Exactly 212 years ago, on December 24, 1801, in the small English town of Camborne, mechanic Richard Trevithick demonstrated to the public the first steam-powered car, Dog Carts. Today this event could easily be classified as notable, but insignificant, especially since steam engine was known earlier, and was even used on vehicles (although calling them cars would be a very big stretch)... But here’s what’s interesting: right now, technological progress has given rise to a situation strikingly reminiscent of the era of the great “battle” of steam and gasoline at the beginning of the 19th century. Only batteries, hydrogen and biofuels will have to fight. Do you want to know how it all ends and who wins? I won't give any hints. Let me give you a hint: technology has nothing to do with it...
1. The craze for steam engines has passed, and the time has come for engines internal combustion. For the benefit of the matter, I will repeat: in 1801, a four-wheeled carriage rolled through the streets of Camborne, capable of carrying eight passengers with relative comfort and slowly. The car was driven by a single-cylinder steam engine and fueled by coal. The creation of steam vehicles was started with enthusiasm, and already in the 20s of the 19th century, passenger steam omnibuses transported passengers at speeds of up to 30 km/h, and the average mileage between repairs reached 2.5–3 thousand km.
Now let's compare this information with others. In the same 1801, the Frenchman Philippe Le Bon received a patent for the design of a piston internal combustion engine that ran on lighting gas. It so happened that three years later Le Bon died, and to develop his proposed technical solutions others had to. Only in 1860, the Belgian engineer Jean Etienne Lenoir assembled gas engine with ignition from an electric spark and brought its design to the point of suitability for installation on a vehicle.
So, the automobile steam engine and internal combustion engine are practically the same age. The efficiency of a steam engine of that design in those years was about 10%. The efficiency of the Lenoir engine was only 4%. Only 22 years later, by 1882, August Otto improved it so much that the efficiency of the now gasoline engine reached... as much as 15%.
2. Steam traction is just a short moment in the history of progress. Beginning in 1801, the history of steam transport actively continued for almost 159 years. In 1960 (!), buses and trucks with steam engines were still being built in the USA. Steam engines improved significantly during this time. In 1900, 50% of the car fleet in the United States was steam-powered. Already in those years, competition arose between steam, gasoline and - attention! - electric carriages. After the market success of Ford's Model T and the seemingly defeat of the steam engine, a new surge in the popularity of steam cars occurred in the 20s of the last century: the cost of fuel for them (fuel oil, kerosene) was significantly lower than the cost of gasoline.
Until 1927, the Stanley company produced approximately 1 thousand steam cars per year. In England, steam trucks successfully competed with gasoline trucks until 1933 and lost only because the authorities introduced a tax on heavy freight transport and reduced tariffs on the import of liquid petroleum products from the United States.
3. The steam engine is inefficient and uneconomical. Yes, it was once like this. A “classical” steam engine, which released waste steam into the atmosphere, has an efficiency of no more than 8%. However, a steam engine with a condenser and a profiled flow path has an efficiency of up to 25–30%. The steam turbine provides 30–42%. Combined-cycle plants, where gas and steam turbines are used in conjunction, have an efficiency of up to 55–65%. The latter circumstance prompted BMW engineers to begin exploring options for using this scheme in cars. By the way, the efficiency of modern gasoline engines is 34%.
The cost of manufacturing a steam engine has always been lower than the cost of a carburetor and diesel engines the same power. Consumption liquid fuel in new steam engines operating in a closed cycle on superheated (dry) steam and equipped with modern lubrication systems, high-quality bearings and electronic systems regulation of the working cycle is only 40% of the previous one.
4. The steam engine starts slowly. And this was once... Even production cars Stanley companies “separated couples” for 10 to 20 minutes. Improving the boiler design and introducing a cascade heating mode made it possible to reduce the readiness time to 40–60 seconds.
5. The steam car is too leisurely. This is wrong. The speed record of 1906 - 205.44 km/h - belongs to a steam car. In those years, cars with gasoline engines could not drive so fast. In 1985, a steam car drove at a speed of 234.33 km/h. And in 2009, a group of British engineers designed a steam turbine “car” with a steam drive with a power of 360 hp. s., who was able to move with a record average speed in the race - 241.7 km/h.
6. A steam car smokes and is unsightly. Looking at ancient drawings that depict the first steam carriages throwing out thick clouds of smoke and fire from their chimneys (which, by the way, indicates the imperfection of the fireboxes of the first “steam engines”), you understand where the persistent association of the steam engine and soot came from.
Concerning appearance cars, the matter here, of course, depends on the level of the designer. It is unlikely that anyone will say that the steam cars of Abner Doble (USA) are ugly. On the contrary, they are elegant even by modern standards. And they also drove silently, smoothly and quickly - up to 130 km/h.
Interestingly, modern research in the field hydrogen fuel for automobile engines gave rise to a number of “side branches”: hydrogen as a fuel for classic piston steam engines and especially for steam turbine machines ensures absolute environmental friendliness. The “smoke” from such a motor is... water vapor.
7. The steam engine is capricious. It is not true. It is structurally significant simpler than an engine internal combustion, which in itself means greater reliability and unpretentiousness. The service life of steam engines is many tens of thousands of hours of continuous operation, which is not typical for other types of engines. However, the matter does not stop there. Due to the principles of operation, a steam engine does not lose efficiency when atmospheric pressure decreases. It is for this reason that steam-powered vehicles are exceptionally well suited for use in the highlands, on difficult mountain passes.
