Abstract

Progress in the development of a micro heat engine is presented. The prototype micro heat engine is an external combustion engine, in which thermal power is converted to mechanical power through the use of a novel thermodynamic cycle. Mechanical power is converted into electrical power through the use of a thin-film piezoelectric membrane generator. The design, well suited to photolithography-based batch fabrication methods, is unlike any conventionally manufactured macro-scale engine. In this paper, the design, fabrication and preliminary testing of a working prototype are discussed. The operation of the engine and its key component, the piezoelectric membrane generator is presented. For the first time, the production of electrical power by a dynamic micro heat engine is demonstrated.

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