User:Cdiffendal7527/enes100/HEMI

Link to HEMI

The stiriling engine needs to propel itself
For our project on the stirling engine, we want to put the engine on a set of wheels and see if we can have the motor produce enough energy to propel itself. What we need to consider is how much the engine and the assembly that the egine sits on will weigh versus how much weight the engine can move.

Week1 Narrative
I began to play around with an already existing stirling engine to figure out its potential and how much energy it will take to make the engine run. I want to find a way to make the the stiriling engine in our class room more efficient and find out ho to make it power a set of wheels and drive on its own. a problem that I ran into was that the engine would not be powered by just a candles flame, I had to use a propane torch to heat up the compression chamber enough to make the gases expand with enough force to turn the wheel. I took the engine apart and found there was a serious lack of lubrication on all metal to metal contact points, which are the surface to surface points on the engine. Now the engine operates smoothly.

The Engine needs to run off candle power
I plan to find out why the engine wont reach the estimated 3000 rpms on candle power as in the this video.

Compare actual work done to Task2
Rationalize differences

Week2 Narrative
After looking around the internet I found nothing on other Stirling Engines that was different to ours. The crank shaft arms are positioned at 90 degrees from each other and every friction point on the engine was sufficiently lubed using motor oil. So my team mates and I went on with trying to find out why the engine would not reach its maximum potential using a candle flame. I pulled the crank arms away from each other on the shaft then re-tightened them, this reduced the friction on them but not enough to allow the candle to power the engine. I had to revert to the propane torch to provide more heat. Consequently the torch heated the entire engine to much and didn't allow the cylinder that should be cool to stay cool thus slowing down the performance of the motor. Also the displacer separated form the puch rod causing the engine to lock up. I simply replaced the whole displacer and push rod assembly with a new one from another engine. This allowed the candle to power the engine but its RPMs were still very low.

Week2 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and 1sfoerster 13:32, 28 August 2011 (UTC) to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task3
I will figure out some idea to create a cooling system for the cylinder that is not in contact with the flame. Also I need to find out if a way to make the system as light as possible so the engine can still propel itself when it is put on its wheels.

Compare actual work done to Task3
I decided to scrap the idea of playing around with a pre-made engine that just wont work right and build my own Stirling Engine.

Week3 Narrative
I started the week off by trying to get the engine to run off candle power but just like the previous two weeks I was hopelessly attempting to get the make the motor work, in the end I thought enough was enough and I began to build my own Stirling Engine. I ended up just using everyday things found around the house. Things like tin cans, styrofoam, duct tape, aluminum foil and something not common around most houses, TIG welding rods. I used the TIG rods because the are about the same weight as wire coat hangers but they are many times stronger and more sturdy. I made a compression cylinder out of a tin food can, then I made displacers out of styrofoam and the push rods and crank shaft are made from the TIG welding rods. The foam had too much friction against the inside of the tin can so I covered the foam in aluminum foil to create less friction and make a better seal against the walls of the can. After adding the foil, the operation of the Stirling Engine was very smooth and required less energy for everything to move which will be good when using low heat as my power source. I still have yet to attach the crank shaft to the push rods and operate the motor, that will be saved for a new week.

Week3 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and 1sfoerster 13:33, 28 August 2011 (UTC) to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task4
I am going to attach the crank shaft and see if I can make my own home made engine run off candle power.

Compare actual work done to Task4
I found that the engine I made was not air tight where the power piston is so attaching the crank shaft would have been pointless because no power would be made.

Week4 Narrative
Upload photos to wikimedia. Upload video to youtube. Convert all spreadsheets, documents, and presentations to wiki format and create wiki subpage of your page for each of them. Link to them here in a narrative that tells a story. High light the problems (engineering problems) you had and how you solved them.

Week4 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and 1sfoerster 13:33, 28 August 2011 (UTC) to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Complete Project Page
Follow the "project done" format.