In London recently I visited one of my favourite haunts – the London Science Museum, where they have an excellent collection of steam engines, among other things. On a previous visit I managed to coincide with a live steam day when they had several of the engines operating under steam.
On that day I was spellbound by the awesome ‘breathy’ sound of the engine and the impressive sight of the huge flywheel spun up to around 300 revolutions per minute. The sensation of speed and fury was palpable – a really immersive way to come to grips with the impact these engines would have made on a public unused to artificial power on such a scale.
I was disappointed on the most recent visit to find that there was no sign these engines had been recently operated under steam, so they were relegated to static displays that most people hurried past to get to other parts of the museum. Even the reorganisation into themes – which may be fine for a half-hour glance at the highlights – meant there wasn’t a good sense of how these machines evolved from fairly basic low-pressure engines to highly sophisticated efficient and high-power engines that drove the industrial revolution until well into the middle of last century.
While museum practice has changed markedly over the past decade, and mostly for the better, I certainly hope that future museum-goers will have the opportunity to see these machines in action so the sights are enriched by the sounds of the great beam engine – or the almost silence of the huge red mine lifting engine.
In the meantime – Australia’s Powerhouse Museum in Sydney actually has the world’s oldest Boulton and Watt rotative engine – built in 1785 and used for 102 years in the Whitbread Brewery in London.
Posted by Jerry on June 11th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Steam
A while ago I bought a small oscillating engine off eBay for less than half the price of an equivalent mamod or wilescoengine. This one was made in India. It isn’t finished as well as a willesco, but it was delivered promptly and looked quite serviceable.
Being a new, previously unfired engine I felt there were a couple of stiff points when i rotated the flywheel by hand. So I unscrewed the bolt holding the piston connecting rod to the crankshaft and carefully withdrew the piston from the cylinder. Then I sprayed with Tac chain grease on the piston and all moving parts – including the valve surface. Then I removed the filler screw and safety valve from the boiler and inspected them. I filed down some roughness on the mating surface on the boiler, and inspected the boiler carefully for any dents or obvious breaks in the seals. It seemed solidly built and about twice the size of the equivalent mamod engine.
After reinstalling the piston I used a small funnel to half fill the boiler, then reinstalled the filler screw and safety valve. Then I got a couple of firelighters and placed the in the burner tray and lit them, placing he burner beneath the boiler. There was a bit of smoke and a lot of flame and after about ten minutes there were definite kettle noises emerging.
I tried the whistle and saw a blast of steam, but no whistle sound. I shut the whistle off and waited a couple of minutes before taking a tentative spin of the flywheel… And here’s the result 🙂
There is no maker’s plate, but I’m told that an Indian firm makes them. The boiler has a very large capacity – around 600mls (an imperial pint) and with the firelighters looks to have possibly close to an hour’s duration once steam is up. The engine runs smoothly, and I suspect it will run faster once it is fully run-in.
Roger McGuire has built himself what looks like a steam turbine powered motorbike – using an old (air conditioner?) blower for the engine and a home-built propane burner, and what looks like a gas tank for the boiler – very innovative 🙂
Check out his page
And I couldn’t resist a closer view – especially with the Stanley steam cars in the background
It’s his photo, but I brought up the contrast a little to improve the clarity. I wonder how many other steam bikes are out there?
There have been a number of projects over the years to convert internal combustion engines (petrol engines) to work on steam, either for vehicles or, more widely, for small generators.
But Lynx Steam Engines discuss in detail how to convert a small four-stroke motor to work on steam or compressed air, to run electricity generators, mowers ec – perhaps even small karts. Their approach is a good one, keeping it simple, and making minimal modifications. This one requires modification to the cam by smoothing the cams to round, and adding a valve lift lobe to the correct timing (90 degrees between inlet and exhaust) by adding round-headed screws 90 degrees apart on the cam. And there is some discussion on the site on making a steam generator that complies with various laws on pressure vessels (best to get it made by a certified boilermaker) to produce a near silent engine that won’t disturb the neighbours. These would not be self-starting motors, but seem like a good beginners project using off-the-shelf components.
The 90 degree valve timing is consistent with the model steam engines I have previous tried making, and seems to be a good standard – with teh main variation being in the cut-off or ‘dwell’ of the valves – ie how long they stay open once opened. The beauty of this design is it uses low temparature, low pressure saturated steam, making it no more dangerous than a kettle, and able to operate without having to worry about separating the oil from the steam when you re-use it.
I also like the way Lynx engines have put their concept into practices as an apporpriate technology project to power a coffee producing firm in Nigeria, using waste biomass as fuel, rather than expensive petrol.
Another exhibit in the Musee des Artes et Metiers is that of a long forgotten French Aviation pioneer, Clement Ader (click on ‘NoFlashMuseum’ then Transports’ then ‘1850-1950’ and finally the last small image on the right.
Again, I had no idea before going there that this pioneer aircraft had been preserved for posterity – one of the great ‘almost made it’s among the early aviators. Like the Wright brothers, he was a bicycle designer.
Ader was born in 1841 at Muret in Haute-Garonne. He was multi-talented and was awarded numerous patents during his lifetime, including a ralway system and telephone. But he had a lifelong fascination with flying – inspired by birds and bats, using the latter as a model for his aircraft design. Ader built kites and small-scale gliders and measured the forces needed to keep them flying, using dynamometers. He was the first engineer to know the value of lift and thrust needed for flying.
Clement Ader’s Avion III
He built his first machine between 1882 and 1889, known as the Eole I which reportedly made a low-level hop on 9 October 1890 at an altitude of about 30cm for about 50 metres. Ader was credited with introducing the French word for aircraft – avion – into the French language.
His second machine, Eole II was damaged during trials in 1891. Avion III was built with the help of the Defence Ministry and was completed in 1897. It had a wingspan of 16 metres and had a tricycle undercarriage. It weighed a mere 258kg unladen, and less than 400kg with pilot. It was powered by two lightweight 20hp steam engines designed by Ader, which independently drove two contra-rotating four-bladed propellers. The two motors shared a single flash steam boiler and condenser. The wings were made from bamboo covered with lightweight fabric.
Ader’s steam engine for Avion III
Flash Steam Boiler for Avion III
This plane made one flight attempt at the French Army’s Satory proving ground on 14 October 1897 – without success.
But later in life Ader claimed success for both the Eole and the Avion III. Irrespective of his success or failure – he was far-thinking in terms of his innovative design – the enclosed body, the tricycle undercarriage and the power-to-weight ratio commensurate with the scale of the wings.
His big failure was in not making any provision for control once airborne. But his was a big step on the way towards successful heavier than air flight.
Avion III
This plane was certainly the inspiration for a number of steampunk fanciful depictions of the future of flight – including this automaton 🙂
