World's smallest Stirling
 

On Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:52:59 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:

Here's a challenge for the micromachining crowd: a Stirling engine
that's so small that random molecular motion makes it run kind of rough:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45643068...y_and_science-
innovation/

It's 3 micrometers in size. The article doesn't say if that's height,
width, or length, but does it matter?

My reading has shown me that it's not a Sterling engine if it doesn't
have a regenerator -- hot air engines were around before the Reverend
Stirling, they just weren't nearly as efficient.

And they're saying that the working fluid is a liquid, not a gas.

So there does seem to be lots of hot air, but I don't think it's in the
engine.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com

World's smallest Stirling
 

On Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:06:48 -0600, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:52:59 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:

Here's a challenge for the micromachining crowd: a Stirling engine
that's so small that random molecular motion makes it run kind of rough:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45643068...y_and_science-
innovation/

It's 3 micrometers in size. The article doesn't say if that's height,
width, or length, but does it matter?

My reading has shown me that it's not a Sterling engine if it doesn't
have a regenerator -- hot air engines were around before the Reverend
Stirling, they just weren't nearly as efficient.

And they're saying that the working fluid is a liquid, not a gas.

So there does seem to be lots of hot air, but I don't think it's in the
engine.

Pffhhhht. g So, it's an engine that alternately heats and cools the
working fluid to apply force to a piston.

--
Ed Huntress