Tom Vales showed us a sterling engine, which he informed us was invented in 1860 by Robert Sterling as a substitute for steam engines. They were used as part of generators for power failure circuits. They are pretty consistent in efficiency, but if the water gets too low, the heat from the fire box causes the steam to what’s Vales referred to as a “flash boil” which then increases it dramatically in temp and pressure.
Vales also talked to us about Peltier junctions, which aren’t too successful, with an efficiency rate of only 20%. They were used in submarines to power fans, which were to be totally silent in submarines.
Vales showed us a steam engine that ran on just a candle which was quite interesting.
Here are a few of the inventions Vales brought to class and spoke to us about:
