Ambient heat engine

[Philip Hardcastle]

So a 28 feet x 8 feet array of vacuum tubes with black nickle collector plates would do a better job then photovoltaic panels. Not a bad idea!
I guess parabolic concentrators (mirror polished stainless steel) could be used to reduce the amount of tubes and cost?

Hi again Luc


The trade offs that are needed depend on the situation (of course), my guess is that for a house boat a large covered area could be used as a solar collector, if vacuum tubes collectors are used (and they can be bought cheap from China) then a simple polished foil back sheet with formed parabolic troughs would be good and cheap, and it would not make it heavy or particularly thick. Fresnel lenses have been proposed and can make a thin and lightweight collector that can be used as an insulated roof / awning.


Consider that if you achieve 250C+ you can store energy in salts for night operation.


Not that I am an expert but..... one very good source of heat is that of various PCM materials such as waxes, a Sterling engine could easily be integrated to work in conjunction with a pcm reservoir, imagine that you pump the black nickel collector heat into a ton of pcm with a phase change of 200C+, it can hold an amazing amount of energy to drive the Stirling all nigh long, the 1,00kg of pcm storage being highly lagged.


Like I said to John a number of posts ago, there is much that can be pursued that is possible, worthwhile but challenging, and a lot of things that are just going to burn money with a certain futility.


I applaud all that pursue ideas and will always offer help to anyone that seeks my advice (such as it is - according to memoryman).


Best
Phil


P.S pcm for temp 200C+ is probably going to be a salt, not sure what the best ones currently are, obviously the large latent heat at the phase change temperature is what you want to match your heat engine. IIRC paraffin wax as a pcm is ideal for keeping your house cool / warm, but not much use for heat engines power production systems. Of course those interested in the amazing uses of pcm can research on Google.

[Philip Hardcastle]

Hello! The use of low-grade heat and transfer it into electricity is a reality today. I have developed a pattern, working on phase transition and generating 0.085 Watts of power. The device environmentally friendly and can be operated for a long time. This is only the beginning.
Here is a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rPQvTyXxqA&t=4s

Hi, not sure what you are showing, is it a peltier cell with an alcohol evaporator on top?


Please explain.

[sm0ky2]

@ Luc

about your boat:
rather than wasting a lot of time/$$ trying to generate power from the waste heat,
it might be more beneficial to simply remove the heat
scoops placed just below the water line, in the forward direction
will automatically circulate water through the cooling lines.

This cooling action will come at no additional costs (after initial installation of the lines)
However, the gain in efficiency of the PV array will give you extra power out of your set-up.

[sm0ky2]

Hi, not sure what you are showing, is it a peltier cell with an alcohol evaporator on top?


Please explain.

that's what it looks like to me.
the black board to absorb heat
some sort of heat-transfer medium caked on the top side of the modules.
--- might be semiconductor grade thermal grease? (the kind you use on a CPU)
the liquid appears to be a low grade isopropyl (the cheap green kind)
evaporation process quickly removes heat from the cold side of the modules.

[replicators - I would suggest using a higher grade alcohol, so there is less water left behind]

[memoryman]

Philip, you and I exchanged many emails in your Quenco period; you made ridiculous power claims  which I showed to be orders of magnitude too high. In addition, I had two very well connected persons contact you, with unpleasant results for them (and therefore me).
I am also well aware of your interactions with Simon D. who is a very good friend of me.
I respect your opinions on many subjects, but you can stand to improve your people skills.
As to the sailboat idea, using superhydrophobic coating will both reduce the friction and keep the hull free of barnacles.
And I am very aware of the Carnot limit.