It is interesting to note another useful property of a steam engine, which, by the way, is similar to a direct current electric motor. A decrease in shaft speed (for example, with increasing load) causes an increase in torque. Due to this property, cars with steam engines do not fundamentally need gearboxes - the mechanisms themselves are very complex and sometimes capricious.
Steam engines were used as drive engines in pumping stations, locomotives, steam ships, tractors, steam cars and other vehicles. Steam engines contributed to the widespread commercial use of machines in enterprises and were the energy basis of the industrial revolution of the 18th century. Later, steam engines were replaced by internal combustion engines, steam turbines, electric motors and nuclear reactors, which are more efficient.
Steam engine in action
Invention and development
The first known device driven by steam was described by Heron of Alexandria in the first century - this is the so-called “Heron's bath”, or “aeolipil”. Steam escaping tangentially from the nozzles attached to the ball caused the latter to rotate. It is assumed that the conversion of steam into mechanical movement was known in Egypt during the period of Roman rule and was used in simple devices.
First industrial engines
None of the devices described have actually been used as a means of solving useful problems. The first steam engine used in production was the “fire engine”, designed by the English military engineer Thomas Savery in 1698. Savery received a patent for his device in 1698. It was a piston steam pump, and obviously not very efficient, since the heat of the steam was lost each time during cooling of the container, and quite dangerous to operate, since due to the high steam pressure, the containers and engine pipelines sometimes exploded. Since this device could be used both to rotate the wheels of a water mill and to pump water out of mines, the inventor called it “the miner’s friend.”
Then English blacksmith Thomas Newcomen demonstrated his "atmospheric engine" in 1712, which was the first steam engine for which there could be a commercial demand. This was Savery's improved steam engine, in which Newcomen significantly reduced operating pressure pair. Newcomen may have been based on descriptions of Papin's experiments held at the Royal Society of London, to which he may have had access through society member Robert Hooke, who had worked with Papen.
Diagram of Newcomen's steam engine.
– Steam is shown in purple, water in blue.
– Open valves shown green, closed - red
The first use of the Newcomen engine was to pump water from a deep mine. In a mine pump, the rocker arm was connected to a rod that went down into the shaft to the pump chamber. The reciprocating movements of the thrust were transmitted to the pump piston, which supplied water upward. The valves of early Newcomen engines were opened and closed manually. The first improvement was the automation of the valves, which were driven by the machine itself. Legend tells that this improvement was made in 1713 by the boy Humphrey Potter, who was supposed to open and close the valves; when he got tired of it, he tied the valve handles with ropes and went to play with the children. By 1715, a lever control system had already been created, driven by the mechanism of the engine itself.
Russia's first two-cylinder vacuum steam engine was designed by mechanic I. I. Polzunov in 1763 and built in 1764 to drive blowers at the Barnaul Kolyvano-Voskresensk factories.
Humphrey Gainsborough built a model of a steam engine with a condenser in the 1760s. In 1769, Scottish mechanic James Watt (possibly using Gainsborough's ideas) patented the first significant improvements to the Newcomen vacuum engine, which made it significantly more fuel efficient. Watt's contribution was to separate the condensation phase of the vacuum engine in a separate chamber while the piston and cylinder were at steam temperature. Watt added a few more to Newcomen's engine important details: placed a piston inside the cylinder to push out steam and converted the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotational motion of a drive wheel.
Based on these patents, Watt built a steam engine in Birmingham. By 1782, Watt's steam engine was more than 3 times more productive than Newcomen's engine. The improvement in the efficiency of Watt's engine led to the use of steam power in industry. In addition, unlike the Newcomen engine, the Watt engine made it possible to transmit rotational motion, while in earlier models steam engines the piston was connected to the rocker arm, and not directly to the connecting rod. This engine already had the basic features of modern steam engines.
A further increase in efficiency was the use of high-pressure steam (American Oliver Evans and Englishman Richard Trevithick). R. Trevithick successfully built industrial high-pressure single-stroke engines known as "Cornish engines". They operated at a pressure of 50 psi, or 345 kPa (3.405 atmospheres). However, with increasing pressure, there was also a greater danger of explosions in machines and boilers, which initially led to numerous accidents. From this point of view, the most important element of the high-pressure machine was the safety valve, which released excess pressure. Reliable and safe operation began only with the accumulation of experience and standardization of procedures for the construction, operation and maintenance of equipment.
French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrated the first working self-propelled steam vehicle in 1769: the "fardier à vapeur" (steam cart). Perhaps his invention can be considered the first automobile. The self-propelled steam tractor turned out to be very useful as a mobile source of mechanical energy that drove other agricultural machines: threshers, presses, etc. In 1788, a steamboat built by John Fitch was already providing regular service along the Delaware River between Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Burlington (New York State). It carried 30 passengers and traveled at a speed of 7-8 miles per hour. J. Fitch's steamship was not commercially successful because its route was competing with a good overland road. In 1802, Scottish engineer William Symington built a competitive steamboat, and in 1807, American engineer Robert Fulton used Watt's steam engine to power the first commercially successful steamship. On 21 February 1804, the first self-propelled railway steam locomotive, built by Richard Trevithick, was on display at the Penydarren Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.
Reciprocating steam engines
Reciprocating engines use steam power to move a piston in a sealed chamber or cylinder. The reciprocating action of the piston can be mechanically converted into linear motion of piston pumps or into rotary motion to drive rotating parts of machine tools or vehicle wheels.
