ABCO
P.O. Box 3738 - N * Cookeville, TN 38502-3738 *
(931) 528-8539 · Email: rphillips@growbiz-abco.com
New! Build Amazing Liquid Piston Stirling Engine
From Pipe Fittings!
A leading U.S. Science magazine wrote: "This could be a something-for-nothing
device of real promise for an energy-starved and noise polluted world."
They were referring to the liquid piston version of the Stirling-cycle engine
which can run on any heat source. Fueled by waste heat or concentrated sunlight, it can pump water at no cost whatever.
It even runs on burning paper, wood, hot water from a solar panel, magnifier lens, you name it, anything that will generate heat!
The basic idea behind this engine goes back to 1861 when Scottish clergyman Robert
Stirling came up with the hot-air external-combustion engine that bears his name. In any Stirling-cycle engine,
a fixed quantity of gas is pumped back and forth between hot and cold chambers by varying the chamber volumes.
The resulting changes in gas temperature cause cyclic pressure variations that can perform mechanical work.
The conventional Stirling engine uses displacer and power pistons, tied together with
complicated mechanical linkages, to pump the gas back and forth. There are numerous elegant variations in use today
which eliminate the mechanical linkages. But these still use moving displacer and power pistons in various ways.
All this adds up to expensive special materials and difficult and even more expensive machining. Not so with
this version!
Unlike Stirling's engine, this one is ingeniously simple. Yet it runs with the
best of them. It has no mechanical moving parts except a couple of ball valves. (These are made from copper pipe
fittings and a few other very inexpensive items from the hardware or variety store.) It needs no mechanical seals,
no lubrication, no attention. It is pollution free and almost totally silent, is self-starting (this feature amazes
me most of all!), and uses the simplest of elements: Air is its gas and water is its liquid. Heat requirements
are very modest: Temperatures are kept below the boiling point of water! 175° F is about optimum.
Sounds impossible-- or at least very complicated and expensive to build? But in fact,
this engine can be built using nothing more than ordinary steel and copper pipe fittings and a few other simple
items. No power tools, no welding or machining is required. Just screw some threaded pipe fittings together,
cut and solder a few pieces of copper pipe and assemble a hand-full of simple items. For a cash outlay of only
a few dollars and a few hours time, you will have a working engine assembled and ready to run.
Now focus the sun spot from an inexpensive flat plastic magnifier lens, the flame from
a soldering torch or a simple wick type alcohol burner on the engine. After a few seconds water starts to
spurt out of an open pipe, slowly at first, for a couple of seconds, and then suddenly, as if powered by some hidden
force, surges into a strong rhythmic output. The engine has self-started! Almost totally silent, the only
sound is the steady clicking of the check valves. The engine continues to run as long heat is applied. Remove the
heat source and the engine continues to run for a while, operating on residual heat! Apply heat again and the engine
re-starts. No operator need be present.
Complicated versions of this engine are in use today all over the world. A prime
use is in applications where almost total reliability is a must and where they must operate for months at a time
with no human attention or maintenance. Mid-ocean data buoys use them to generate low wattage electricity for a
year on 100 gallons of liquefied gas without refueling and are virtually sealed for life. There are similar applications
for mountaintop microwave links where even occasional repairs and checks are difficult. Some are mounted at the
focal point of dish shaped solar reflectors to generate electricity. Yet all these use numerous complicated and
expensive parts. The super-simple, super-inexpensive liquid piston version is destined to make its mark
in world wide as well as close to home applications no one has yet thought about.
Couple a liquid piston engine to a solar collector to eliminate both the normal electric
circulating pump and the electronic controller. When the sun shines, heat is available, the engine operates. When
a cloud covers the sun, circulation stops. No electricity, electric pump, electronics, wires, or sensors. Automatic
control with no operating expense and no maintenance. Made of rustproof materials, it will last for years outdoors,
operating totally unattended.
Use a liquid piston engine to pump water in technologically primitive areas. It is in use providing foolproof irrigation in developing countries. In many areas, heat (both natural and waste) is more readily available than electricity. Use it to pump well water at no cost. To circulate water for fountains, filtration systems, irrigation systems, or use it to generate electricity. Use the waste heat going up your furnace chimney to circulate heat through the house. It will work even during a power blackout when the electric water pump is off. Applications for this engine are almost totally unexplored. And now with more people aware of its potential, many additional applications and enhancements are bound to result. Another energy crisis is sure to occur at some time in the future. And with new concerns such as "ozone depletion", "greenhouse effect", and environmental costs of fossil and nuclear fuels, large fortunes will be made from simple, inexpensive devices which will operate on free and/or renewable energy sources. I predict the liquid piston engine will be an important component in many of them. Dream of "no electric bills"? Be and innovator! It seems every person who builds this project comes up with their own ideas for new applications and improvements.
And if all this isn't enough, just the fun of seeing others try to figure out how it works is reason enough to build this version.
For years I have built various scientific, electrical, electronic and mechanical projects. None have intrigued me as this one does. I still marvel every time this thing just "starts running". Its amazing that a device so mechanically simple can work as it does. Many projects are simple in theory but difficult in execution. for once, here is one that reverses things. Some exotic and complicated things go on inside the engine, yet it is built so simply. And the phenomenon which causes it to self-start is the most intriguing of all. We have worked with it for some time, improving efficiency and designing new applications. This project is a distillation of that process.
The plan package shows how to build an easy and inexpensive engine as a basic power unit. You can modify or adapt your to other applications. We have selected parts which are both inexpensive and readily available almost anywhere. All parts are available in your local area at Lowe's, Home Depot, plumbing or hardware stores at low cost.
The engine presented in the plans is about a foot tall and a couple of inches thick. Later, you can build larger ones by increasing pipe sizes. The largest one we are aware of, operating as a water pump,
is in Bombay, India. It pumps 5,000 U.S. gallons per hour! The largest one we know about, generating electricity, is in Canada. the output is 50KW. Enough for two homes.
We think you will find this one of the most rewarding, easiest, and least expensive
projects you are likely ever to build. Construction involves cutting some copper pipe to various short lengths
and soldering them to copper sweat fittings, filing some notches in two copper fittings, screwing some galvanized
pipe fittings together, and assembling some simple items. All of it can easily be done with common hand tools.
A parts list is included, complete with actual cutting lengths. Many will have most, if not all, parts around the
house or shop. In developing these plans, we have striven to avoid giving you any unpleasant surprises.
You need not be an accomplished do-it-all type to build this one. Anyone with average handy-man skill can handle
it. And persons of all skill levels are sure to be intrigued with the results.
Included in the plan package are eight pages of scale drawings, parts list, step-by-step
assembly instructions, operating instructions, illustrated theory of operation, basic Stirling-cycle engine theory,
operating tips and ideas, and an analysis of the intriguing phenomenon which causes the engine to self-start.
This has got to be the ultimate science fair project for the older student
or for younger ones who have adult help and supervision.
Order your plan set today and be prepared to enjoy one of the most intriguing and
potentially rewarding projects you are likely to find. The price is modest and fair; the possibilities almost
endless. You will be glad you did.
Roy Phillips
for ABCO
Copyright © 2006 by ABCO
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