Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Rotary Reciprocating Stirling

It goes round and round and up and down, and hopefully along.
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A single cylinder split into segments. Each segment is a piston with its own crank shaft at the top, which has a gear at the outside end that goes along a toothed track around the circumference of the top of the cylinder.

One thin strip of the cylinder wall is hot, the opposite side has a larger cold area, and the areas in between are conduct heat around the remaining wall area to act as a heat exchanger.

As the gas is each section is heated, the piston extends and the cylinder rotates. Heat is then removed by the exchanger wall and then by the cold wall, compressing the piston. Heat is then returned to the gas by the heat exchanger before the cylinder rotates back to the heating position again.

I think this would be more efficient if there were quite a few segments. With 8, the wall could be divided into Hot, HE1, HE2, HE3, Cold, HE3, HE2, HE1 where HE = heat exchanger, with both HE1 segments connected (HE1 would be the hottest and HE3 the coldest).

BTW, I think the Stirling category should be in Engine rather than car: engine as that is the worst application for a Stirling.

marklar, Mar 25 2010

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       I'm having a difficult time visualizing this. Can you draw it?
AutoMcDonough, Mar 26 2010
  

       First of all, picture it from the top - a circle divided into let's say 3 segments. There is a hot side and a cold side. When the segments rotate, they will heat and cool as they pass the hot and cold sides.   

       The heat will increase the pressure, so now picture each segment from the side as a piston. Each piston will be attached to a crank shaft like a normal engine, however, as the the pistons are not inline, they will each have their own shaft. These shafts will need to rotate the cylinders, so they will have a gear at the end.
marklar, Mar 29 2010
  

       I think I must have been drunk when I wrote this idea. I only vaguely remember it and the spelling is pretty bad. I may try to explain it more clearly and with a diagram or two when I have more time.   

       Yes, I know there's a comment by me a few days later. I guess I got drunk twice that week.
marklar, Oct 07 2010
  

       //I guess I got drunk twice that week.//   

       And maybe once this week?
Boomershine, Oct 07 2010
  
      
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