Vacuum machines
Early steam engines were initially called "fire engines" and also Watt's "atmospheric" or "condensing" engines. They worked on the vacuum principle and are therefore also known as “vacuum engines”. Such machines worked to drive piston pumps, in any case, there is no evidence that they were used for other purposes. When operating a vacuum-type steam engine at the beginning of the steam stroke low pressure enters the working chamber or cylinder. The inlet valve then closes and the steam cools by condensing. In a Newcomen engine, cooling water is sprayed directly into the cylinder and the condensate drains into a condensate collector. This creates a vacuum in the cylinder. Atmospheric pressure at the top of the cylinder presses on the piston and causes it to move downward, that is, the working stroke.
Constantly cooling and reheating the working cylinder of the machine was very wasteful and inefficient, however, these steam engines made it possible to pump water from greater depths than was possible before their introduction. In the year a version of the steam engine appeared, created by Watt in collaboration with Matthew Boulton, the main innovation of which was the removal of the condensation process into a special separate chamber (condenser). This chamber was placed in a bath of cold water, and was connected to the cylinder by a tube closed by a valve. A special small vacuum pump (a prototype of a condensate pump) was attached to the condensation chamber, driven by a rocker arm and used to remove condensate from the condenser. The resulting hot water was supplied by a special pump (a prototype of the feed pump) back to the boiler. Another radical innovation was the closing of the upper end of the working cylinder, which now contained low pressure steam at the top. The same steam was present in the double jacket of the cylinder, supporting it constant temperature. As the piston moved upward, this steam was transferred through special tubes to the lower part of the cylinder in order to undergo condensation during the next stroke. The machine, in fact, ceased to be “atmospheric”, and its power now depended on the pressure difference between the low-pressure steam and the vacuum that could be obtained. In Newcomen's steam engine, the piston was lubricated with a small amount of water poured on top of it; in Watt's machine, this became impossible, since there was now steam in the upper part of the cylinder; it was necessary to switch to lubrication with a mixture of grease and oil. The same lubricant was used in the cylinder rod seal.
Vacuum steam engines, despite the obvious limitations of their efficiency, were relatively safe and used low-pressure steam, which was quite consistent with the general low level of boiler technology in the 18th century. The power of the machine was limited by low steam pressure, the size of the cylinder, the rate of fuel combustion and evaporation of water in the boiler, as well as the size of the condenser. The maximum theoretical efficiency was limited by the relatively small temperature difference on both sides of the piston; this made vacuum machines intended for industrial use too large and expensive.
Compression
The outlet window of the steam engine cylinder closes slightly earlier than the piston reaches its extreme position, which leaves a certain amount of waste steam in the cylinder. This means that in the work cycle there is a compression phase, which forms a so-called “steam cushion”, slowing down the movement of the piston in its extreme positions. In addition, this eliminates the sudden pressure drop at the very beginning of the intake phase when fresh steam enters the cylinder.
Advance
The described “steam cushion” effect is also enhanced by the fact that the intake of fresh steam into the cylinder begins somewhat earlier than the piston reaches its extreme position, that is, there is some advance of the intake. This advance is necessary so that before the piston begins its working stroke under the influence of fresh steam, the steam would have time to fill the dead space that arose as a result of the previous phase, that is, the intake-exhaust channels and the cylinder volume unused for the movement of the piston.
Simple extension
Simple expansion assumes that the steam only works when it is expanded in the cylinder, and the exhaust steam is released directly into the atmosphere or enters a special condenser. The residual heat of the steam can be used, for example, to heat a room or vehicle, as well as to preheat the water entering the boiler.
Compound
During the process of expansion in the cylinder of a high-pressure machine, the temperature of the steam drops in proportion to its expansion. Since there is no heat exchange (adiabatic process), it turns out that the steam enters the cylinder at a higher temperature than it leaves it. Such temperature changes in the cylinder lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the process.
One of the methods of dealing with this temperature difference was proposed in 1804 by the English engineer Arthur Woolf, who patented Wulf high pressure compound steam engine. In this machine, high-temperature steam from a steam boiler entered a high-pressure cylinder, and then the steam exhausted from it at a lower temperature and pressure entered the low-pressure cylinder (or cylinders). This reduced the temperature difference in each cylinder, which overall reduced temperature losses and improved the overall coefficient useful action steam engine. Low pressure steam had a larger volume and therefore required a larger cylinder volume. Therefore, in compound machines, low-pressure cylinders had a larger diameter (and sometimes longer) than high-pressure cylinders.
This arrangement is also known as “double expansion” because the expansion of the steam occurs in two stages. Sometimes one high-pressure cylinder was connected to two low-pressure cylinders, resulting in three cylinders of approximately equal size. This scheme was easier to balance.
Double cylinder compounding machines can be classified as:
- Cross compound- The cylinders are located nearby, their steam-conducting channels are crossed.
- Tandem compound- The cylinders are arranged in series and use one rod.
- Angular compound- The cylinders are located at an angle to each other, usually 90 degrees, and work on one crank.
After the 1880s, compound steam engines became widespread in manufacturing and transportation and became virtually the only type used on steamships. Their use on steam locomotives did not become so widespread because they turned out to be too complex, partly due to the difficult operating conditions of steam engines in railway transport. Although compound steam locomotives never became a widespread phenomenon (especially in the UK, where they were very little common and were not used at all after the 1930s), they gained some popularity in several countries.
Multiple expansion
Simplified diagram of a triple expansion steam engine.
High pressure steam (red) from the boiler passes through the machine, exiting to the condenser at low pressure (blue).
