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Steam related discussions.
Re: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19800008231.pdf - 5 years ago
All I've read about automobile engine hydraulic valves indicates some speed limitations. Diesel injection pump style hydraulics would be more suitable than the low speed bicycle clutch systems. Leakage is going to happen. Steam engine valves work at twice the speed of four cycle engine valves. The water operated system described seemed to understand the leakage and control issues. I can't finby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19800008231.pdf - 5 years ago
Very Interesting. One of the most revolutionary features of the proposed engine was the feed water actuated valve system. Does anyone have more information on this in steam engines? What about limiting speed? Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Steam powered mountain bike - 5 years ago
This video gives a somewhat long winded explanation starting at about 2 minutes in. There's more explanation here. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Steam powered mountain bike - 5 years ago
Arch-Tone Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- A suitable ball valve installed > between the vessels would raise the gap between > the drums by a few inches...but I can live with > that...or If you or someone else have any ideas on > a solution....please let me know. > > Jamison I was worried about the check valve at the feed hose end. Iby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Steam powered mountain bike - 5 years ago
I was lost on how such low pressure feed could work until I realized that your drawing doesn't show the check valve. I'm still a little fuzzy. What happens when you run the system dry? How can you tell the water level? Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Delayed release bash valve - 5 years ago
Sorry about the seal issue. I posted before carefully looking at the design. I corrected my post after I saw the seal was made on the compression fitting. All together it's a great design for a very simple valve system. I need a version for a similar size engine running 1000 degree, 1000 psi steam turning over 10,000 rpm. So far only cam operated poppet valves are successful. This thread disby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Delayed release bash valve - 5 years ago
Thanks, that really helps. Of course there are possible refinements, but that looks like a great proof of concept setup. I'm building a small flash steam engine that's complete except for the valve system. I'm still looking at various ideas. I added this to my bash valve collection. My only thought is to replace the spring with a gas spring. This was discussed in a bulletin article on a vaby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Delayed release bash valve - 5 years ago
Please post parts pictures or a sketch. I'm very interested but can't picture the valve's operation from your description. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Mini Ofeldt - 5 years ago
I stumbled across this video on tubing forming that should apply to a lot of boiler tube bending. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Hiram Maxim's Boiler -- For The Steam Car Of The Future? - 5 years ago
Thanks again for the book. I'm slowly improving my steam education toward an RC model boat power plant. I have a burner, boiler, and engine roughed out, but am still thinking about the control system. These days it's just to prove you can build one since electric power has completely eclipsed even IC power plants. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: How To Calculate Natural Circulation Boilers -- Spreadsheet - 6 years ago
Thanks again. A quick look indicates that this is a real engineering tool and is probably overkill for most amateur projects. It should be interesting to investigate. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Easy Lamont Circulation Pump - 6 years ago
Thanks. I've posted Excel spreadsheets here with the attachments button. They just need to be under one meg. I would think that if the company web site posted the spreadsheet on the internet, there would be no problems with copyright. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Easy Lamont Circulation Pump - 6 years ago
I spent some time with the Wayback Machine looking at the old Wolverine web site. I can't find the spreadsheet or complete versions on their design manuals, only the manual index. Could you post the spreadsheet so other interested designers could use it? Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Converted 4 stroke engine to uniflow steam - 6 years ago
Very impressive. I didn't see a water pump. What did you use? Do you have any way to control the heat or water flow to the boiler? Do you have problems with flooding the boiler? You mentioned overheating the copper section. How do you prevent that? Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Pneumatic Digital-Control Engine Valves? - 6 years ago
Here is an example of an advanced steam engine with a solenoid valve and digital controls. Some of the ideas should work on larger engines. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Forum Security - 6 years ago
The security code makes the email so secure that I can't send a message through that forum. I always get the error message. I've tried several times on different days. Lohring Millerby lohring - Announcements
Re: A modern, commercial application for the steam car - 6 years ago
The model boat racing world I'm involved in can give a picture of the evolution of various power plants. In the beginning there was only steam. Steam powered tether boats gradually improved to today's 130 mph speeds. Only a tiny fraternity of steam enthusiasts are involved these days. Internal combustion engines took over, especially when radio control started to dominate. Controllable, highby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Forum Security - 6 years ago
Why can I access this forum but not the web site? My membership is current Lohring Millerby lohring - Announcements
Re: A modern, commercial application for the steam car - 6 years ago
I can't argue about the commercial possibilities of steam cars. I would be really astonished if they could compete with modern IC powered cars except for a group of hobbyists like the members here. I only need to look at the Cyclone story to see the development issues and the real resources that are needed to turn an idea into practice. I don't necessarily agree about your observation that Tby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Water level sensors in a mono tube boiler - 6 years ago
This is a system used for a model boat monotube. The control methods that were tried is described in part 2. He finally settled on controlling the output by varying the feed water flow. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Superheater design choice - 6 years ago
Jim Crank Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Off the subject, but why is/was the closed cycle, > pebble bed Brayton nuclear power system not used? > > Cannot explode or melt down, better efficiency > than the boiling water version, instant response > from 4 kW to 400 kW in two seconds for our SDI > system, the Air Force loved it. Unfortuby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Doble Replica - 6 years ago
Check out the online archive for some of the engine plans. http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt200014h4/ Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Micro Chuk Williams Combustion Chamber - 6 years ago
After a long pause to get my business started, I'm working on the RC flash steam engine again. The boiler is on hold while I build the engine. Below are pictures of the cylinder block and liner on a 23 cc gasoline engine crankcase. Next will be the piston and Dykes ring. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Monotube boiler construction - 7 years ago
The ceramic burner was another idea. There is no ceramic in my burner. The blower supplies combustion air to the inner can through vanes at the base and holes in the sides of the inner can. The vanes give swirl to the primary air going around the burner nozzles that are under the baffle. Secondary air enters the inner can through the holes further down the can. The combustion products exit thby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Monotube boiler construction - 7 years ago
A similar idea that might work at full scale is the ceramic burner. I've been working on a model version of Chuk's burner. It works very well with propane, but it will run on liquid fuel eventually when I get the pump and blower controls sorted out. The pictures show the assembly with the blower, the inner can, the outer can, the coil nozzle test on low pressure propane, and the coil assembledby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: land speed record - 7 years ago
I was very excited to learn about your new record attempt with a new car and power plant. The Knowles axial piston expander is very interesting as well. Hopefully its basic design will be up to the necessary power. Will the hot area around the valves in the center of the engine cause problems? Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Boiler pressure switch - 7 years ago
I'm very interested, especially in your control system. I suspect that it would have stability problems dealing with a high pressure monotube. Some similar boilers were built by the late John Wetz but with mechanical controls. I would think that electronics could do the same things better today. I spent a lot of time on this forum researching how John's controls worked. Once you understand itby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Welcome to the new website. - 7 years ago
Scott Finegan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Forum thumbnails of uploaded photos not > displaying. I have the same problem with the latest version of Firefox. Lohring Miller Fixedby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: Ball check design - 7 years ago
I got this information from a model engineering site. The sizes may be a little small, but there should be a correlation to something like the hole size to ball diameter. I never needed bigger balls (LOL) so I never developed a spread sheet to find out. Lohring Millerby lohring - SteamStuff
Re: ceramic engine - 7 years ago
From Wikipedia: " The full name of zirconia used in dentistry is yttria-stabilized zirconia." Graphs general material properties give an idea of the relative properties of ceramics compared to metals. Zirconia ceramics aren't as tough, but are stronger than metals. Stress raisers need to be avoided. A comparison of titanium versus zirconium in dental implants shows more failures in tby lohring - SteamStuff