Minto Wheel Idea...

[Paul]

The thermal gradient is an interesting theory and may be the "trick". I would like to ask whether you are absolutely sure of this fact: if I include also the weight of the liquid which must be moved (pumped) in the transfer (pumping) system, do I not obtain an advantage ? I ask you this on the basis of the working difference between Oxygon's idea and mine. Thanks

Paul

[ovyyus]

Paul, I am absolutely certain of surprisingly little.

[ken_behrendt]

Bill...

I tend to agree with Jim on this matter of Bessler's wheels possibly being powered by thermal gradients. I just do not think such a system could respond quickly enough to allow for the high rotation rates his wheels demonstrated.

In the past I toyed with the idea of making a wheel that would use bi-metallic strips of metal to shift the weights toward and away from the wheel's axle. The strips would respond to temperature differences between different parts of the wheel. The problem I realized was that such a system, if it could be made to work, would do so very slowly with its speed of motion critically limited by the time needed for the strips to heat up and cool off.


ken

[ovyyus]

Ken, response time in a heat engine is obviously determined by it's design. I don't understand how you can make any conclusions at all without knowing the design. One of the simplest heat engines imaginable is a pinwheel turning in a thermal updraft. By your above assumption it could only spin very slowly - but you'd be wrong.

[ken_behrendt]

Bill...

Yes, a pinwheel can be made to spin very rapidly. But, a pinwheel is made from very light material and the forces applied to it are not dependent upon shifting weights.

In the model of the overbalancing wheel I had, the weights were mounted on rods and could slide toward and away from the wheel's axle. The weights were further spring loaded and the springs wanted to push them out toward the wheel's rim. Opposing this motion were the bi-metallic strips (two per weight) which, when heated and expanded, would push the weights back toward the wheel's axle.

Heating the strips on the wheel's ascending side would, slowly, push the weights back toward the axle and, thus, overbalance the wheel in favor of the other side and some rotation would take place.

However, when wheel rotation became too great, the strips on the descending side would not cool off fast enough so that the weights there would move out toward the rim of the wheel again. As a result, the device would have a very low terminal rotational velocity. Making the strips narrower helped a bit, but, if made too small, they would not effectively shift the weights axleward on the ascending side. I considered various strip designs and methods to more rapidly cool the strips on the descending side, but nothing seemed that effective.

I'm sure that there are now many similar devices out there in inventorland that are all using a temperature differential between their parts to achieve continuous rotation. But, I suspect that none of them is really rotating all that rapidly.

One of the things I've always admired about Bessler's wheels is the rapid rates of rotation he was able to achieve and maintain with them.



ken