Vegetable oil stirling engine

Building a vegetable oil stirling engine helps to demonstrate different scientific properties:

• Expansion and condensation of the air under the influence heat
• Principle of operation of a piston
• Conversion of thermal energy into motion
• Use of a bio-fuel

This project shows a simple prototype of a stirling engine. It operates in a similar way than a steam engine but with air instead of water. This technology is known for a long time but has never really been used on a large scale even though theoretically it has a good energy efficiency.

This project is also an opportunity to introduce the controversial bio-fuels topic and explain the current limitations of this solution.