Advanced steam technology
Encyclopedia
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
intended for a wider variety of applications than has recently been the case. Particular attention has been given to the long-term endemic problems that have led to the demise of steam power in a commercial environment; these include excessive pollution, maintenance costs, labour intensive operation, low power/weight ratio, and low overall thermal efficiency. This applies particularly to medium and small-scale installations where steam power has generally now been superseded by the internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
or by electrical power drawn from an electrical grid. The proposed steam engines may be for stationary, road, rail or marine use.
Improving steam traction
Although most references to "Modern Steam" apply to developments since the 1970s, certain aspects of advanced steam technology can be discerned throughout the 20th century, notably as regards automatic boiler control along with rapid steam raising from cold.Abner Doble
From 1922 Abner DobleAbner Doble
Abner Doble , was an American mechanical engineer who built and sold steam-powered automobiles. His father was William Ashton Doble, inventor of the Doble water wheel, and his grandfather and namesake was the founder of the Abner Doble Company.Abner Doble began apprenticing at his family's factory...
developed an electro-mechanical system that reacted simultaneously to steam temperature and pressure, starting and stopping the feed pumps whilst igniting and cutting out the burner according to boiler pressure. The contraflow monotube boiler had a working pressure of from 750 psi (5.17 MPa) to 1200 psi (8.27 MPa) but contained so little water in circulation as to present no risk of explosion. This type of boiler was continuously developed in the USA, Britain and Germany throughout the 1930s and into the 1950s for use in car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
s, bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es, truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s, railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
s, shunting locomotives (US; switcher
Switcher
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
s), a speedboat and a small aeroplane.
Sentinel
In the UK, Sentinel Waggon WorksSentinel Waggon Works
Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd was a British company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire that made steam-powered lorries, railway locomotives, and later, diesel engined lorries and locomotives.-Alley & MacLellan, Sentinel Works, Jessie Street Glasgow:...
developed a vertical water-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
running at 275 psi (1.9 MPa) which was used in road vehicles, shunting locomotives and railcars. Steam could be raised much more quickly than with a conventional locomotive boiler.
Livio Dante Porta
Postwar in the late 1940s and 1950s some designers worked on modernising steam locomotives. The ArgentinianArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
engineer Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta was an Argentine steam locomotive engineer. He is particularly remembered for his innovative modifications to existing locomotive systems in order to obtain higher performance, energy efficiency and reduced pollution. He developed the Kylpor and Lempor exhaust systems...
in the development of Stephensonian
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
railway locomotives incorporating advanced steam technology was a precursor of the 'Modern Steam' movement from 1948. Where possible, Porta much preferred to design new locomotives, but more often in practice he was forced to radically update old ones to incorporate the new technology.
Bulleid and Riddles
In Britain the SR Leader classSR Leader Class
The Leader was a class of experimental 0-6-6-0T articulated steam locomotive, produced in the United Kingdom to the design of the innovative engineer Oliver Bulleid. The Leader was an attempt to extend the life of steam traction by eliminating many of the operational drawbacks associated with...
of c1949 by Oliver Bulleid
Oliver Bulleid
Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known locomotives.- Early life and Great Northern Railway :He was born in Invercargill,...
and the British Rail ‘Standard’ class steam locomotives of the 1950s by Robert Riddles
Robert Riddles
Robert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, CBE, MIMechE, MinstLE was a British locomotive engineer.-LNWR and LMS:Riddles was born in 1892 and entered the Crewe Works of the London and North Western Railway as a premium apprentice in 1909, completing his apprenticeship in 1913...
, particularly the BR Standard Class 9F
BR standard class 9F
The British Railways BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, and was intended for use on fast, heavy freight...
, were used to trial new steam locomotive design features, including the Franco-Crosti boiler
Franco-Crosti boiler
The Franco-Crosti boiler is a type of boiler used for steam locomotives. It was designed in the 1930s by Attilio Franco and Dr Piero Crosti, two engineers working for the Ferrovie dello Stato , the Italian state railway.- Purpose :...