A logical development of the compound scheme was the addition of additional expansion stages to it, which increased the efficiency of work. The result was a multiple expansion scheme known as triple or even quadruple expansion machines. Such steam engines used a series of double-acting cylinders, the volume of which increased with each stage. Sometimes, instead of increasing the volume of low-pressure cylinders, increasing their number was used, just as on some compound machines.
The image on the right shows the operation of a triple expansion steam engine. Steam passes through the machine from left to right. The valve block of each cylinder is located to the left of the corresponding cylinder.
The emergence of this type of steam engine became especially relevant for the fleet, since the size and weight requirements for ship engines were not very strict, and most importantly, this design made it easy to use a condenser that returns waste steam in the form of fresh water back to the boiler (use salted sea water it was impossible to power the boilers). Land-based steam engines usually did not have problems with water supply and therefore could release waste steam into the atmosphere. Therefore, such a scheme was less relevant for them, especially taking into account its complexity, size and weight. The dominance of multiple expansion steam engines only ended with the advent and widespread use of steam turbines. However, in modern steam turbines The same principle of dividing the flow into high, medium and low pressure cylinders is used.
Direct flow steam engines
Once-through steam engines arose as a result of an attempt to overcome one of the disadvantages inherent in steam engines with traditional steam distribution. The fact is that steam in a conventional steam engine constantly changes the direction of its movement, since the same window on each side of the cylinder is used for both the intake and exhaust of steam. When the exhaust steam leaves the cylinder, it cools its walls and steam distribution channels. Fresh steam, accordingly, spends a certain amount of energy on heating them, which leads to a drop in efficiency. Once-through steam engines have an additional window, which is opened by the piston at the end of each phase, and through which the steam leaves the cylinder. This increases the efficiency of the machine because the steam moves in one direction and the temperature gradient of the cylinder walls remains more or less constant. Direct-flow single expansion machines show approximately the same efficiency as compound machines with conventional steam distribution. In addition, they can work for more high speed, and therefore, before the advent of steam turbines, they were often used to drive electric generators requiring high rotation speeds.
Direct-flow steam engines come in both single- and double-acting types.
Steam turbines
A steam turbine consists of a series of rotating discs mounted on a single axis, called a turbine rotor, and a series of alternating stationary discs mounted on a base, called a stator. The rotor discs have blades on outside, steam is supplied to these blades and spins the discs. The stator disks have similar blades mounted at opposite angles, which serve to redirect the flow of steam to the following rotor disks. Each rotor disk and its corresponding stator disk are called a turbine stage. The number and size of stages of each turbine are selected in such a way as to maximize the useful energy of the steam of the speed and pressure that is supplied to it. The exhaust steam leaving the turbine enters the condenser. Turbines rotate with very high speed, and therefore, when transferring rotation to other equipment, special reduction transmissions are usually used. In addition, turbines cannot change the direction of their rotation, and often require additional reversing mechanisms (sometimes additional reverse rotation stages are used).
Turbines convert steam energy directly into rotation and do not require additional mechanisms to convert reciprocating motion into rotation. In addition, turbines are more compact than reciprocating machines and have a constant force on the output shaft. Since turbines have more simple design, they tend to require less maintenance.
Other types of steam engines
Application
Steam engines can be classified according to their application as follows:
Stationary machines
Steam hammer
Steam engine in an old sugar factory, Cuba
Stationary steam engines can be divided into two types according to their mode of use:
- Variable-mode machines, which include rolling mill machines, steam winches and similar devices, which must frequently stop and change direction of rotation.
- Power machines that rarely stop and should not change direction of rotation. These include energy engines in power plants as well industrial engines, used in factories, factories and cable railways before the widespread use of electric traction. Low power engines are used on marine models and in special devices.
A steam winch is essentially a stationary engine, but is mounted on a support frame so that it can be moved. It can be secured with a cable to an anchor and moved by its own traction to a new location.
Transport vehicles
Steam engines were used to drive various types vehicles, among them:
- Land vehicles:
- Steam car
- Steam tractor
- Steam shovel, and even
- Steam plane.
In Russia, the first operating steam locomotive was built by E. A. and M. E. Cherepanov at the Nizhny Tagil plant in 1834 to transport ore. It reached a speed of 13 versts per hour and carried more than 200 poods (3.2 tons) of cargo. The length of the first railway was 850 m.
Advantages of steam engines
The main advantage of steam engines is that they can use almost any source of heat to convert it into mechanical work. This distinguishes them from internal combustion engines, each type of which requires the use of a certain type fuel. This advantage is most noticeable in the use of nuclear energy, since a nuclear reactor is unable to generate mechanical energy, but only produces heat, which is used to generate steam to drive steam engines (usually steam turbines). In addition, there are other heat sources that cannot be used in internal combustion engines, such as solar energy. An interesting direction is the use of energy from temperature differences in the World Ocean at different depths.
Similar properties are also possessed by other types of external combustion engines, such as the Stirling engine, which can provide very high efficiency, but have significantly greater weight and size than modern types of steam engines.
Steam locomotives perform well at high altitudes, since their operating efficiency does not decrease due to low atmospheric pressure. Steam locomotives are still used in the mountainous regions of Latin America, despite the fact that in the lowlands they have long been replaced by more modern types of locomotives.
In Switzerland (Brienz Rothorn) and Austria (Schafberg Bahn), new steam locomotives using dry steam have proven their efficiency. This type of locomotive was developed based on the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) models, with many modern improvements such as the use of roller bearings, modern thermal insulation, burning of light petroleum fractions as fuel, improved steam lines, etc. . As a result, such locomotives have 60% lower fuel consumption and significantly lower maintenance requirements. The economic qualities of such locomotives are comparable to modern diesel and electric locomotives.
