Wow -- very impressive. That looks practicable; I'll go through it in more detail, and give it a go if possible. At the very least it'll be an interesting experiment.
The thing with Stirling cycle engines is that engineers love them, everyone always bigs them up, always considers them, then people suck their teeth and end up not using them. At any given time there seem to be zillions of companies developing them, but never a production model to be found. But...
I'm liking the sound of the wood gas, but the small steam engines are a good option too. For any of these projects based on old ICEs, we can get hold of motors very easily and cheaply -- Peru is full of imported Chinese motorbikes with 125cc or 250cc engines, mainly 2 stroke but some 4 stroke...
Great answers, guys, thanks a lot. Quite apart from the technical problems, you also highlight a serious extra issue: enough steam with enough pressure to make decent power is also apt to be extremely dangerous, so any system of this kind is probably just too risky to install for unsupervised...
You're right, I should just get my hands dirty and rig one together, see whether it's got legs. We're using small hydro to great effect in a similar project in the highlands, but these jungle rivers are very very slow -- centimeters drop per linear kilometer, flow speed maybe 1kph. It's really a...
Putting an oil pump and filter into the system doesn't seem like a deal breaker, and getting a supply of oil to the system has got to be easier than oil plus fuel for an ICE; but an unstartable list of other problems is more worrying.
I am involved in a project taking place among small communities in rural Peru, mainly in rainforest areas. Population density is low, there is no road infrastructure, and development levels range from third world towns to uncontacted tribes. Power is a major problem. Solar is expensive and not...
I need a supplier for a sheet of aluminized film (PET?) about 100m square (ie 10,000sq.m). Any ideas for a manufacturer? I'm based in the UK.
Thanks a lot
I need a supplier for a sheet of aluminized film (PET?) about 100m square (ie 10,000sq.m). Any ideas for a manufacturer? I'm based in the UK.
Thanks a lot
I need a supplier for a sheet of aluminized film (PET?) about 100m square (ie 10,000sq.m). Any ideas for a manufacturer? I'm based in the UK.
Thanks a lot
