The Forestry Forum

A "Vulcan" fan arrived last week from UK. Total cost ~$220.

Seems made to work for a long time, and does it work! Once its hot side gets up to about 500 F, you can use it as a hair-dryer. Really moves the hot air along.

Mfg seems to need to expand production capacity, to more closely meet demand.

I've tried Seebeck-effect (Caframo Ecofan) unit, and the Stirling engined Vulcan is waaaay more powerful. And it can be gotten to run once its hot side gets to ~210 F. Once that gets to ~600 F, you'd better batten down loose papers in the area. Not limited in operating temp (like the Ecofan which can roast its electric motor) so you can just set it in place, spin it and forget it.

This thing is gonna really help for getting house up to temp quickly, not to mention improve output efficiency of stove system. Fun to watch the moving parts: power piston, displacer, etc. Nationally, such engines could turn lots of waste heat into useful energy.

I've always found the Stirling cycle engines to be fascinating.  Equally fascinating is why they are used so little?

My family has a cabin that needs something like this, besides the Caframo Ecofan did you try any others on the market?

Clark

Hi, Clark.

Just tried the one Stirling, the "Vulcan" from Gloucester UK, and an "Ecofan" so far.

The Ecofan seems to be susceptible to motor "stiction" from the fan getting bumped around in shipment. So, its performance has been very erratic and feeble. Awaiting replacement from Caframo.

I've heard of some other Stirlings, that used plastic bushings. Not a good idea, IMHO, for a heat engine that can get really hot. The Vulcan has nothing such- all ball bearings, and you CANNOT apply any lubricant anywhere on it, else things will bind up. So far it seems like a pretty powerful little SOB, a keeper. Once its hot side gets up to 100 deg C, it can be started- Stirlings are not self-starting.

One of the drawbacks of the Vulcan is that Gyroscopes dot com can't seem to build enough. That's partly why I got the Ecofan. That Ecofan could be for sale real soon.

We could and should be using such engines in applications where there's much heat being tossed. Like nuke and gas-turbine power stations. We need more scientists & engineers.