Could this be a game-changer?

[unclemack]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

The future is the power created in nuclear and fusion plants then stored onboard in 99% efficient cells.
b.

I've been working on this for days now but I'm stuck on how to stop the Pixies stealing the other 11%

[Xthewater]

Sterling engines have made great advances over the past 30+ years but doubtful we'll ever see commercial use not because of expense but because of the threat they pose to the energy industry profits. Solar energy vs utilities is just one example.
For many years now Sterling linear generators are used in deep space craft because they are so effecient, any source of heat can drive them, they have something like 3 moving parts, require no maintenance and run near silent for many years.
The linear generator in this example is basically a 2 stroke engine on each end of the linear generator connected by a common shaft. Fuel required plus Heat and noise produced is significant as well as wear and maintenance. Add on the rectification and regulation of the output because the sine wave would be all over the place when a load is applied, and the cost just escalates.

[hamburking]

To answer the OP's question:

YES

This is a huge deal.

Its a simple, efficient, reliable, robust engine that generates electicity directly, with few moving parts. Its a very big deal. This has the potential to change everything. An efficient generator the size of a couple batteries. With this, boats could go electric with a huge range.

Also, this type of engine is not limited to a single type of fuel...its a multi-fuel engine....will burn any flammable liquid. Yes, that would include diesel fuel.

This has the potential to change power systems the way chartploters changed the way we navigate. Its like we are finally living in the future.

[Don C L]

The one from Beetron looks so simple I could imagine them selling it in pieces as a kit. In fact it looks from their website they have their sights on the third world off the grid market.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Xthewater

The linear generator in this example is basically a 2 stroke engine on each end of the linear generator connected by a common shaft.

Exactly, no rotating parts...its like you get to throw out 90% of the moving parts that make up an internal combustion engine...and just keep the combustion chamber and (electric) coils, connected with a single straight rod.

Simple.
Efficient.
Elegant.
Excellent.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Xthewater

Sterling engines have made great advances over the past 30+ years but doubtful we'll ever see commercial use not because of expense but because of the threat they pose to the energy industry profits. Solar energy vs utilities is just one example.

The Sterling engine is simply an external combustion engine...still rotary, still conventional.

The idea of the linear engine is no more rotating parts and all the moving, vibrating parts that includes. Because its simple, it can be made any size, from tiny to huge. Fewer moving parts means cheaper to make, more reliable, smaller, much more efficient...its the future, and its here.

[Xthewater]

Originally Posted by unclemack

Looks like there could be coils around the outside of the cylinder so it could work like a shaky-shaky torch (sorry for the technical jargon) if the pistons were also magnets.

Am I right? What did I win?
Ooh, inventing is exciting!!

You won! Prize is in the email.
Exactly like a shaky shacky torch, cretins call a flashlight. Piston/s drive a permanent magnet through a coil of wire producing a pulse of electrons.

[Xthewater]

Originally Posted by hamburking

The Sterling engine is simply an external combustion engine...still rotary, still conventional.

The idea of the linear engine is no more rotating parts and all the moving, vibrating parts that includes. Because its simple, it can be made any size, from tiny to huge. Fewer moving parts means cheaper to make, more reliable, smaller, much more efficient...its the future, and its here.

Sorry, wrong! Linear Sterling engines were developed quite a while ago and are what's used in some spacecraft. Company in tri-cities Washington makes them.

The Sterling linear generator that ran on a solar dish was developed by an Iowa university professor many years ago. Efficient and silent 15kw with only 3 moving parts. It then disappeared.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Xthewater

You won! Prize is in the email.
Exactly like a shaky shacky torch, cretins call a flashlight. Piston/s drive a permanent magnet through a coil of wire producing a pulse of electrons.

Hurray! magnets plus coils plus motion equals electricity!

Think of it like an alternator rolled out flat.

I'd say it resembles a solenoid more than anything else.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Xthewater

Sorry, wrong! Linear Sterling engines were developed quite a while ago and are what's used in some spacecraft. Company in tri-cities Washington makes them.

The Sterling linear generator that ran on a solar dish was developed by an Iowa university professor many years ago. Efficient and silent 15kw with only 3 moving parts. It then disappeared.

A sterling engine uses a cylinder that is hot at one end, cold at the other. This works great in space, since there is an abundance of cold.

The sterling engine uses an external heat source at the hot end, like anything burning in an external heat chamber. The linear engine we are discussing is an internal combustion engine..fuel injection, compression, spark, etc. There are two innovations to the linear engine:

1) variable compression ratio. The same engine can run gasoline or diesel or anything in between because the piston rod/shaft does not need to have a fixed length.

2) the linear motion of the cylinder is NOT converted to rotation. Crankshaft, driveshaft, and all those bearings are NOT needed. The linear motion is directly converted to electricity using the principles of a solenoid, or as you so eloquently put it...shaky torch.

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by hamburking

Exactly, no rotating parts...

Simple.
Efficient.
Elegant.
Excellent.

Can reliable and long-lived go on this list?

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Liam Wald

Can reliable and long-lived go on this list?

Simple.
Efficient.
Elegant.
Reliable.
Long-lived.
Small size/high output.
Low maintenance.
Inexpensive.
Excellent.

And if you run it on corn oil, your boat can smell like french fries.

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

May be CF members with engineering background can fill me in on that but I could never figure out why with thousands of lbs of lead already on a boat her ballast cannot be made into a huge array of battery cells and her sails, deck and topsides cannot act as huge solar panel.

It's technically possible but not very efficient. Batteries sacrafice a lot of density to things like electrical channels, liquids, and housings. None of which a solid lead keel have to mess with. Just to run quick numbers... A Rolls-Surretre 4000 series deep cycle battery weighs in at 125lbs (wet) and has a volume of 1,547.1 in^3. A solid lead mass the same size would weigh 634.3lbs. So you would need to increase the volume of your keel by about five times.

Secondly you would need some way to remove the batteries after 5-7 years and replace them with new ones. You had also better use a pretty standard industry casing for them so down the road you aren't locked into one manufacturers battery. Probably a 2v battery she'll of some sort.

Third it would no longer even be possible to upgrade to new battery technology. You would be locked into these batteries.

Fourth, I hope you have finally figured out a way to finally waterproof your bilge, because any water intrusion could easily short out your battery compartment, which is now fully below waterline in the bilge of the boat. Even small leaks could cohort out your entire battery system.

[unclemack]

@ post #1

Cooling, lubrication, wear > pressure loss and carbon build-up may be beyond resolution.

Wankel engine still hasn't really overcome its inherent, similar issues 65 years in despite massive spend.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by unclemack

@ post #1

Cooling, lubrication, wear > pressure loss and carbon build-up may be beyond resolution.

Wankel engine still hasn't really overcome its inherent, similar issues 65 years in despite massive spend.

Of course those are issues with any engine of any type, but this is not a rotary engine. If you are referring to how the piston is lubricated in the cylinder, I am guessing that Toyota and Beetron and others have worked that out. The Toyota diagram shows roller bearings and ceramic coating when there is "insufficient lubricating oil."