How do you make a flame sucker engine?

Answer 1

A Flame Sucker engine is a variation of a Sterling engine. It may look impressive but it's a very low output device and you won't see one powering your car.

The idea is that draws in a very hot gas. The valve closes at the end of the down stroke and the gas inside (in contact with the cooler metal cylinder) cools fairly quickly. As it cools the pressure drops and this draws the piston back in a bit. A simple flap-type valve allows the gas to escape as soon as the pressure inside becomes greater than ambient pressure. This is why you always see a flywheel on these machines; the only power comes from that partial up-stroke of the piston. The momentum of the flywheel provides the power to push the rest of the gas out and to pull hot gas in on the down-stroke. Of course, as the piston gets to the top of the cylinder the valve opens to allow it to pull in more hot gas and the cycle repeats.