Galt's Gulch

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  • Posted by Zenphamy 11 years, 3 months ago
    It's been a dream of mine for several years to see the development of independent power generation for the home. The losses in transmission of electrical power and the grid system of most developed countries and the cost of maintaining rotation of generators and the lock of utilities on users has always driven me nuts.

    The combination of super capacitors and a decent generation or combination for the individual could solve so many difficulties, (besides that all those damn poles and drooping wires are ugly). I'm not sure that I like their proposed business model of leasing the equipment as the best or most economical solution for the individual, but… You're just not going to be able to get government and bureaucracy out of your home through the lease and mini-grid grouping system.

    But to the Stirling used to drive a generator, that's been done successfully since the 30's and mainly applied to waste heat utilization and lately to solar concentrators (mirrors). Kamen must think he's improved the efficiency to a point greater than 50% or is just looking at taking the advantage of the increased availability of Natural Gas. I suspect the latter.
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  • Posted by Lucky 11 years, 3 months ago
    Good to see the Stirling engine as a salable product.

    . 'they can’t change power output quickly. '
    This invalidates the claim to useful round-the-clock power unless you have a source of variable power generation as well.
    That is. if you have a 10kW generator and need 10kW- fine,
    but when the requirement drops the rate of fuel consumption is the same, the generator will then get hotter. This may not matter if fuel is very cheap and there is a good cooling system. I like it, but same as for other interesting generators it needs a cheap method to store energy so I do not see mass adoption soon.
    What's dbh's opinion?
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    • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 3 months ago
      Two possible alternatives - 1) Battery or high-cap capacitors to store the energy for later use, or 2) Sell the excess back into the grid. That would then need to evaluate the costs of the electricity vs. the nat gas to power the generator. Or perhaps 3) a local consortium (neighborhood) that would purchase one and tap into it to offset their grid usage during peak cost periods.
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    • Posted by dbhalling 11 years, 3 months ago
      Based on my memory you are right Sterling Engines do not deal well with changes in required power. Of course this why old engines were commonly attached to a fly wheel. I believe their have been some advances in flywheels based on new powerful magnets.

      There are probably several people, including J and OA, who know more about this area than me.
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      • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 3 months ago
        The flywheel is really there to ensure that any backfires didn't destroy the engine. Timing issues in earlier ICE's could cause a crankshaft to change rotation almost instantaneously causing big problems. By putting a flywheel in the system, the momentum keeps the crankshaft rotating in the proper direction even with a backfire.
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        • Posted by dbhalling 11 years, 3 months ago
          Actually the whole purpose of a flywheel is energy storage. From Wikipedia on the uses of flywheels

          Providing continuous energy when the energy source is discontinuous. For example, flywheels are used in reciprocating engines because the energy source, torque from the engine, is intermittent.
          Delivering energy at rates beyond the ability of a continuous energy source. This is achieved by collecting energy in the flywheel over time and then releasing the energy quickly, at rates that exceed the abilities of the energy source.
          Controlling the orientation of a mechanical system. In such applications, the angular momentum of a flywheel is purposely transferred to a load when energy is transferred to or from the flywheel.
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          • Posted by Zenphamy 11 years, 3 months ago
            Flywheels as temporary energy storage is exactly right. Applications vary from regenerative braking, smoothing power transfer to load, etc. The largest I've seen was 20ft diameter, I've seen them in vacuum at very high rpm's, locomotive's, ore hoisting from deep mining (clutched and un-clutched), the venerable Woodward Governor as speed control and overspeed switch. and even some old water driven mills.
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            • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 3 months ago
              In nearly all instances, the fly wheel is used to overcome issues with the primary power source, usually instability in the generation or maintenance of the generation.
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              • Posted by Zenphamy 11 years, 3 months ago
                No Robbie, in most of what I've listed, the flywheel captures and stores waste energy and allows it to be used. The storage time depends on the application needs. The vacuum enclosed flywheel referenced utilizing magnetic field bearings can store the energy for at least hours.
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  • Posted by irrelevantcommentforpoint 11 years, 3 months ago
    Kamen says in 10 years few people will be dependent on grid power. Is that because there is a better solution, or because the economy and the grid is going to collapse?
    He said the Segway would revolutionize transportation, too.
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    • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 3 months ago
      I never bought into all the hype about the Segway. It's a novelty, good for tourists in places where the sights are a distance away, but impractical for most travel. If you live in the suburbs and work in the city, it doesn't go fast enough to make commuting any sense. If you live in the city, you can't ride them in the street safely, nor on the sidewalks. And if all your travel is in the suburbs, still not practical for shopping or in high winds, rain, snow, etc.

      As for the grid - there are significant problems. There's the whole crash scenario (like '03 in the NE), and the fact that various nefarious agents have been trying to find ways to attack the grid. There's also the issue of power generation - this admin is trying to kill off coal, and won't support fracking for more nat gas production, and there aren't any new nuclear plants in the works. Theoretically, as long as you have a method for generating the heat (wood, coal, nat gas, methane, etc.) you should be able to use a Stirling engine. But my guess is that these have the heater built in as part of the system.
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    • Posted by khalling 11 years, 3 months ago
      good point irrelevant. I certainly don't think he is a fraud...but only market and other influences will tell on this one. I know my current generator is frustrating...and damned loud
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 3 months ago
    MOTHER PUS BUCKET SONOFAGLITCH!!!!

    I give up.

    No, I quit. There is just no point in trying, I'm too God-blessed slow to do *anything*.

    I quit I quit I quit I quit.


    "Roarke's Drift", my big story I was writing so I could put in the fly-leaf, "Look, Mom, I wrote one down!"....


    One of the things Ernie, The protagonist's soon-to-be chief engineer, was working on was (here it comes) a powerful derivative of the Stirling engine, later dubbed the Stirling-Pryce engine. The appeal is that it can burn anything for fuel; diesel, kerosine, alcohol, sawdust, coal...

    I have lots of scenes in my head for the story, but to hell with it. Reality keeps beating it to the punch.

    First the custom carbon-fiber matrix for the Drift, now the engine. I never did figure out if you could make an airship using near-vacuum instead of hydrogen for lift. No doubt that'll be in tomorrow's news...
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    • Posted by preimert1 11 years, 3 months ago
      You could build a small proof-of-concept, H, to see it it works. The vacuum containment would have to displace more than its weight in air without imploding.
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      • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years, 3 months ago
        That was the idea of the special carbon-fiber matrix. A material strong and resilient enough to withstand the outside atmospheric pressure without imploding. I was thinking of inner spheres filling the outer balloon for greater structural strength, then the remaining space being filled, perhaps, with helium at low pressure.
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