[Question] On that note, one of your current projects is using a small Stirling engine to produce electricity and purify water. Engineers have long been mesmerized by the Stirling's theoretical efficiency, but frustrated by their failure to realize that efficiency while managing issues of size, control, and cost. What are DEKA's plans for the Stirling?
[Answer] I have had a life-long fascination with Stirling engines and with thermodynamics generally. But as you say, the Stirling has been fascinating scientists and engineers for well over 100 years, yet it has never been a competitive solution to most problems versus other kinds of heat engines out there, like steam engines, internal combustion engines, and gas turbines. Stirling engines are big relative to their energy density, expensive, hard to manufacture, etc. In short, they cannot compete with the power generators that are already a part of the infrastructure in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. However, there are a lot of places in the developing world that are waiting, and will continue to wait, for a top-down approach to provide power. But there is no infrastructure in place, and it will probably take 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, or longer before centralized power and electricity will be available in these places--if it ever happens--for reasons that have nothing to do with engineering or technology. The obstacles are social, financial, and political, but they are not technological. Our goal is to use a bottom-up approach to instantly get people on to the ladder of technology, beginning with getting them electricity in their homes and villages. This enables them to take care of their basic needs, attain a better quality of life, and start creating wealth. We defined the problem: they need a generator that runs on any fuel, is very reliable and essentially maintenance free, is able to generate sufficient power for a small village, and is small enough so that a couple of people can carry it around. If we had an engine that could do all that, it would be a big deal. We realized that in developing world environments, the Stirling, despite a number of problems that had to be solved with it, could really be the core of a bottom-up way to build distributed point-of-use power generation throughout the world. It was as much an insight into the practical realities of the situation as it was about the second law of thermodynamics....
What generally comes first, the solution or the problem? That is, do you typically start with a solution and then try to find a problem, or start with a problem and then try to find a solution?
The answer is "yes." We are surrounded by important problems that need solving. For example, we live in a world that continues to sink into this "have and have not" dilemma. The environment is under assault in a variety of ways. More than a billion people are without access to electricity or drinkable water. You mix your judgment and experience and imagination with awareness of these types of problems, and you get a kind of serendipitous soup from which problems are matched to solutions. This does not occur in a linear way, where you say, "aha, here is the problem...aha, here is the solution." You start with a vague understanding of a problem and a vague understanding of a technology. You think about it, talk about it, try some things, build a prototype or two, and get smarter. Occasionally, things coalesce into a match. If the match turns out to be a prince and a princess, the world is a better place.
