Development of a solid engine for renewable energy

• Main Author: Chan, Christopher Guang Peng
• Other Authors: Liu Yong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Alternative, renewable energy sources
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53960
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

SMA is one of the means of harnessing renewable sources of heat energy and converting it to mechanical work. A SMA heat engine was built to attempt to uncover the potential following a dearth of interest and research in this field despite increasing qualitative properties of modern SMA alloys. The engine is an open loop design cycle that is ideal for producing purely mechanical work. It harnesses widely available rainwater in the tropical region as the means of heat transfer to and fro the SMA wire and loses it thereafter. Its heat source can be derived from solar, geothermal or waste heat. A purely mechanical alternative valve was created to cycle cold and hot water onto the SMA. Its work production in such a design is estimated at 2.242J/g of SMA with the possibility of scaling.