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Morris Dovey

J T (in ) said:

| Hi ya Morris. Thenks for the link. LMAO Not entirely certain
| you're on the right path, but what the heck, few of us are. I tak
| it you want a "solar pump" type of thing. Somewhere I have seen an
| article on a solar type pump, supposedly steam powered. I've got
| the article around somewhere, don't even dream I can find it, or
| weould ven look. I don't remember details, but I guess the system
| works, used for irrigation, somewhere in the mid-east if I recall
| right. The reflectors seemed similar to what you're doing, but more
| of 'em. Of course, that could be because the system was so much
| larger. Didn't pump a huge amount of water, but steady - as long
| as the sun ines. The reflector(s) also had a plastic, or glass,
| cover. Dunno what a DAGS would turn up, it just popped up in my
| mind, so may, or not, try one.

Yup - followed your link and the links on the web page. The problem
with the usual stirling engine (power piston and displacer piston
connected to a common crank 90 degrees apart) is that they require
costly machining and/or aren't readily scalable to produce really
useful amounts of power. Building a tin can engine to operate in the
kW power range looks pretty iffy.

The object is to work out a design that can be built inexpensively,
require no fuel or electricity, will run reliably over a long period
of time with little or no maintenance, and deliver at least 2hp.
Scalability (the ability to do more work with a larger version of the
same design) would be a major plus. I'm trying to design the pump so
that anyone who can cement two pieces of PVC pipe together can build
one for themselves.

The trough shouldn't require much in the way of woodworking skill to
build; and the "plumbing" between the trough and the stirling isn't
critical (and doesn't even need to be leakproof.)

I don't know that I'm the right path, too; but it's the best I've been
able to manage so far. I had some ideas last night for an
easy-to-build (hacksaw only) multi-stage regenerator that might (or
might not) make this design a lot more efficient by capturing a part
of the heat used in each cycle and recycling it for use in powering
the next cycle. It's one of those "why didn't I see this from the
beginning?" kinds of things...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto