Ivo Kolin

Animation of the Low Temperature Difference Stirling engine

Ivo Kolin (1924, Zagreb - 2007, Zagreb) was a Croatian economist, engineer and inventor.[1]

After years of experimentation he demonstrated in 1983 the first Low Temperature Difference (LTD) Stirling engine which ran at the temperature difference as low as 15 °C, astonishingly low at the time.[2] It was also the first time in history of piston motors heat was turned into a mechanical work at the temperature lower than the boiling water.[citation needed][3] The engine was later significantly improved by an American engineer James Senft building on his previous work with Ringbom Stirling engines.[i][5] Senft created an ultra LTD Ringbom Stirling engine which ran at the temperature difference of just 0.5 °C.[6][7] Such engines, which could even run from heat absorbed while resting on the palm of a human hand, offer many applications, such as Solar Powered Stirling Engines.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ The Ringbom Stirling engine was patented in 1904 by the Finn Ossian Ringbom.[4]

References

  1. ^ Biography at ivokolin.com Archived 2014-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Hind El Hassani; N. Boutammachte; M. Hannaoui (2014). "Study of some power influencing parameters of solar low temperature Stirling engine". European Journal of Sustainable Development. 3 (2): 109–118. doi:10.14207/ejsd.2014.v3n2p109.
  3. ^ G. Aragon-González; M. Cano-Blanco; M. Cano-Blanco; A. León-Galicia (2013). "Developing and testing low cost LTD Stirling engines". Revista Mexicana de Física S. 59 (1): 199–203.
  4. ^ US 856102, Ossian Ringbom, "Hot-air engine", issued 4 June 1907 
  5. ^ Hind El Hassani; N. Boutammachte; J. Knorr; M. El. Hannoui (2013). "Study of a low-temperature Stirling engine driven by a rhombic drive mechanism". International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering. 4: 40. doi:10.1186/2251-6832-4-40. S2CID 110131012.
  6. ^ Caleb C. Lloyd (2009). "A low temperature differential Stirling engine for power generation" (PDF). A master's thesis, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
  7. ^ "Kontax Stirling & Stove Fan Engines - Stirling History". stirlingengine.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  8. ^ B. Kongtragool; S. Wongwises (2003). "A review of solar-powered Stirling engines and low temperature differential Stirling engines". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 7 (2): 131–154. doi:10.1016/S1364-0321(02)00053-9.