Kamen- using a Stirling engine in a electric car

[J-man]

Hi everyone,

I have checked out this web site a few times over the years (as I find the Bessler story quite compelling) and decided to drop in to share about something I just learned about today, with this 'online community'. You guys seem like pretty tech savvy and inquisitive people.

Many of you may be familiar with Dean Kamen, an inventor from New Hampshire, who is in held in high esteem for his contributions to medical science which include the iBot ( a wheelchair that 'walks' up stairs) and also for his development of the Segway, a self balancing scooter.

Another project, which he has devoted much of his efforts towards, over the past decade, has been in perfecting the 'Stirling engine'. This invention, has been around for many years now and I notice it has been discussed a few times on this forum.

Years ago, you may remember there was a media frenzy, as speculation ran high over what Dean Kamen's soon-to-be unveiled invention was to be (which turned out to be the Segway). During this time, many people who had engaged in internet discussion forums that focussed on Dean Kamen's work, had predicted that his next invention would involve some sort of transportation device that would be powered partly by a Stirling engine.

Today, I learned that Kamen is working together with the CEO of THINK corporation on a project which would incorporate his Stirling engine into an electric car. I believe that the Stirling engine, which has the ability to run on many different fuel sources, would be a perfect match for an electric car. This is due to the flexibility of fuel sources that can be used to power it, and the fact that it could provide trickle cell power to an battery on an electric car, thus significantly increasing its range.

Here's an article which describes the collaboration between THINK corporation and Kamen in more detail :

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business ... 2007073110


After reading the piece, I have the following questions about Kamen's collaboration with the THINK group :

- I wonder whether this means that Kamen has now perfected his Stirling engine or whether it is still 'in development'

- I'm intrigued by the article's suggestion that a Stirling engine could represent a portable generator. Kamen envisions a day when people could plug their Stirling outfitted cars into electric outlets in the parking lot at their jobs, and then could actually upload some of the power from their car battery to the electric grid of the office building during peak usage hours. Then later on during 'off hours', they could obtain power back from the grid.

- These are interesting concepts and I'm wondering what thoughts you may have on Kamen's most recent work

J-man

[evgwheel]

Welcome to the forum J-man

The Sterling engine is most likely one of those power sources that every (most) of the members have toyed with. It is often the first project in mechanical engineering classes. I am sure that you will get some responses to your post. Although not as ambitious as Free energy, it is a close runner up, and for energy used very efficient. EVG