In addition, steam locomotives are much lighter than diesel and electric ones, which is especially important for mining railways. A special feature of steam engines is that they do not require a transmission, transmitting power directly to the wheels.
Efficiency
Efficiency factor (efficiency) heat engine can be defined as the ratio of useful mechanical work to the expended amount of heat contained in the fuel. The rest of the energy is released in environment in the form of heat. The efficiency of a heat engine is
I came across an interesting article on the Internet.
"American inventor Robert Greene has developed a completely new technology that generates kinetic energy by converting residual energy (like other types of fuel). Greene's steam engines are piston-strengthened and designed for a wide range of practical purposes."
That's it, no more, no less: absolutely new technology. Well, naturally I started watching and tried to understand. It's written everywhere one of the most unique advantages This engine is the ability to generate energy from the residual energy of the engines. More precisely, the residual exhaust energy from the engine can be converted into energy for the pumps and cooling systems of the unit. So what of this, as I understand it, use exhaust gases to bring water to a boil and then convert steam into motion. How necessary and low-cost is this, because... even though this engine, as they say, is specially designed from a minimum number of parts, it still costs a lot and is there any point in making a garden, especially since I don’t see anything fundamentally new in this invention? . And a lot of mechanisms for converting reciprocating motion into rotational motion have already been invented. On the author’s website, a two-cylinder model is sold, in principle, not expensive 
only 46 dollars.
There is a video on the author's website using solar energy, there is also a photo where someone on a boat uses this engine. 
But in both cases it is clearly not residual heat. In short, I doubt the reliability of such an engine: “The ball joints are at the same time hollow channels through which steam is supplied to the cylinders.” What is your opinion, dear site users?
Articles in Russian
In the minds of most people in the smartphone age, steam-powered cars are something archaic that makes us smile. Steam pages in the history of the automotive industry were very bright and it’s hard to imagine without them modern transport at all. No matter how hard the skeptics of lawmaking, as well as oil lobbyists from different countries, tried to limit the development of the steam car, they succeeded only temporarily. After all, a steam car is like the Sphinx. The idea of a steam car (i.e., powered by an external combustion engine) is still relevant today.
In the minds of most people in the smartphone age, steam-powered cars are something archaic that makes us smile.
So in 1865, England introduced a ban on the movement of high-speed self-propelled steam-powered carriages. They were forbidden to move faster than 3 km/h around the city and not to let off clouds of steam, so as not to frighten the horses harnessed to ordinary carriages. The most serious and tangible blow to steam-powered trucks came in 1933 with the heavy vehicle tax law. It was only in 1934, when duties on the import of petroleum products were reduced, that the victory of gasoline and diesel engines over steam engines loomed on the horizon.
Only England could afford to mock progress so elegantly and calmly. In the USA, France, and Italy, the environment of enthusiastic inventors was literally seething with ideas, and the steam car acquired new shapes and characteristics. Although English inventions made a significant contribution to the development steam vehicles, laws and prejudices of the authorities did not allow them to fully participate in the battle with the internal combustion engine. But let's talk about everything in order.
Prehistoric reference
The history of the development of the steam car is inextricably linked with the history of the emergence and improvement of the steam engine. When in the 1st century A.D. e. Heron from Alexandria proposed his idea of making steam rotate a metal ball, but his idea was treated as nothing more than fun. Whether it was other ideas that worried the inventors more, the first person to put a steam boiler on wheels was the monk Ferdinand Verbst. In 1672. His “toy” was also treated as fun. But the next forty years were not in vain for the history of the steam engine.
Isaac Newton's self-propelled carriage project (1680), mechanic Thomas Savery's fire apparatus (1698), and Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric engine (1712) demonstrated the enormous potential of using steam to accomplish mechanical work. At first, steam engines pumped water out of mines and lifted loads, but by the middle of the 18th century there were already several hundred such steam installations at enterprises in England.
What is a steam engine? How can steam move wheels? The principle of the steam engine is simple. Water is heated in a closed tank to the state of steam. The steam is discharged through tubes into a closed cylinder and pressed out by a piston. Through an intermediate connecting rod, this translational motion is transmitted to the flywheel shaft.
This circuit diagram The operation of a steam boiler in practice had significant drawbacks.
The first portion of steam burst out in clouds, and the cooled piston, under its own weight, fell down for the next stroke. This principle diagram of the operation of a steam boiler in practice had significant drawbacks. The lack of a steam pressure regulation system often led to a boiler explosion. Bringing the boiler to working condition required a lot of time and fuel. Constant refueling and the gigantic size of the steam plant only increased the list of its shortcomings.
A new machine was proposed in 1765 by James Watt. He directed the steam squeezed out by the piston into an additional condensation chamber and eliminated the need to constantly add water to the boiler. Finally, in 1784, he solved the problem of how to redistribute the movement of steam so that it pushed the piston in both directions. Thanks to the spool he created, the steam engine could operate without breaks between strokes. This principle of a double-acting heat engine formed the basis of most steam technology.
Many smart people worked on the creation of steam engines. After all, this is a simple and cheap way to obtain energy from practically nothing.
A short excursion into the history of steam-powered cars
However, no matter how grandiose the successes of the British were in the field, the first to put a steam engine on wheels was the Frenchman Nicolas Joseph Cugnot.
