Stirling engine
noun
A machine used to provide power or refrigeration, operating on a closed cycle in which a working fluid is cyclically compressed and expanded at different temperatures.Modern designs of Stirling engines have mechanical efficiencies over 20% which makes them the highest mechanical efficiency for small scale direct thermal conversion from a thermal source....
- Because the parts for the Stirling engine are fairly easy to machine, the materials are common, and fairly inexpensive, an assembly line type of production would be fairly easy and inexpensive to set up.
- It may be propelled by a Stirling engine, an age-old device which consumes little power and produces miniscule emissions, but which no-one has ever figured out how to mass produce cheaply.
Origin
Mid 19th century: named after Robert Stirling (see Stirling, Robert).