Dean Kamen's Stirling Solution

Green Wombat ^ | 8/2/2007 | Todd Woody

[eraser2005]

In a world of Stepford executives who never deviate from the corporate party line, there's something refreshing about an entrepreneur willing to take a tumble - literally - for his latest innovation. In uber-inventor Dean Kamen's case that meant crashing his Stirling electric hybrid scooter in front of Green Wombat and a photographer. In June, Green Wombat visited Westwind, Kamen's estate outside Manchester, New Hampshire, to talk to the Segway inventor about his plans to install a Stirling heat engine in an electric car made by Norway's Think. (See "Have You Driven a Fjord Lately?" in the August issue of Business 2.0.) But first, Kamen wanted to demo the scooter (photo above) to show how a virtually greenhouse gas-free Stirling engine could extend the range of an electric vehicle by trickle-charging the battery. As he zooms down the driveway, the scooter goes sideways - its weight distribution needs some tweaking - sending the inventor flying into the grass. "Say you're in Bangladesh or anywhere in the world where people don’t have electricity," says Kamen, dusting himself off and not missing a beat. "You get home and you plug your house into it." He shows off power plugs behind the scooter's seat. "It’s your power system, it’s your heating system, it gives everybody electricity. When you leave in the morning, you drive away with your local power plant."

[eraser2005]

Very interesting - I'll believe it when I see it, but the efficiency of Stirlings is closer to 80%, compared to 20-25% for a standard gas engine.

I hope they succeed...

[eraser2005]

Alternative energy ping!

[duhneece]

I love it when people don’t follow the corporate line and can create their vision.

[dawn53]

Same Dean Kamen that invented the Segway, I assume. He also invented a wheelchair that literally climbs stairs, only problem is it’s so expensive not many people can afford it.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

He also invented the internal insulin pump, a portable dialysis machine, and dozens of others items used daily.

He is an inventor in the style of Edison, and will likely succeed where others have failed if his patents can be believed. A truly workable Stirling engine would revolutionize the world. (That word gets used way too often, but it’s true in this case)

[eraser2005]

One and the same....

[eraser2005]

“A truly workable Stirling engine would revolutionize the world.”

That’s putting it lightly. If you could replace all current US gasoline consumption with Stirling engines at 80% efficiency, you could displace massive amounts of fuel. How massive?

The US currently consumes about 1.4 billion liters of gasoline per day. The rest of the world combined consumes about 1.225 billion liters per day. Replacing just the US fleet would reduce consumption by over 1 billion liters per day.

In other words, you could reduce gasoline demand in the US by 75%, and worldwide demand by 40%.

I’m not saying it will happen, or anytime soon... but that is the theoretical magnitude of the shift...

[Paladin2]

The Segway was just slightly over hyped.

[alrea]

Kaman also has some systems that can produce clean water from mud or polluted water.

[CutePuppy]

I was excited by Stirling engine part of the Segway (expensive gyros left me cold, though cuteness of that was an actual selling point of Segway/Ginger) when Kamen came out with it.

Later I found why it's not the answer to our energy problems, and it is the "Law of Small Numbers" and Scalability. The problem with Stirling engine is that it's very far from 80% efficient, more likely closer to average of about 33%, and it's very difficult and expensive to adapt for work with larger devices, i.e. not very scalable.

That (and the expense) may be one of the reasons why Segway-HT/PT didn't capture much of the consumer market, mostly relying on government / military market. It is fascinating with small saucers and cups of water in school lab experiments, though.

[Constantine XIII]

Haha, that is sneaky.

[upchuck]

Dean Kamen also heads FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Wonderful organization.

[UCANSEE2]

It doesn’t have to be very big to run a trickle charger.

If it is at all any more efficient than coal burning plants running electrical generators through countless miles of wiring , mostly at 15,5Kv, then being dropped down to 120v (the pole transformer is another energy loss device, lots of heat given off, and wasted), then it will help.

[UCANSEE2]

P.S.

Mount a sterling engine on your telephone pole next to the transformer and the waste heat from the transformer will run your sterling engine, creating your POWER TO TRICKLE CHARGE the batteries in an electric car, FOR FREE ! ! ! ! ! !

[CutePuppy]

Here is a recent thread on electrics and hybrid-plugins, there is quite a lot of competition in this area: Trybrids? What is this world coming to?