Cugno's first steam car
His car appeared on the roads in 1765. The speed of the stroller was a record - 9.5 km/h. In it, the inventor provided four seats for passengers, who could be taken for a ride at an average speed of 3.5 km/h. This success seemed not enough to the inventor.
The need to stop to fill up with water and light a new fire every kilometer of the journey was not a significant disadvantage, but only the state of the art of that time.
He decided to invent a cannon tractor. Thus, a three-wheeled cart with a massive boiler in front was born. The need to stop to fill up with water and light a new fire every kilometer of the journey was not a significant disadvantage, but only the state of the art of that time.
Cugno's next model, from 1770, weighed about one and a half tons. The new cart could transport about two tons of cargo at a speed of 7 km/h.
Maestro Cugno was more interested in the idea of creating a high-pressure steam engine. He was not even bothered by the fact that the boiler could explode. It was Cunho who came up with the idea of placing the firebox under the boiler and carrying the “fire” with him. In addition, his “cart” can rightfully be called the first truck. The resignation of the patron and a series of revolutions did not give the master the opportunity to develop the model into a full-fledged truck.
Self-taught Oliver Evans and his amphibian
The idea of creating steam engines had universal proportions. In the North American states, inventor Oliver Evans created about fifty steam installations based on Watt's machine. Trying to reduce the size of James Watt's installation, he designed steam engines for flour mills. However, Oliver Evans gained worldwide fame for his amphibious steam car. In 1789, his first car in the United States successfully passed land and water tests.
On his amphibian, which can be called the prototype of all-terrain vehicles, Evans installed a machine with a steam pressure of ten atmospheres!
The nine-meter car-boat weighed about 15 tons. The steam engine drove the rear wheels and propeller screw. By the way, Oliver Evans was also a supporter of the creation of a high-pressure steam engine. On his amphibian, which can be called the prototype of all-terrain vehicles, Evans installed a machine with a steam pressure of ten atmospheres!
If the inventors of the 18th and 19th centuries had 21st century technology at their fingertips, can you imagine how much technology they would come up with!? And what technology!
20th century and 204 km/h on a Stanley steam car
Yes! The 18th century gave a powerful impetus to the development of steam transport. Numerous and varied designs of self-propelled steam carriages began to increasingly dilute horse-drawn transport on the roads of Europe and America. By the beginning of the 20th century, steam-powered cars had spread significantly and became a familiar symbol of their time. Just like photography.
The 18th century gave a powerful impetus to the development of steam transport
It was their photographic company that the Stanley brothers sold when, in 1897, they decided to seriously engage in the production of steam cars in the USA. They created well-selling steam cars. But this was not enough for them to satisfy their ambitious plans. After all, they were just one of many similar automakers. That was until they designed their “rocket”.
It was their photographic company that the Stanley brothers sold when, in 1897, they decided to seriously engage in the production of steam cars in the USA.
Of course, Stanley cars were famous reliable car. The steam unit was located at the rear, and the boiler was heated using gasoline or kerosene torches. The flywheel of a double-acting steam two-cylinder engine rotates to the rear axle via a chain drive. There were no cases of boiler explosions at Stanley Steamer. But they needed a sensation.
Of course, Stanley cars had a reputation for being reliable cars.
With their “rocket” they created a sensation throughout the world. 205.4 km/h in 1906! No one has ever driven so fast! A car with an internal combustion engine broke this record only 5 years later. Stanley's plywood steam "Rocket" defined the shape racing cars for many years to come. But after 1917, Stanley Steamer became increasingly frustrated by the competition of the cheap Ford T and resigned.
Unique steam cars of the Doble brothers
This famous family managed to put up worthy resistance gasoline engines right up to the beginning of the 30s of the XX century. They didn't build cars for records. The brothers truly loved their steam cars. Otherwise, how else to explain the honeycomb radiator and ignition button they invented? Their models did not look like small locomotives.
Brothers Abner and John revolutionized steam transportation.
Brothers Abner and John revolutionized steam transportation. His car didn't need to warm up for 10-20 minutes to get going. The ignition button pumped kerosene from the carburetor into the combustion chamber. He got there after ignition with a spark plug. The water heated up in a matter of seconds, and after a minute and a half the steam created the necessary pressure and you could go.
The exhaust steam was sent to a radiator for condensation and preparation for subsequent cycles. Therefore, for a smooth run of 2000 km, the Doblov cars required only ninety liters of water in the system and a few liters of kerosene. No one could offer such efficiency! Perhaps it was at the Detroit Auto Show in 1917 that the Stanleys met the Doble brothers' model and began to wind down their production.
Model E has become the most luxury car the second half of the 20s and the latest version of the Doblov ferry car. Leather interior, polished wood and elephant bone elements delighted wealthy owners inside the car. In such a cabin one could enjoy mileage at speeds of up to 160 km/h. Only 25 seconds separated the moment of ignition from the moment of start. It took another 10 seconds for a car weighing 1.2 tons to accelerate to 120 km/h!
All these speed qualities were embedded in a four-cylinder engine. Two pistons pushed out steam under high pressure of 140 atmospheres, and the other two sent cooled low-pressure steam into a honeycomb condenser-radiator. But in the first half of the 30s, these beauties of the Doble brothers were no longer produced.
Steam trucks
However, we should not forget that steam traction was also rapidly developing in freight transport. It was in the cities that steam cars caused allergies among snobs. But cargo must be delivered in any weather and not only within the city. A intercity buses And military equipment? You won't get away with small cars there.
Freight transport has one significant advantage over passenger transport - its dimensions.
