DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF THE P3 MICRO HEAT ENGINE

摘要

The development and testing of a micro heat engine ispresented. The P3 micro heat engine is an external combustionengine, in which thermal power is converted to mechanical powerthrough the use of a novel thermodynamic cycle that approachesthe ideal vapor Carnot cycle. Mechanical power is converted intoelectrical power through the use of a thin-film piezoelectricmembrane generator. This design is well suited tophotolithography-based batch fabrication methods, and is unlikeany conventionally manufactured macro-scale engine.