The basic idea of the so called Minto wheel is to build a simple motor, that is driven by a temperature differential between a hot water reservoir and the surrounding cooling air. The spokes of a wheel-like structure are made from tubes with a liquid inside, that exist both in a gaseous and a liquid phase in the desired temperature range. They are connected to bulb like reservoirs at both ends, in a way that the ends of the tubes protrude into each reservoir a little bit...

The Flap Turbine (FT) is a novel type of vertical axis turbine (VAT) where the blades are made of movable flaps. These movable flaps, when combined together, act as a sail or blade for the VAT. This type of turbine is also known as a check valve turbine because of the check valve like behavior of the moving flaps.