Nathan Stodola for his mechanical engineering senior
project at Union College, the fire organ is a musical
instrument that uses the laws of thermoacoustics to
create the oscillations in the air we hear as sound.
Like traditional organs, the pyrophone ("flame sound")
has one pipe for each playable note, activated by a
However, the sound in this instrument
is produced by a temperature difference imposed across
a stack of closely packed channels.
The hot temperature
is maintained by propane flames and the other end of
the stack is kept cold by running liquid nitrogen through
a heat exchanger.
Boasting a range of 14 notes, the
organ is one of the only instruments in existence that
uses heat to create a tone.
Much more detailed information about the Fire Organ,
including vidoes, can be found at: