This post is an update about the projects that we at Operation Mustard Seed have been developing.
Throughout the last several months we’ve researched stirling engine design. A stirling engine has the capability of producing mechanical or electric power from a variety of heat energy sources, such as biofuels, solar thermal, and geothermal energy.
Additional advantages of using a stirling engine instead of the more traditional steam turbine are fewer parts, reduced maintenance, a quieter operation, and perhaps mostly important: higher efficiency. The challenges include designing a practical regenerator (which is an essential component to a stirling engine), advanced design for high-pressure hydrogen, and expensive and complex components.
Due to the complexity of these challenges, we’ve decided that the stirling engine is not a good sustainability technology for OMS to pursue at this time. It seems that any advancements in technology which enable a practical stirling engine could just as well be applied to other designs, including the steam turbine. However, the knowledge we have gained from this pursuit feeds directly into our current efforts to launch the next big OMS project. Stay tuned! Information will be posted to this blog first!