Subject: Re: Stirling VS Piston Steam?, etc.

From: [email-masked] (Mick Collins)
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 19:05:13 BST

[email-masked] (Andreas Haffner) wrote:

>> ->    What is a "fluidine" pump? I did a couple of searches and
>> couldn't find ->    this word.
 
    Try 'fluidyne' and you may have better luck.  These engines
were made by the Metal Box Company of India and by floating a light
hollow metal 'piston' on top of the water to isolate it from the
hot air, they obtained a useful improvement in efficiency

  -- 
      Cheers - Mick

---

From: "Duane C. Johnson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 14:52:30 -0700

Colin Morton wrote:
> > Why not use a Stirling "fluidine" pump to drive a small generator. These
> > will work on temperature differences of less than 170 degrees.
> >
> 
> Does any one have a copy of the Mother news article that" Steamboat Ed" is
> referring to? Also the No 56 March/Paril79 solar furnace article.

This is to easy. That is the Mother Earth News #56 March/April 1979 issue.

> Here in West Aus I have heard of Mother Earth, But never heard of Paril. and
> I  have no means of accessing them. Please if any one has a copy can you
> mail it to me.

I don't have the article in front of me but I can describe the system in general.
This article and one in 1972 (I think) started my investigations into mirror
type solar collecters. 

This collecter is not a parabolic collector although it has many of the advantages.
It is not a heliostat as the receiver is inline with the sun and the mirrors.

The system was composed of a frame that held 100 1 square foot bathroom mirror
tiles. These were arranged in 10 rows of 10. Each mirror had a small mount 
composed of a metal disk at the end of a metal stalk. This stalk was welded to 
the frame. Each mirror was glued to the disk. 

The receiver was an 8 gallon aluminium beer keg that was used as the steam
boiler. This keg was mounted about 12 feet in front and normal to the plane 
of the mirrors. 

The whole frame was mounted on a polar axis mount with declination adjustment.
This allowed the whole system to track the sun using simple clockwork controls.

Once the system is tracking the sun then each mirror stalk can be bent to adjust
each mirror so it reflects light onto the receiver. With the 100 square foot of
mirrors reflecting on the boiler a concentration factor of about 30 to 1 is 
obtained.

Mirror tiles are very cheap (Less than one dollar each).

> Thanks
> Colin Morton. Anvil Iron   [email-masked]

-- 
CUL8ER

Duane C. Johnson
WA0VBE
Red Rock Energy
1825 Florence St.
White Bear Lake, MN, USA 55110-3364
[email-masked]
[email-masked]
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/3027/

---

From: "Duane C. Johnson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 15:22:13 -0700

Duane C. Johnson wrote:
> Roamer wrote:
> Robin Hodgson wrote to me and mentioned that the spelling is "fluidyne".
> This is one of the liquid piston Stirling engines.

Another article on fluidyne engines is in:

Fluidyne engine,
Scientific American, 1985 Apr, pg 140

-- 
CUL8ER

Duane C. Johnson
WA0VBE
Red Rock Energy
1825 Florence St.

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From: [email-masked] (Peter Brooks)
Date: 22 Jul 1996 18:20:10 GMT

Re: the Fluidyne pump.  Invented by Colin West, it was intended for 
irrigation and drinking water pump.  Because it works on a resonance 
principle, you'd have some difficulty getting variable output from
it, but I suppose you could divert unneeded water.

For small system power, West described a rather neat TMG-  a free-piston
Thermal Magnetic Generator that's yet another variant on the
Stirling.  The free-piston (the displacer and piston aren't mechanically
coupled, but are set up to oscillate) is connected to a linear alternator.
According to West, the TMG was developed for remote radio instalations.
Depending on the power required, it could be scaled up somewhat, but
I think it was designed to put out 20kW.

West _Principles and Applications of Stirling Engines_  , VNR 1980.
He also wrote a book on the Fluidyne, called something like the
Liquid Piston Stirling Engines.  I don't have a better reference to it.

Pete Brooks

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From: [email-masked] (dsg)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 20:56:29 GMT

[email-masked] (Peter Brooks) wrote:

->    Re: the Fluidyne pump.  Invented by Colin West, it was intended
for  irrigation and drinking water pump.  Because it works on a
resonance  principle, you'd have some difficulty getting variable
output from  it, but I suppose you could divert unneeded water.

For small system power, West described a rather neat TMG-  a
free-piston  Thermal Magnetic Generator that's yet another variant on
the Stirling.  The free-piston (the displacer and piston aren't
mechanically  coupled, but are set up to oscillate) is connected to a
linear alternator.
->    According to West, the TMG was developed for remote radio
instalations.  Depending on the power required, it could be scaled up
somewhat, but  I think it was designed to put out 20kW.

 West _Principles and Applications of Stirling Engines_  , VNR 1980.
->    He also wrote a book on the Fluidyne, called something like the
->    Liquid Piston Stirling Engines.  I don't have a better reference
to it.
@@ Ref: below...
->    Pete Brooks
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
ALL about fluidynes, etc. 

http://www.iinet.com.au/~steveb/stirling/st_eng.html

Book:

Colin West
Liquid Piston Stirling Engines
Van Norstrand Reinold Co. New York
ISBN 0-442-29237-6

dsg
[email-masked]
http://www.chatlink.com/~soltherm/    -solar thermal electricity 
and Links.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

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From: Mike Rehmus <[email-masked]>
Date: 24 Jul 1996 23:34:11 GMT

I've now forgotten the original question but there is a dimensioned
diagram in the James Rizzo book, The Stirling Engine Manual", on
page 10, figure 1.25.  I'd guess anyone could make such a
unit on the basis of that one drawing.

Best regards,

Mike Rehmus