In an article titled "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy" published in the June 1900 Century Magazine, Nikola Tesla described a method for operating an engine by cold rather than heat. The real source of energy in such a case is of course the surrounding ambient (solar) heat in the atmosphere rather than the cold itself, nevertheless the idea of using a "cold hole" to run a heat engine remains.
There are various ways of creating a "cold hole" for the surrounding heat energy to flow into so that some of that energy can be extracted for use. There are a number of working examples of this to be seen. The Stirling Engine "running on ice" or The "drinking bird" running on the evaporative cooling from its cold wet beak, but can enough energy be derived by such means to be of any practical use?
Over the years I have drawn up a number of designs for Stirling type heat engines which may (or may not) be able to extract some energy by means of a "cold hole". Here are some examples:
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This is the simplest engine I could envision. It is simply a Stirling engine stripped down to nothing but it's displacer. By simply alternatively heating and cooling a volume of air in a chamber a continuous flow of compressed air can be generated.A basic principle of refrigeration is that when a gas is compressed it releases heat and when it is decompressed (or expanded) it produces cold. Being able to change a temperature difference into a pressure difference is the first step towards the realization of Tesla's idea.
Here is another more elaborate design:
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And another:
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But I would of course like to do more than just draw pictures. I would like to build some prototype engines starting with the most simple to the more complex and find out what does or doesn't work in actual practice. I would also like to share whatever I discover along the way and if possible make any working prototypes available. It is true of course that heat/energy cannot be created but existing heat can be moved, concentrated and directed by regenerating heat exchangers, heat pumps, compressors and so forth.
Any compression of air releases heat as seen in the case of the Fire Piston for starting campfires. If Cold can be used to compress air than more heat AND cold can be generated. Utilization of such principles could result in a more efficient heat engine. I would like to take this idea as far as possible.
I will be working on this project and sharing the results as I go along regardless, it is a passion of mine to demonstrate Tesla's idea in a practical way but building precision parts for any kind of prototype engine can get costly, this is where I could use some help to keep the research moving along at a more rapid pace.
I have been participating in several discussion forums about this for quite some time. If anyone would like more information regarding the theory behind this project:
or I can be contacted at the following email address:
thomas_a_booth@hotmail.com
or anyone can call me by phone at:
(518) 993-2074
