Question Aboput Stirling engines

[amigocabal]

As I understand it, Stirling engines operate by the temperature of the gas- the hotter it is, the faster the engine runs. Would not placing a thermal; insulator over the radiator, thus preventing the heat from escaping, cause the temperature to rise and the engine to go faster, without having to burn extra fuel for the heat source?

[Borgholio]

Well not so much the hotter the better, it's based on temperature difference. So one side can be room temperature and the other can be ice-cold, and that'd still drive the engine.

[amigocabal]

Well not so much the hotter the better, it's based on temperature difference. So one side can be room temperature and the other can be ice-cold, and that'd still drive the engine.

So that means placing a block of dry ice at the compression cylinder could cause the engine to run faster as it would absorb more heat than air (assuming that air had been used to cool the compression cylinder.)

[Borgholio]

Pretty much. It's based on temperature gradients...so the greater the gradient, the faster the engine can move. They have small toy engines that you place over a cup of a hot coffee, or a cup of ice water, and the gradient between what's in the cup and the room temperature air is enough to get the thing to run at a decent clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7nLOEsqj8