A Stove So Cool It's A Fridge

I was reading the October issue of Popular Science and found a very interesting article on page 32. A wood burning stove that produces not only a heat source for cooking, but some electricity and some ice, all in one unit from the same power source, which is the cooking flame.

It's called a SCORE stove, and seems to be a rather simple device.

The fire pressurizes air in a tube, and by using circulating water the other end of the tube gets cold. As the two extremes try to reach equal value, they meet in the middle of the tube where a sound is "made" by them that drives a wire coil in and out of a magnet cylinder, and creates electricity. And the water that is running over the cold end of the tube freezes and makes ice.

The article said that a prototype was expected in a couple of years, and would be cheap enough for third world sales.

Does anyone else have information on this, or a link that would show how it is built and works? I would love to get one of these puppies for my survival gear.

*******All information in this article was taken from the October issue of Popular Science, and is hereby noted as such.********

Thermoacoustic tech. , very interesting.

Here are a couple of links, while I investigate further.

SCORE stove

The concept of the device is based on the proven thermoacoustic Stirling engines and refrigerators developed by Los Alamos, NASA and the US military for applications including: cooling of satellite systems and radar arrays, gas liquefaction and cryogenics, use of waste heat for air conditioning, separation of binary gas mixtures and many others.
source

another article and diagram

Thanks jbird. I googled SCORE, and found nothing on the stove myself, so I figured it was a concept idea that Popular Science had ran across. You did a better job than my poor attempt at getting information.

This stove/fridge could be a really good thing for our polluted skies, and it would raise the standard of living, at least in the quality of life area, for so many people.

As someone that is fairly well prepared to live off the grid for a while if the need arises, this would be very handy to me as well.

I remember a YouTube thread where a guy made water burn using sound, and everyone wondered if it would be worthwhile as a fuel source. The cost of producing the sound could well outweigh the power gained. But if the use of biomass to produce the sound could be controled, then a small "fire" could run a vehicle from a small amount of biomass.

And if you worked it right, you could have AC from the heat exchanger, and enough power for your lights and stereo.

I am very surprised,after watching itlanguish for 24 hours,that this thread wasn't better noted. I agree that it isn't sensational, in the sense of being tabloid material, but this is important.

There are so many people in third world countries that could use this technology, and it is technology-even if it is simple. If humans are to progress towards a more rational existance, and a more equal lifestyle, thereby lessening the need for wars, then it will be through the everyday use of simple systems that better mankind as a whole.

I grant that the space race, dear to my heart, is more spectacular, and the pictures from Mars give the viewer a greater tingle, but human progress will be when we can all progress and benifit. It will be in these simpler ideas, perfected, that we will build a better world.

This stove is one of those ideas that ought not be brushed aside. ATS is a place that should be verbal in encouraging such things, for the betterment of all mankind. I would have thought that next to "free energy", this would be an idea we could all get behind.

Edit to add--Are there no survivalist here who would, like me, want this for their own?

Hmmmmm?????????

[edit on 25-9-2007 by NGC2736]

I didn't put this up for points, to get reactionns and posts. I couldn't care less about my points. This is a topic that is worth noting. Is the entire ATS population not aware of just how much of a change this stove could make? I didn't bring this up to get a bunch of points, but to stimiulate conversation on this.

I am of the opinion that those who come here are more global in their outlook; and this could, with the right support, be a global event. So where the hell are you?

[edit on 27-9-2007 by NGC2736]

Sounds very intresting, ill do some reserach on it.

ProTo

Are there any do-it-yourself plans out there for this? I wonder what building one from scratch would cost? Can anyone here think of a way that this could be put on the net, complete with plans on how to build your own.

I'm sure that while there could be some patented technology involved, it shouldn't be such that people couldn't build one for personal use, considering that the idea has already been laid out.

The need for heat/cooking fires is as old as man, and this would be a major step toward everyone getting the most out of burning fossil fuels, which a certain amount of the population is forced to do anyway.

Yes, I'm shamelessly bumping this. Now that I'm over my mini-rant, I just want to see if more interest can be generated in finding out about this, and posting it all across the web. I really feel that this could be a great step forward for many people.

I read that also..I found it pretty interesting.. the only magazine I subscribe to is Popular Science....
If you need to survive, leave the city and goto the county, forget the fridge. Go where the land will provide

SURVIVAL GEAR--No refrigerator required

I recently purchased property and developed a rustic self suficient camp in upstate new york...I thought about refrigeration, and decided that it was not necessary. It is not important to refrigerate or freeze anything for survival (warm beer sucks though)..Your reserves are needed for the winter months, just incase of severe snow condition..It is simple to make a food cache in the earth of dried goods...I cook aquired meat fresh over fire, and forage for fresh fruit and berries. In the warm months, everything is quite simple. ...

