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Stirling Motor

Lab Journal

o 13th December, 2021 (1 hour)

I watched the tutorial videos of making the Stirling Motor which were
provided in the course. I listed the materials and tools needed to make
the motor.
o 14th December, 2021 (2 hours)
I bought the materials which I could find in the market. Some of the
materials were unavailable, like epoxy resin, steel wool and fishing wire,
which I proceeded to order online.
o 15th December, 2021 (2 hours)
I started making the motor by cutting the top of the first can which was
to be placed in the bottom part of the motor. I also rolled up the steel
wool by placing a straw in the middle as shown in the video. I then made
the steel wool holder and inserted it inside the wool with the help of
straw.
o 16th December, 2021 (3 hours)
I connected the fishing wire to the steel wool holder. I didn’t have a tuna
can so I used a cheese tin instead for the water tank. I made a hole in
the bottom according to the size of the can. I used some epoxy resin to
make sure it stuck to the can. I cut the lower part of the balloon and
fixed a screw according to the video. I placed the steel wool inside the
can and placed the balloon on top of the can using rubber bands in such
a way that the fishing wire was placed through the balloon.
o 17th December, 2021 (1 .5 hours)
I used a ply to shape the wire to make a crank shaft. It took me a few
tries to make the perfect shape. I then proceeded to connect the screws.
And inserting the connectors in the crank shaft. I made an oval shape on
a piece of paper and pinned it onto the other can which was to be
placed on top. With the help of the paper I made an oval shape hole in
the can and two small holes opposite to each other for placing the crank
shaft.
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o 20th December, 2021 (40 mins)

I placed the crankshaft in the top can. I used a tin lid for the flywheel. I
made a small whole just enough to fit the crank shaft wire in the fly
wheel and placed it. I used connectors to keep the flywheel in place.
o 21st December, 2021 (40 mins)
I connected the fishing wire and steel wire with the crankshaft. I used a
bigger tin can and made cuts in the bottom part as shown in the video to
place the tealight candle. I placed my motor on top of this tin can and lit
the tealight candles. I filled the water tank with water and waited for a
few seconds. The fly wheel wouldn’t move after giving it a push. I waited
for longer but it still wouldn’t rotate on its own.
o 22nd December, 2021 (1 hours)
At first I thought the problem was in the balloon and so I took a brand
new balloon and tried to make the hole as precisely as possible, I added
the screws and placed it on the can with the help of rubber bands.
Again, I lit candles below the motor and filled the water tank, the motor
still wouldn’t rotate after me giving it a push.
o 23rd December, 2021 (1.5 hours)
I made a new crank shaft. I tried to make the lines straighter and as
equal to each other as I could. But the motor still wouldn’t work. I also
tried to make it work by lighting up multiple candles under the motor to
provide it with more heat, but the motor wouldn’t move.
I was unable to figure out what I was doing wrong, so I decided to make
the motor again from scratch and give it another try.
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o 26th December,2021 (2.5 hours)

I decided to watch a DIY (do it yourself) video of a Stirling motor. In this
video the motor was made using simple materials which one could find
even at home. I already had all the materials which I needed so I
proceeded to start. I took a new soda can and cut the top lid of the can. I
took a matchstick, removed the sparking end and wrapped fishing wire
around it. I placed it on the steel wool and wrapped it around the
matchstick in such a way that the fishing wire was coming out of the
steel wool perpendicularly, as needed.
o 27th December,2021 (2 hours)
I made two small circular cut out from a card board. I cut the bottom
part of the balloon and placed one cardboard cut-out inside the balloon,
in the centre. I held it tightly and stuck the second piece of cardboard on
top of the one inside. I waited for the glue to dry. Then, I reversed the
balloon so the pasted cardboard was inside the balloon and pasted the
loose cardboard on top of it. I made a small hole just to fit the fishing
wire through it. I wrapped the balloon on top of the soda can.
o 28th December,2021 (3 hours)
I made a crank shaft using a ply to get the shape. I used ice cream sticks
to connect the crank shaft and the balloon. I connected the fishing wire
to the middle of the crankshaft. I also wrapped a thick rode around the
top of the soda can using a hanger and connected it to the edges of the
crankshaft. I used connectors to make it stay in place. I used a beer can
to make a water tank. I removed the upper part of the can and used the
lower part. I made a hole to fit my soda can.
o 29th December,2021 (2 hours)
I made two circular cut outs out of a cardboard to make the fly wheel. I
pasted them together and made a hole in the centre of the circle for the
crankshaft wire to fit. I again, used a connector to keep it in place. I
wrapped wires around the lower part of the soda can to make a stand
and placed it on a piece of wood. I placed two lit up tealights under the
motor and added water in the water tank. I waited for a few seconds
and gave the flywheel a push. The motor wouldn’t start rotating on its
own.
o 30th December,2021 (2.5 hours)
I changed the balloon and placed a new one with the cardboards stuck
to it on both sides. I adjusted the connections between the crankshaft
and the displacer. I placed the lit up candles again under the motor and
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filled the tank with water. I waited for a few seconds. I gave it a push
and the wheel started moving but very slowly. I noticed that the air was
heating up inside the soda can and also releasing the air out of the
balloon when I moved the flywheel manually. Unfortunately I couldn’t
detect any other problem as to why my Stirling motor wouldn’t work as
show in the videos. It would only work very slowly and for a few seconds
only.

