The notion of running a steam engine in conjunction with Internal
Combustion comes up frequently. Usually, there are two problems.
One is that the scheme produces low-pressure steam, so it is barely
worth the effort. The other is that it seldom produces much steam
for one very simple reason. Look at an old steam locomotive. Big
Firebox, Huge Boiler, Tiny Cylinders. It takes about 11 sq ft. of
boiler tube area per HP, with a dedicated fire.
Bob Stuart
On 4-Feb-13, at 4:15 PM, Toby Seiler wrote:
"steam is definitely not sexy in the renewable energy world".
Go back to the "Stanley Steamer" and study the boiler. I think
about 1500 of them were sold and there were no boiler explosions
(that I found). When checking with Kennedy Tank, a similar boiler
can be made using todays materials. From my research, it is the
verticle firetube (and a lot of them) that is key, since the
temperature has limits as long as it has ANY water in it.
My boss at Bryan Steam was the ASME Section 7 Chairman for many
years (in 1978) and they had built a steam car (around 1900) that
we often discussed. He assured me steam would be back to "sexy"
and I still believe this to be true, if one chooses a design that
is inherently safer.
Stanley Steamer held the world land speed record for a very long
time (untill recently). That boiler was rated at 600psi but my
guess is, at the speed record attempt they were well over
1000-1200f. There is a lot of stored energy in water that is not
yet steam (due to pressure) and I often wonder about injecting
super heated water into an engine, taking advantage of the 1600x
expansion, liquid to vapor.
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