More on Segway:

Thanks to Segway Personal Transporter or PT (formerly called the Human Transporter or HT), being a highly advanced bipedal primate has gotten a lot easier! Similar in appearance to an old-fashioned lawnmower, the battery-powered PT is anything but old-fashioned. Using http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1872804/posts?computer processors that mimic human equilibrium, the PT moves forward when the standing rider leans forward; a backward lean sends the PT in reverse. The PT has a range of 24 miles on a single charge. It is designed for congested urban areas and various commercial uses, as well as policing. Inventor Dean Kamen founded the company in 1999.

Segway's x2 Adventure model features all-terrain tires and is intended for off-sidewalk use. Another model, x2 Golf, is designed to be used as an alternative to a golf cart.

In addition, Segway has unveiled a concept vehicle that could be seen as human transport evolution in reverse -- from two wheels to four. The company's Centaur, which is not yet for sale, can be operated on four or two wheels and can carry a passenger behind the operator.

In 2006 Segway announced it was voluntarily recalling all 23,500 Personal Transporters sold to date because of a software bug that can cause the device to suddenly go in reverse. Several cases have been reported of people falling, and in some instances, being hurt.

For fiscal year 2006 estimated sales were $9.4 mil.
Segway LLC is located in Bedford, New Hampshire, employing approximately 120 people.

Link to Segway-x2-Golf (MSRP $5,999) - The x2 Golf: fairway-friendly

Kamen's own company, DEKA Research (abbreviation for DEan KAmen):

DEKA Research and Development is perhaps best known for its founder and president Dean Kamen - and for the Segway Human Transporter the company developed. DEKA develops technologies and products that improve quality of life in some way. Most of the company's products are medical devices such as a portable dialysis machine and an improved intravascular stent. After making a splash with the Segway, DEKA introduced IBOT, an all-terrain stair-climbing wheelchair the company developed with Independence Technology, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. DEKA was founded in 1982.

For fiscal year 2006 estimated sales were $18.6 mil.
DEKA Research and Development is located in Manchester, New Hampshire, employing approximately 200 people.

[CutePuppy]

Yep, quite a few of my neighbours would be also happy to do the same, FOR FREE. That's when waste stops being waste and market economics and scalability starts coming into play. :-)

[eraser2005]

Thanks for the info - do you have a source for the lower efficiency numbers?

I’ve seen quite a range, myself. The 80% number I’ve never seen reached unless hydrogen was the working fluid - but hydrogen is rarely the working fluid because of “little” problems like leaking and perceived fire hazards. Helium is a bit more friendly, but less efficient....

[CutePuppy]

Yes, 80% is a “theoretical peak efficiency”. The practical applications of this engine to achieve generally higher efficiency range require higher mass and expense and thus relegated to mostly niche uses where they may be economical over long period of time, such as converting collected trapped heat excess into energy or where quiet is more important than efficiency.

I’ve seen references to actual efficiency from about 20% to 36%. I myself came up with lower end of that range after talking to several Segway owners and doing quick calculations, and was disappointed in efficiency because to me that was a real selling point of Segway and Kamen’s demonstrations, not the gyros (which, for stability, could be easily replaced with a three/four- wheel design, such as has been done by ZAP). Needless to say that due to small numbers involved with Segway mileage and driving range, the small variances can give wide differences in range of efficiency.

Here are some references, there was also a program on The History Channel that discussed advantages and disadvantages:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/StirlingEngine/index.html

http://www.stirlingengine.com/faq/one?scope=public&faq_id=1

[CutePuppy]

Just ran across this; I don’t think it would be a popular thread by itself, but an interesting update on Segway:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/08/financial/f161626D82.DTL&type=printable
Segway scooter user group folds due to lack of interest
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
San Francisco (AP) —

The device that was supposed to revolutionize urban transportation seems unable to even hold on to a proper fan club.

The Segway Enthusiasts Group of America is disbanding because of inactivity and an absence of candidates for its board of directors, said the group’s treasurer, Fred Kaplan.

SEG America plans to cease operations at the end of this month. Other small fan groups for the Segway still exist, but SEG America was one of the more active organizations, sending out regular e-mails on various Segway-related gatherings.

.....

When the Segway debuted, executives at the exclusive preview predicted that it would have no trouble selling and that entire U.S. cities would eventually be designed to take advantage of its capabilities — which can move people at up to 12 mph.

Still, the Segway can be too pricey for even for personal electronics-hungry American consumers. The base model Segway PT i2 carries a suggested retail price of $5,145, and SEG America’s Kaplan says replacement batteries cost about $1,600 per pair.