Freight transport has one significant advantage over passenger transport - its dimensions. They allow you to place powerful power plants anywhere in the car. Moreover, it will only increase the load capacity and cross-country ability. As for what the truck will look like, people didn’t always pay attention to this.
Among the steam trucks I would like to highlight the English Sentinel and the Soviet NAMI. Of course there were many others, for example Foden, Fowler, Yorkshire. But it was Sentinel and NAMI that turned out to be the most durable and were produced until the end of the 50s of the last century. They could work on any solid fuel- coal, firewood, peat. The “omnivorous” nature of these steam trucks placed them outside the influence of prices for petroleum products, and also made it possible to use them in hard to reach places.
Hard worker Sentinel with an English accent
These two trucks differ not only in the country of manufacture. The principles of location of steam generators were also different. Sentinels are characterized by the upper and lower location of the steam engines relative to the boiler. When positioned at the top, the steam generator supplied hot steam directly to the engine chamber, which was connected to the axles by a system of cardan shafts. When the steam engine was located at the bottom, i.e. on the chassis, the boiler heated the water and supplied steam to the engine through tubes, which guaranteed temperature loss.
Sentinels are characterized by the upper and lower location of the steam engines relative to the boiler.
The presence of a chain transmission from the flywheel of the steam engine to the cardans was typical for both types. This allowed the designers to unify the production of Sentinels depending on the customer. For hot countries such as India, steam trucks were produced with a lower, separated boiler and engine. For countries with cold winters - with the upper, combined type.
For hot countries such as India, steam trucks were produced with a lower, separated boiler and engine.
These trucks used a lot of proven technologies. Steam distribution spools and valves, single and double acting engines, high or low pressure, with or without gearbox. However, this did not extend the life of English steam trucks. Although they were produced until the end of the 50s of the XX century and were even in military service before and during the 2nd World War, they were still bulky and somewhat reminiscent of steam locomotives. And since there were no interested persons in their radical modernization, their fate was sealed.
Although they were produced until the end of the 50s of the XX century and were even in military service before and during the 2nd World War, they were still bulky and somewhat reminiscent of steam locomotives.
Who cares what, but to us – US
To revive the war-torn economy Soviet Union, it was necessary to find a way not to waste oil resources, at least in hard-to-reach places - in the north of the country and in Siberia. Soviet engineers were given the opportunity to study the Sentinel's overhead-mounted four-cylinder direct-acting steam engine design and develop their "answer to Chamberlain."
In the 30s, Russian institutes and design bureaus made repeated attempts to create an alternative truck for the timber industry.
In the 30s, Russian institutes and design bureaus made repeated attempts to create an alternative truck for the timber industry. But each time the matter stopped at the testing stage. Using their own experience and the opportunity to study captured steam vehicles, the engineers managed to convince the country's leadership of the need for such a steam truck. Moreover, gasoline cost 24 times more than coal. And the cost of firewood in the taiga need not be mentioned at all.
A group of designers led by Yu. Shebalin simplified the steam unit as a whole as much as possible. They combined a four-cylinder engine and boiler into one unit and placed it between the body and the cabin. We installed this installation on the chassis of the serial YaAZ (MAZ)-200. The work of steam and its condensation were combined in a closed cycle. The supply of wood ingots from the bunker was carried out automatically.
This is how NAMI-012 was born, or rather on the forest roads. Obviously, the principle of bunker supply of solid fuel and the location of the steam engine on truck was borrowed from the practice of gas generating plants.
The fate of the owner of the forests – NAMI-012
Characteristics of domestic steam flatbed truck and timber carrier NAMI-012 were like this
- Load capacity – 6 tons
- Speed – 45 km/h
- The range without refueling is 80 km, if it was possible to replenish the water supply, then 150 km
- Torque at low speeds – 240 kgm, which was almost 5 times higher than the base YaAZ-200
- A boiler with natural circulation created a pressure of 25 atmospheres and brought steam to a temperature of 420°C
- It was possible to replenish water supplies directly from the reservoir through ejectors
- The all-metal cabin did not have a hood and was pushed forward
- The speed was controlled by the volume of steam in the engine using the feed/cut-off lever. With its help, the cylinders were filled to 25/40/75%.
- One reverse gear and three control pedals.
Serious disadvantages of the steam truck were the consumption of 400 kg of firewood per 100 km of travel and the need to get rid of water in the boiler in cold weather.
Serious disadvantages of the steam truck were the consumption of 400 kg of firewood per 100 km of travel and the need to get rid of water in the boiler in cold weather. But the main disadvantage that was present in the first sample was poor cross-country ability when unloaded. Then it turned out that the front axle was overloaded with the cabin and steam unit, compared to the rear. They coped with this task by installing a modernized steam power plant on the all-wheel drive YaAZ-214. Now the power of the NAMI-018 timber truck has been increased to 125 horsepower.
But, not having time to spread throughout the country, steam generator trucks were all disposed of in the second half of the 50s of the last century.
But, not having time to spread throughout the country, steam generator trucks were all disposed of in the second half of the 50s of the last century. However, together with gas generators. Because the cost of converting the vehicles, the economic impact and ease of use were labor intensive and questionable compared to gasoline and diesel trucks. Moreover, by this time oil production was already being established in the Soviet Union.
A fast and affordable modern steam car
Do not think that the idea of a steam-powered car is forgotten forever. There is now a significant increase in interest in engines alternative to internal combustion engines running on gasoline and diesel fuel. The world's oil reserves are not unlimited. Yes, and the cost of petroleum products is constantly increasing. Designers tried so hard to improve the internal combustion engine that their ideas almost reached their limit.
