Engineering Projects/Engines/Howard Community College/Fall2011/501 HEMI

Problem Statement
The Stirling engine is an external combustion engine. In our project, we will find a way to make it generate enough power to move a grain of sand 1cm from it's original location.


 * Example of Stirling Engine Motor

Team Members

 * ARoberts
 * Cdiffendal
 * Joon Kim

Summary
Every kind of automobile today is run by a horse. But, this is the general term for what it really is. All cars today run off of an internal combustion engine. This means that the all processes are done within its environment. The heat that runs the pistons is made from within. A horse works in a similar way, except one. It is an external combustion engine. The main difference is, simply, that the heat is applied externally in the cycle. In our project, we have a model of a horse. We will use an open flame as our heat source. This will heat the air trapped inside the cylinder to a pressure strong enough to move the grain of sand and encourage movement.

Decision List

 * We have decided that we can only use air as the gas inside the cylinder. Also we wanted to put the engine on axles with wheels and find a way for it to propel self once a candle is added to provide the energy.
 * As of week three we decided to scrap using the store bought Engine and create our own. Each team mate is to go and build their own designed engine and compare during week four.

Material List

 * 1. Stirling Engine model


 * 2. Tool Kit


 * 3. Heat source, preferably open flame.

If building your own Engine:


 * Tin cans
 * Wire coat hangers
 * Tape
 * Glue
 * Styrofoam
 * Specific tools like pliers (slip joint and needle nose pliers are good) a razor blade to shape styrofoam and wire cutters to cut the coat hanger
 * Metal snips to cut the can or a hack saw. id snips are available they are much easier to use.
 * Aluminum foil

Software List
We didn't use any soft ware during the project, we used was the internet to do a little research and document our activities on wikiversity other than that we did this thing the old fashioned way by playing around with an already existing Stirling Engine and then going off to build our own engines.

Time
Our time frame was four weeks, due to a lack of communication and not knowing a clear direction to take our project in was a serious disruption on our time frame. None of the three of us have created a successful Stirling Engine in the time frame but we would like to continue to find a successful design to use.

Next Steps

 * Step 1- find a suitable direction to take the project in. Don't play around with unpractical ideas for your team to complete.
 * Step 2- If building a home made Stirling Engine, they can be build for practically nothing. Common items found around the house can be used to make one such as tin cans, wire coat hangers, tape, styrofoam and common tools like pliers, scissors, and glue.
 * Step 3- Make sure communication between team mates is at a maximum or else the project will fall apart and documentation will suffer, and ultimately your grade suffers.

Tutorials
We don't have any tutorials for this project other than we watched a bunch of youtube videos and mashed together a bunch of designs that we thought could work.