Etalim, a Vancouver-based company, has designed this unique prototype of an engine that could generate electricity with the greater efficiency of a fuel cell, but costs much less – like an internal combustion engine. Roughly the size of a basketball, the engine is intended to reach efficiency in excess of 40% at 700 degrees centigrade (compared to 25% efficiency of standard engines), thus accentuating upon the economics of electricity production. Based upon some principles of the Stirling engine, which involves the cyclic compression and expansion of gases, this engine ultimately turns heat into mechanical energy.
But here comes the exclusive feature of this advanced engine – its design makes use of Thermoacoustics – which employs heat to control the intensity of sound waves within a sealed cavity. Ingeniously formulated by the Etalim’s founder and chief scientist Thomas Steiner, the concept substantially eliminates the wear and tear associated with Stirling engines, thus providing enhanced efficiency.
Embedded within the core of Etalim’s engine is a plate of metal, replacing the piston. When pressurized helium at the top of the metal plate is heated, sound waves traveling through the gas are amplified, compelling the plate to vibrate, and causing a metal diaphragm below (separated by a cooler layer of helium) to push down on a shaft, and hence mechanical friction is totally negated.
The company aims to manufacture this innovative engine for a rate of less than $1 per watt, and has a long-term target of 15 cents per watt, which would make it much less expensive than a comparable internal combustion engine.
Via: TechnologyReview
