Steam Engine Design/Solenoid
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Design
Using Solenoid Valves for Steam Engine in Place of Mechanical Valving
Fwd from [1] - a steam engine producer, which says that 'The biggest news for steam is electric valves' - see Electric Valves for Steam Engine
Electronic Solenoid Valve Info: http://www.gwlisk.com/tech_info.html
Some college students put electric solenoids on a small gas engine and here's a video of it working -- kinda!
Electrohydraulic valves are commercially available for internal combustion engines. Sturman is one maker.
Some design information on the Lotus/Eaton valve development here.
"Camless" IC engines have been researched for decades and many prototypes of different electronically-controlled-timing valve lifters have been built. A steam engine typically runs at lower rpm than a gasoline IC and is therefore less demanding on this technology.
References
Solenoid Valve design - is included in this book:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~davebowesevic/
It would be good to design a strong solenoid for a hydraulic valve.