" in the operation of such installations?

Let's assume that there is no difficulty and it is possible to produce a Stirling engine powered by a small boiler. A boiler, for example, for 20-30 kW of thermal power for heating a house. Part of the heat from the heating boiler is taken for the operation of the engine and the drive of the electric generator. Let 5 kW - this is enough for lighting and powering electrical appliances.

In my opinion, the perfect scheme. The installation would be in demand for the construction of recreation centers in remote locations. The creation of farms without access to electricity networks is also simplified. By building a biogas plant, you can get an energy source for a boiler.

I wrote about this option here: Biogas plant for home heating. Real example

The installation can be made in different sizes: portable for tourism, stationary - for buildings. If desired, most heating boilers can be equipped with such motors to drive a generator. Can be placed on the hob on a wood-burning stove. In the cold season, there will be savings on electricity. Or use it as a backup source of electricity. What do you think - write in the comments ...

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Photo taken from open sources, from Yandex. Pictures

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