Steam Engine Specifications

Summary:

• System consists of cyliner, crank arm, mechanical valve, automatically adjusted cutoff ratio, and constitutes a Steam Engine Construction Set
• Scalable cylinder dimensions, uncoupled staging, and tandem operation allows scaling of power and eficiency from 1-100 hp and 5-20% efficiency
  • Multiple cylinder, in-line configuration is possible by bolting several cylinders together
• Applications to stationary, mobile, and solar power

Cost-Related Features:

• Lowest materials cost for a given performance
• Simplest to fabricate, therefore lowest fabrication cost
• Advanced techniques of fabrication utilized only when necessary to achieve cost
• Fabrication tooling preferably simple, but secondary to fabrication cost
• Uses commonly available parts
• Replicable
• Materials cost of $50/hp

Materials calculations:

• Heavy-walled tubing, 100 feet, not to exceed 50 pounds in weight

Flexibility and Performance:

• Scalable in steam power output from 1 - 100 hp by coil nesting or coil extension
• Steam power density of 1-20 hp/gallon of volume
• Pressure up to 1000 psi
• Modular
• Coil configuration for chimney/flue pipe heat recovery applications
• Nestable coils for higher power density applications
• Compatible with Babington burner or wood gasifier flame inputs
• 1 hp per lb power to weight ratio possible

Lifecycle

• Long lifetime under continuous use (50 years) with

Ecology:

• Easily connectability of coils for scaling purposes
• Easy connectabilty for various uses
  • Steam engine power
  • Hot water heating
  • Steam cleaning

Fabrication:

• Coils may be fabricated with small scale metal extrustion (see Metal Extrusion Specifications)
• Adaptable to coil-bending jig
• Adaptable to fabricating coils of different diameters

Other:

• Safe in case of failure

Deliverable

• One cylinder prototype with scalability as above, to constitute a single stage of a stageable system (compound or 3 stage)