Repurposing a Lighter as a Stirling Engine Gas Burner

Stirling engines are fascinating machines that are able to convert heat into mechanical motion, and that do so more efficiently than the internal combustion engine that moves your car. They utilize a closed-cycle thermodynamic system that works with any external heat source, including solar energy and nuclear energy. But, the simplest choice for a homemade Stirling engine is a gas burner. Valentin Ameres at Do It Yourself Gadgets has been working on a 3D-printed Stirling engine, and demonstrates how to build a gas burner with a simple barbecue lighter.

If you disassemble just about any butane lighter, you’ll see that they’re very simple devices with just a few components. There is a tank that holds the butane, and that will have a filling valve unless the lighter is disposable. Then, there will be an output valve for the flame, and a striker of some kind to ignite the flame. Ameres’ implementation removes the striker, and houses the rest in a 3D-printed mount.

The output valve for the flame is actuated with a screw mechanism, which can be finely tuned to adjust the gas flow and flame size — ultimately changing the speed of the engine. A hose then directs the gas to a nozzle placed below the Stirling engine’s glass cylinder, and the gas is lit manually. Whenever the tank runs out of butane, it can be refilled with the built-in filling valve. The butane flame works great as a heat source, and this is a very inexpensive and elegant way to add one to a homemade Stirling engine.