Stirling engines used to generate electricity from wood burning stoves

[stan.hornbaker]

There is a relatively new version of the Stove Top fan being made by a company in Hunstville AL. http://www.thermalengines.com/faq.html

To the best of my knowledge there is NO ONE manufacturing a Power-producing Stirling engine at a price affordable and competitive with other means of generating electricity. Such engines are classed as High Temperature engines.

You CAN NOT expect to produce significant power from Medium Temperature delta T's.

[trobin43]

I have reserched such a pruct and some are getting close to a viable prototype. Please see and or add to my discussion at www.alternative energy.com. see member posts under "tim robinson"...some links to info and some discussion. please add your posts and comments. There has been a patent application for this procut, which I posted on this site. and I also posted a video on utube pertaining to this product/subject.

[trobin43]

if you want to post a reply on alternativeenergy.com (must sign in as member to post) please sign in and link to me as a "friend" designation.

[aet1]

They have these available in Austria, running on wood pellets as fuel:

http://www.stirlingpowermodule.com/

[stan.hornbaker]

Tony Turner: These are the CHP units are they not? Cost to buy? Electric Power output? Available on the open market?
Reference
http://www.stirlingpowermodule.com/ Not quite a stove top machine.

[aet1]

True - hardly a stove-top gadget, but they do heat a house and generate electricity and run off wood - so fulfil the original question if we accept a boiler/furnace as a stove.

I thought the link would be worth posting to be able to see the engine as it does look pretty neat and there seem to be few commercially available Stirling engines.

The web-site has some details of the output and also some neat diagrams of the engine.

Pellet boilers ("boilers" in UK where I come from, Kessels in Austria where I live and "furnaces" in the States) are pretty expensive things and would really only be viable to replace something that is very expensive (or plain bad-eco) to run. They are really a luxury form of wood heating eliminating the need for stoking - but I'm getting carried away and off-thread.

Perhaps I ought to find out if they would sell the engine without the boiler.

[bptdude___2569]

I went to the link, and it did help after I saw where to see it in english.

A very nice CHP. Wood pellets go in, heat and electricity come out.
I'm really looking for a wood furnace, but this is cool.

It looks like 2009 may be a very interesting year for Stirlings. There are now several models of kilowatt or so range engines coming out.

Pellet furnaces are becoming much more common here in the states, for people overseas. Since so many people would not mind buying a pellet furnace, one that cost not too much more and generated a constant 1 kilowatt of power would be a very popular model, I would think.

[aet1]

Hi,

It's taken a long time - but it does seem, at last, that more commercial firms are thinking eco-friendly (and seeing that there will be customers!). Perhaps I was a bit over the top regarding people using pellets - I can't really imagine everyone carrying logs indoors when they are used to the effort of using a switch!

Those pellet/Stirling units have been available in Austria for a couple of years.

Perhpas I should have encouraged my son to buy one last year instead of telling him to carry the logs instead of using his oil burner - then I could have seen on in action!

[bptdude___2569]

Well, here in the states, laws are passed that require the electric company to discount you back some of your electric bill if you supply electricity, "spinning the meter backwards". It sounds nice, but prevents people from really making money with something like a very cool Stirling design.

If the electric company had to buy back all the power I could generate, sending me real cash, things would be quite different, including motivation for people to come up with all kinds of crazy machines.

My son would gladly haul wood to heat my house for the winter, if I let him keep all the money the Stirling engine CHP would send to his bank account by making electricity.

This is the kind of thing the new president Obama could change in theory to make things better, even in a down economy with low oil prices.

Any bets if we ever see such a thing?

It is kinda off topic, but affects everybody with hopes for a home sized power producing Stirling.

[stan.hornbaker]

Tony Turner, Joe McClean: All Stirling engines available for purchase are very expensive and are special order items. When incorporated into a CHP unit burning natural gas, or some other fuel the waste heat is used for domestic heating and excess powert goes to the grid for credit.
It may a long time before a 1-1/2 to 2 HP stand-alone unit becomes available for general sale at a reasonalbe price.