# An Engine that Harnesses Sound Waves



## lotuseclat79 (Sep 12, 2003)

An Engine that Harnesses Sound Waves (2 web pages).



> *The device uses thermoacoustics for greater efficiency.*
> 
> A startup company has developed a new type of engine that could generate electricity with the efficiency of a fuel cell, but which costs only about as much as an internal combustion engine.
> ...
> The device shares some principles of a Stirling engine, in which an external heat source is used to expand a fixed amount of working gas (usually helium), which then contracts when it is pushed into a cooler space. This expansion-contraction cycle repeats itself, turning heat into mechanical work by driving a piston.


-- Tom


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