Germany makes micro-miniature steam engine
December 14th, 2011 - 1:39 pm ICT by IANSBerlin, Dec 14 (IANS) German engineers have successfully made a micro-miniature steam engine with its width at only a few thousandth of a millimetre wide, a media report said Tuesday.
“The machine is so small that its motion is hindered by microscopic processes which are of no consequence in the macroworld,” said the researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems.
“This experiment gives an insight into the energy balance of a heat engine operating in microscopic dimensions,” the research staff said.
The whole technical process differs from that of a steam engine on the macro level. Technicians used laser to heat the water, in a simulation of the coal fire of a typical steam engine, reported Xinhua.
Technicians used lasers to turn on and off quickly enough to get a bead to expand and contract just as functioning as a piston.
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Tags: coal fire, consequence, energy balance, german engineers, heat engine, intelligent systems, lasers, macro level, max planck, max planck institute, microscopic dimensions, microscopic processes, miniature steam, piston, research staff, simulation, steam engine, thousandth, university of stuttgart, xinhua