Author Topic: Linear solar engine ?  (Read 58 times)

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Offline CG

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Linear solar engine ?
« on: September 11, 2022, 11:05:38 am »
Do you think this would work?
Not exactly draw right but it conveys the idea .

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« Last Edit: September 12, 2022, 07:40:24 am by CG »

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Offline Caleb

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2022, 12:00:39 pm »
I think it could.  A while back I wanted to try a rotary version where the shade (green thing) would cover 2 liter bottles connected to pistons that drive the crank.  But I never tried it out.


Offline CG

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2022, 03:02:38 pm »
Reminds me, somewhat, of Minto's wheel.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minto_wheel

Offline CG

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2022, 08:56:23 am »
How about this modification?

Call it a "bent linear solar engine".

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Offline CG

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2022, 10:35:09 pm »
I think the 2 L bottle thing would have a small problem, being that the bottle wall is so thin that some of the expansion volume would be lost due to the walls moving. I think it would need stiffer walls so all the forces would be at the piston.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2022, 08:06:14 am by CG »

Offline CG

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2022, 08:05:06 am »
Similar idea


Offline CG

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2022, 09:21:33 am »
Combining ideas
Just wondering about the thermal delay of the cylinder/gas etc.  It takes a certain amount of time for these materials to heat up vs cool down.  How fast could it run?

There's got to be a word for a material that heats up and cools down very fast, but I can't think of it.
Low specific heat?
A "Black body" may work like that.

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« Last Edit: September 14, 2022, 01:00:08 pm by CG »

Offline Caleb

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Re: Linear solar engine ?
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2022, 05:49:52 pm »
They could have made a prototype in the time it took to make the video. :-)  Looks like a neat idea.