But In sub zero temps last year It was easy to survive on wild caught game and cached items...A simple structure for shelter, an ample supply of wood, and efficient source to aquire game...you can survive indefinitely...

But ofcourse in this environment, the resources are plentiful...In desert like conditions in may be somewhat to the contrary. That is where this technology may be most needed indeed

reply to post by lt1mth


While I would love to have one of these puppies in my survival outfit, even though I could get by without it, that's not my main interest here.

There are millions of people in undeveloped nations that cook with an open fire. To be able to have enough electricity to power even a cheap computer or a light at night, would raise their standard of living. And ice to keep food longer than a day or so would go a long ways toward preventing desease in tropical areas.

How many more children might get further in school, live longer, have healthier lives, just with this invention? A cheap way to aid the impoverished might also be a way to avoid some future conflicts.

No, this alone will not change the way humans live, or bring world peace. But it is a step down that road. A road we all need to be helping each other travel.

reply to post by NGC2736


I agree NGC. It in and of itself will not change the world but it may change one persons world. one persons at a time is all we need to do. Kinda like the whole one drop in the ocean bit.

People tend to think of survival as big shoot outs then running for the hills, the whole Rambo scenario. I however view survival as a more long term deal. long term survival is harder then making thew the event that caused the crisis in the first place. That is ware a device like that would come in handy. The only real issue I can see is having to keep the fire going to keep the juice flowing.


[edit on 6-10-2007 by angryamerican]

I agree, survival will most likely be a long term problem, not a short term event. While there could be times where there is "action", for the most part it will be just getting by one day at a time.

The stove would allow a person to power up for a while, though a certain rationing would be a must. If a person could managea sat link, it would be useful in getting on the web, at least for a while. And in winter, a stove like this would add warmth, so keeping it fed for hours would be in line with what you were doing anyway.

Here's a pic of a prototype



So this thing should be able to be made locally without special parts? This would make a very cool project (especially for school college) but I wanna make one

Flagged this thread, and I hardly ever do that. Peace and cold beer to the masses

reply to post by Now_Then


Thanks for the picture and the link. I see this as one of those things that a "handyman" ought to be able to do, provided the parts are cheap enough, or can be scrounged from something else.

And thanks for the flag. It's good to know that I have been able to contribute something. I don't add much to the discussion on the NWO and the reptiles running America ideas.

Flags may be a way to let more people see this idea. And sooner or later, one of us is likely to get a working model up that we can put the plans here for. A small step to help human kind.

[edit on 6-10-2007 by NGC2736]

reply to post by NGC2736


Would be very interested in seeing a working model of this - good find

reply to post by Now_Then


OK, let us consider this a call to all those handymen here on ATS. Can we make this ourselves? If the idea is so simple, as we are led to believe, then the actual building of it should not be beyond the ability of those who come to ATS.

No, there are no points awarded, and no special emblem by your name, for doing this, and putting it "out there" for the world. All you'll get is the knowledge that you made a difference.

As a human, that should be enough.

So showme what you got, ATS!



[edit on 6-10-2007 by NGC2736]

The heat from the stove drives a resonant wave in the tube

From Here

I dunno.
Sounds like smoke and mirrors.

I do know a bang-up fabrication
guy.

I'll run it by him, see what he thinks.

Regards,
Lex

Originally posted by NGC2736
reply to post by Now_Then

 

OK, let us consider this a call to all those handymen here on ATS. Can we make this ourselves?

I'm game, haven't read any specifics on the details for the acoustic (transfer?) of the heat energy to provide the refrigeration yet, (but not had as much net time as I could have lately).

I get that the motion from a membrane in this can generate electricikery, to me that seems to be an 'add on' and would prob be the most difficult bit to get right. But I'm fairly in the wanna be engineer category defo interested in getting this one wrong a few times.

This old thread has a nifty idea. I wonder if this ever got off the ground ?
With all the other stuff for sale on the internet , i would think someone made these. There is surly a market for them.
But maybe the concept didn't work on a small scale.
Anyone ever heard or seen this idea in the wild? In a museum ? At a university? A swap meet ? Even concept cars get modified and eventually something like it rolls off the line.

a reply to: VenatiusFortunatus

Yup, it's even still open source and there's downloadable plans and much more at Aster thermoacoustics website!

There's even a pdf with complete plans for a 50 watt version, and a ton of alternative iteration suggestions etc.

originally posted by: roguetechie
a reply to: VenatiusFortunatus

Yup, it's even still open source and there's downloadable plans and much more at Aster thermoacoustics website!

There's even a pdf with complete plans for a 50 watt version, and a ton of alternative iteration suggestions etc.

Thanks. That could be handy for my deer camp. Mostly roughing it, but like some luxury items.


VF