PROBLEM SOLITION
Making the crank shaft It was difficult to bend the wire to make the crank shaft in the
exact shape. I had to use multiple wires and made multiple tries
to get the exact shape as shown in the video.
Making the mixture of At first I followed the instructions given on the label and mixed
epoxy resin the two parts by measuring. I applied it to completely stick the
water tank to the soda can but the epoxy resin kept dripping. I
has to bake it in the oven for some time and mix it thoroughly for
quite a while to get a thick mixture, which I could use.
Placement of the displacer Initially I placed the displacer right at the bottom of the soda can
but the motor was not working. I did some research and found
out that it should be placed somewhat in the middle of the can,
so that there is some air in the bottom of the can to get heated
up.

Question Section

• Ques : Working of Stirling motor

Ans : the basic principle of a working Stirling motor is creating
temperature difference, the cylinder has one part hot and the
other cold. A fixed amount of gas, typically air, is trapped
inside the cylinder. The space below the displacer (steel wool)
is continuously heated with the help of a heat source and the
water tank above the displacer makes the top part of the
cylinder cool down. the air below the displacer is heated which
makes it expand (i.e., pressure increases) which results in the
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displacer moving upwards. When the displacer is near the

bottom of the cylinder, the air inside the cylinder cools,
because of which the pressure drops. Resulting in the displacer
moving downwards and compressing the gas. Thus converting
thermal energy into mechanical energy.

• Ques : Processed that take place in a Stirling cycle

Ans :
1. Isothermal expansion - the gas (air) is maintained
at a constant high temperature. This air undergoes
isothermal expansion by absorbing heat from the
heat source.
2. Heat removal - the gas is transferred to the top part
of the cylinder, where the water tank is placed.
Resulting in cooling of the air.
3. Isothermal compression – the air is maintained at a
constant low temperature, the gas undergoes
isothermal compression refusing heat to the cold
area.
4. Head addition - the gas transferers to the lower part
of the cylinder where it recovers most of the heat
transfer, leading to heating up again to the
expansion space.

• Ques : Functions of the following parts of motor

Ans :
1. Steel wool – the cylinder consists of two parts : one
part hot and the other cold. The steel wool acts as
an external heat exchanger, it provides a large
surface area for the transfer of gas from one part of
the cylinder to the other (i.e., from hot to cold and
vice-versa)
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2. Crank shaft – it is the shaft which transfers the

mechanical work from the piston to the flywheel. It
converts the reciprocative motion of the piston to
rotational motion. It contains the counter weights to
make the engine revolutions smooth.
3. Tea lights – they are the heat source which provides
the heat to make the walls on the bottom of the
cylinder hot, resulting in expansion of gas which
causes movement in the piston.
4. Water – it is used to cool the call of the walls on the
top of the cylinder which cools the gas inside the
cylinder for re-use.
5. Balloon – when the displacer is at the top of the
cylinder, most of the air is at the bottom where it is
heated which causes the air to expand. The
expansion of air pushes the balloon outwards, which
turns the crank shaft. When the crankshaft turns it
allows the displacer to move downwards.
6. Lower soda can – it is where the process of heating
and cooling (compression and expansion) the gas
takes place which in turn results in the movement of
the piston, and rotating the crank shaft, thus the
flywheel starts moving and the engine works.

• Ques : why are Stirling motors not used widely? Advantages and
disadvantages of Stirling motor.
Ans : it takes time for the gas to heat up inside the Stirling
motor which makes them less convenient hence they are not useful
for applications which need to change their power output levels fast.

Advantages – they produce low level of noise and vibrations. It

is easy to maintain. They offer better performance compared to
internal combustion engines.
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Disadvantaged – there is a high economic cost of engine. They

have a slow start. They also lack flexibility, i.e., quick variation of
power is not easily obtained.

Graph of an idealized Stirling cycle :

Personal note: Dear sir, I would like to sincerely apologise for

the presence of my dog in my Stirling motor video. I tried to
shoot my video multiple times but it was either him coming in
the video or barking from behind. I kindly request you to
overlook his interruptions. Thank you for your understanding.