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Old 05-21-2009, 11:10 PM   #6 (permalink)
theunchosen
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cookeville, TN
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Not to be a pessimist but this is still born.

The problem with Stirling engines is. . .they come in 2 categories. toys and powerplants. You can have 10 mA or you can have 20 amps at 1200 volts. Nothing in the between.

Building your own. . .it works but they are heavy and not efficient at all. A home brew stirling to output the same as a lawnmower would be roughly 2x as big. I have a friend who is a machinist who built one for power output(its a toy but its designed for output) and it dumps like 1/5 of a horsepower but its the size of a medium cooler(not the wheeled kind like a small styrofoam one).

So if you have room to cram a cooler in your hood go for it, but the energy savings versus the weight gain will kill you.

If you could get your hands on an SES suncatcher recovery unit and blow your exhaust gases over it, preheat that with radiator air and expose the cold side to unattenuated ambient air you could produce about 10 kw(13 hp) but you're going to add like 3-400 lbs.
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