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This is an example of a large Stirling Engine - It is very complicated but the video below will show a much smaller and simpler device:

Have you ever compressed something until you crushed it? This could have been when you first squeezed a box of Nerds after finishing the last of the strawberry candies. Or maybe you crushed an egg with your bare hands just to test to see if it was possible.

Depending on the structure of an enclosure, an interesting thing happens before the box or object is crushed…it has the ability to perform work.

Not all enclosures are as capable of performing work as efficiently as others, but the ones that can withstand significant amounts of internal pressure make for good cores for a device called a “Stirling Engine.”

In the video below, you will see a homemade Sterling Engine which uses a tuna can as the core. The tuna can has the function of containing pressure differences. As the air inside the cleaned tuna can gets pressurized, it is able to translate the change in heat and pressure into work. In this case, the work is spinning the CDR which is attached to the device.

The spinning CDR is a simplified representation of an important piece of technology known as a flywheel. Flywheels are intriguing because they can store energy without needing batteries or liquid fuel. The mere fact that the CDR is spinning rapidly means that the energy contained by its rotation allows it to channeled at a later time.

That’s actually one of the fun tricks about controlled spinning objects: As long as you can decrease the controlled rotation of an object, you can turn that rotation energy (think kinetics) into either electricity or some other form of power.

What I like most about this Homemade Sterling Engine is how it was made from very small, Do It Yourself parts. It was built from a guide by someone who read a Russian forum which you can see for yourself by clicking HERE.

The tuna can is so funny. Talk about taking advantage of anything of value in one’s home!

As mentioned in the title of this article, the tiny source of energy is just a little oil-looking lamp. And look at all the work that single source of heat is doing, it is simply mind boggling to see this engine get moving for so long with such a simple heat source. Truly impressive.

-Tyler

Over the past few days I’ve been tinkering with some thought experiments. I’ve been having to figure out how to properly create a functional model for steam. And within hours I already was able to frustrate myself with the idea of not knowing enough about thermodynamics in order to make the model work correctly. But I’ve been reading a great book called, “The Tao of Physics” by Fritjof Capra and I’m two-thirds through it. In the book, the author discusses the differences between Newtonian Physics and more relativistic forms of thought. After taking in the book to heart, I realized that I was over-thinking the entire model situation.

I don’t need to actually know everything there is to know about water, thermodynamics, surface tension, water cohesion and the myriad of other knowledge related to steam in order to get my model to work. All I really need to know is some formulas related to boiling points, pressure and kinetic input-energy-ratios. And believe me, this is a much smaller piece of the pie, then trying to create some kind of model that actually “knows” all the rules of thermodynamics.

So by breaking the problem into simpler and more manageable parts, I was able to overcome a huge hurdle in the pen to paper thought experiment. But that wasn’t enough, I wanted to actually draw the model and see if it made sense. But there were a bunch of things that were missing. One was namely the transfer of energy from one object to another. Yet after go through thought experiment after thought experiment, the solution presented itself and was far less daunting than I had originally anticipated. So the pen to paper rough concept came out and looked good.

Part of the beauty of simplicity is much more than the strange affinity the universe has with symmetry and balance. There is a way of accepting the unknown and putting it in a large enough box that has familiar properties, and if the box works…go ahead and use it.

One of my first invention concepts had to do with absorbing aggregate wind energy through a type of scoop. I spent money on the project and it ended up being a complete failure. But one thing that I learned from the project, is that simple parts can be connected to make impressive things. Even though the device collected no energy, it had a strange alternate use as an odd sound modification unit. If I still had it, it would have been cool to use on a recording for some hip-hop. But alas, it is gone now…yet the knowledge that was attained through its construction is permanently embedded in my mind because I spent so much time and energy on it.

As I look at the concept art for this new idea, I see a combination of old skills and information mixed with a new understanding of intermediaries and energy flow. And to my surprise when I opened my sketch book and began drawing, I saw my old calculations for the size of the main component on the last used page. How fitting it was to find them when I was finally able to put the thing together.