Electric cars, hydrogen cars, gas-powered and steam cars have once again become hot topics. Hello, forgotten 19th century!
There is now a significant increase in interest in engines alternative to internal combustion engines running on gasoline and diesel fuel.
A British engineer (England again!) demonstrated the new capabilities of the steam engine. He created his Inspuration not only to demonstrate the relevance of steam-powered cars. His brainchild is made for records. 274 km/h – this is the speed accelerated by twelve boilers installed on a 7.6-meter car. Just 40 liters of water is enough for liquefied gas to bring the steam temperature to 400°C in just a moment. Just think, it took history 103 years to break the speed record for a steam-powered car set by the Rocket!
In a modern steam generator, you can use coal in powder form or other cheap fuel, for example, fuel oil, liquefied gas. This is why steam cars have always been and will be popular.
But for an environmentally friendly future to come, it is again necessary to overcome the resistance of oil lobbyists.
STEAM ROTORY ENGINE and STEAM AXIAL PISTON ENGINE
A steam rotary engine (rotary-type steam engine) is a unique power machine, the production of which has not received proper development to date.
On the one hand, a variety of designs rotary engines existed back in the last third of the 19th century and even worked well, including for driving dynamos for the purpose of generating electrical energy and power supply of all objects. But the quality and precision of manufacturing of such steam engines (steam engines) was very primitive, so they had low efficiency and low power. Since then, small steam engines have become a thing of the past, but along with the truly ineffective and unpromising piston steam engines, steam rotary engines with good prospects have also become a thing of the past.
The main reason is that at the level of technology of the late 19th century, it was not possible to make a truly high-quality, powerful and durable rotary engine.
Therefore, of the entire variety of steam engines and steam machines, only steam turbines of enormous power (from 20 MW and above), which today produce about 75% of electricity in our country, have survived safely and actively to this day. More steam turbines high power provide energy from nuclear reactors in missile-carrying combat submarines and large Arctic icebreakers. But these are all huge machines. Steam turbines dramatically lose all their efficiency as their size decreases.
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That is why there are no power steam engines and steam engines with a power below 2000 - 1500 kW (2 - 1.5 mW), which would effectively operate on steam obtained from the combustion of cheap solid fuel and various free combustible wastes, in the world.
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It is in this empty field of technology today (and an absolutely bare, but commercial niche that is in great need of a product supply), in this market niche of low-power power machines, that steam rotary engines can and should take their very worthy place. And the need for them in our country alone is tens and tens of thousands... Especially small and medium-sized power machines for autonomous power generation and independent power supply are needed by small and medium-sized enterprises in areas remote from large cities and large power plants: - in small sawmills, remote mines, field camps and forest plots, etc., etc.
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— 1)
Let's look at the factors that make rotary steam engines better than their closest relatives - steam engines in the form of reciprocating steam engines and steam turbines.
— 2)
Rotary engines are positive displacement power machines - like piston engines. Those. they have low steam consumption per unit of power, because steam is supplied to their working cavities from time to time, and in strictly dosed portions, and not in a constant, abundant flow, as in steam turbines. That is why steam rotary engines are much more economical than steam turbines per unit of output power. Rotary steam engines have an application arm of the operating gas forces
— 3)
(torque arm) is significantly (several times) greater than piston steam engines. Therefore, the power they develop is much higher than that of steam piston engines. Rotary steam engines have a much longer stroke than piston steam engines, i.e. have the ability to convert most of the internal energy of steam into.
— 4)
useful work Steam rotary engines can operate effectively on saturated (wet) steam, without difficulty allowing a significant part of the steam to condense into water directly in the working sections of the steam rotary engine. This also increases Operating efficiency
— 5
) Steam rotary engines operate at speeds of 2-3 thousand revolutions per minute, which is the optimal speed for generating electricity, in contrast to the too low-speed piston engines (200-600 revolutions per minute) of traditional locomotive-type steam engines, or from too high-speed turbines (10-20 thousand revolutions per minute).
At the same time, technologically, steam rotary engines are relatively simple to manufacture, which makes their production costs relatively low. In contrast to steam turbines, which are extremely expensive to produce.
SO, A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE - a steam rotary engine is a very effective steam power machine for converting steam pressure from the heat of burning solid fuel and combustible waste into mechanical power and into electrical energy.
The author of this site has already received more than 5 patents for inventions on various aspects of the design of steam rotary engines. A number of small rotary engines with power from 3 to 7 kW have also been produced. The design of steam rotary engines with power from 100 to 200 kW is currently underway.
But rotary engines have a “generic drawback” - a complex system of seals, which for small engines turn out to be too complex, miniature and expensive to manufacture.
At the same time, the author of the site is developing steam axial piston engines with opposed - counter-movement of pistons. This arrangement is the most energy-efficient variation of all possible schemes for using a piston system.
These motors in small sizes are somewhat cheaper and simpler than rotary motors and the seals they use are the most traditional and simplest.
Below is a video of using a small axial piston boxer engine with counter-movement of pistons.
Currently, such a 30 kW axial piston opposed engine is being manufactured. The engine life is expected to be several hundred thousand operating hours because the speed of a steam engine is 3-4 times lower than the speed of an internal combustion engine, the friction pair “piston-cylinder” is subjected to ion-plasma nitriding in a vacuum environment and the hardness of the friction surfaces is 62-64 units. H.R.C. For details on the process of surface hardening using the nitriding method, see.
Here is an animation of the operating principle of a similar axial piston boxer engine with counter-moving pistons