-Tyler

Thanks to my mom, I’ve always dabbled in various forms of athletics from a very young age. Basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis, martial arts…you name it. I’ve probably participated in every major sport at a summer camp at some point in time.

What I began to realize is that to be effective in almost any athletic activity, one needs a powerful core. Core strength refers to the power of the muscles deep within the abs and back. The hips are what grant a person to unlock the power of that core.  If you don’t believe me that the hip is important in all sports activities, youtube “turning hip” and the first video you’ll see is a professional golfer showing users how perform a proper golf swing. In baseball, tennis and other sports, they call it “hip rotation.” Mastering the hip rotation timing is essential to unlocking the full power of the core!

Muay Thai (Kickboxing) and Jiu Jitsu (Ground Fighting) really opened my eyes to this power. My Muay Thai coach always stressed the importance of turning the hip when punching and kicking. I would say almost 80% of the power of a punch or kick is derived from the torque generated from the hips.

My Jiu Jitsu instructor would always tell me to “control the hips” when I was on top of an opponent going for submission. I would do this when I was in “side control” by placing my knee right next to his hip so he could not “hip out” back to “his guard,” a more favorable position for him. I realize some of you may not be familiar with this terminology, but my point my point is not to teach you Jiu Jitsu. I just wanted to illustrate yet another example of the hips in action. In fact, the beginning of every jiu jitsu class started with a 10 minute hip moving exercise called “snaking.”

Now that we know how important the hips are, the next step is building and maintaining the core muscles for the hips to use. Sit-ups, crunch’s and Push-ups are excellent core building exercises. I’ve been researching some other methods of building the core, but I’ll share my results in a separate post.

So the next time you’re looking for some extra power – believe me, put your hips into it.

-Nauticaboy

Tiered Algae Farm and Coal Power Plant concept - CLICK TO ENLARGE

This is a diagram for the Coal Power Plant and Algaeo Bio Fuel farm concept. It goes into some detail into the idea for taking the CO2 from a coal power plant and piping it into a Tiered Vertical Wafered Algae System (TVWAS). This concept was first brainstormed at a previous article here at overidon.com. But this diagram omits the desalinization portion of the concept and introduced the idea of converting the algae into bio fuel. Here is a great article that describes how algae can be turned into bio fuel. The interesting thing about this diagram is that the Coal Power Plant not only generates electricity and heat, but it also has the byproduct of CO2 pollution. Fortunately, the algae in the TVWAS can hypothetically use the CO2 pollution as a food source. The TVWAS will have transparent walls, ceilings, floors and windows, so it will still be able to absorb some sunlight without needing to be using artificial sunlight energy in order to feed the algae.

A water source will be quite important so that is why the previous article discusses having a desalination plant nearby. But this diagram concept is to illustrate the CO2 -> Biofuel technique.

The reason why I like this idea is because it uses coal, which is a very abundant power source in the United States of America. And the other great thing is that biofuel can be used as a transition fuel for automobiles as we move to more electric solutions. I consider this technology to be a transition based solution that will help us move to more advanced forms of energy conversion.

The beauty of the TVWAS is that it uses technology that already exists. The only thing new is that it implements concepts of cogeneration in order to minimize waste. Of course there will need to be scrubbers that will clean the coal emissions of sulfur and other pollutants that the algae won’t be able to eat, but the amount of CO2 that can be turned into fuel could be quite lucrative. If enough of these TVWAS systems are sucessfully created in the future, the United States of America could become a fuel exporter instead of a vulnerably dependent consumer of fossil fuels.

Another reason why this type of system is being researched by overidon.com is the amount of employment opportunities for a wide variety of disciplines and skill levels for American Citizens. There will need to be a strong infrastructure of computer programmers, green technology experts, algae and farming specialists as well as industrial workers employed in order to make this system function properly.

As I flush out the concepts in more detail I’ll make more diagrams.

-Tyler Stansfield Jaggers

April 30th 2011

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