. On moving to Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, Bulleid also designed CIÉ No. CC1
CIÉ No. CC1
Córas Iompair Éireann No. CC1, generally known as the Turf Burner, was a prototype 0-6-6-0 articulated steam locomotive designed by Oliver Bulleid to burn turf and built at CIÉ's Inchicore Works in Dublin. CC1 shared some, but not all, of the characteristics of Bulleid's previous attempt to...
which had many novel features.
Achieving the ends
The Sir Biscoe Tritton Lecture, given by Roger Waller, of the DLM company http://www.dlm-ag.ch/ to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 2003 gives an idea of how these problems are being addressed. Waller refers mainly to some rack and pinionRack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...
mountain railway locomotives that were newly built from 1992-98. They were developed for three companies in Switzerland and Austria, and continued to work on two of these lines . The new steam locomotives burn the same grade of light oil as their diesel counterparts, and all demonstrate the same advantages of ready availability and reduced labour cost; at the same time they have been shown to greatly reduce air and ground pollution. Their economic superiority has meant that they have largely replaced the diesel locomotives and railcars previously operating the line; additionally, steam locomotives are a tourist attraction.
A parallel line of development was the return to steam power of the old Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
paddle steamer Montreux that had been refitted with a diesel-electric engine in the 1960s . Economic aims similar to those achieved with the rack locomotives were pursued through automatic control of the light-oil-fired boiler and remote control of the engine from the bridge, enabling the steamship to be operated by a crew of the same size as a motor ship.
Checklist
All this can be summed up as follows on the basis of the DLM company prospectus:Modern Steam stands for a new economic and ecologic steam technology, providing the following advantages:
- One-man operation for steam locomotives
- Automatic boiler and remote-controlled steam engine for ships
- Light-oil firing with clean combustion
- Low cost of ownership providing good return on investment
- High thermal efficiency of engine and boiler
- High-level insulation of boiler, steam engine and piping
- Modular concept and exchangeable parts
- Up-to-date bearing technology reducing maintenance and protecting the environment
- To which may be added:
- Ready availability for use
- Can also be used as part of a cogeneration system with a petrol, diesel or gas turbine engine
- Lends itself well to combined heat and power (CHPCHP-Healthcare:* Oporto Hospital Centre* Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh* Community Health Partnerships* Certified Health Physicist-Politics:* Christian Heritage Party * Christian Historical Party...
) operation - Can exploit geothermalGeothermalGeothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
sources of steam
Carbon neutrality
A power unit based on advanced steam technology burning hydrocarbonHydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
will, like any heat engine
Heat engine
In thermodynamics, a heat engine is a system that performs the conversion of heat or thermal energy to mechanical work. It does this by bringing a working substance from a high temperature state to a lower temperature state. A heat "source" generates thermal energy that brings the working substance...
using hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
combustion, inevitably emit carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
, a long-lasting greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
. However, significant reductions, compared to other combustion technologies, of other pollutants such as CO
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
and NOx
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
are achievable by steam technology, which does not involve explosive combustion, without the need for add-ons such as filters etc. or special preparation of fuel.
If renewable fuel such as wood
Wood fuel
Wood fuel is wood used as fuel. The burning of wood is currently the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity. Wood fuel may be available as...
or other biofuel
Biofuel
Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...
is used then the system could be carbon neutral
Carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality, or having a net zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference...
. The use of biofuel remains controversial; however, liquid biofuels are easier to manufacture for steam plant than for diesels as they do not demand the stringent fuel standards required to protect diesel injectors.
It has been proposed that, given sufficient solar energy, silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
might be refined for use as a coal replacement for this type of engine.
Advantages of advanced steam technology
In principle, combustion and power delivery of steam plant can be considered as separate stages. While high overall thermal efficiency may be difficult to achieve, largely due to the extra stage of generating a working fluid between combustion and power delivery attributable mainly to leakages and heat losses, the separation of the processes allows specific problems to be addressed at each stage without revising the whole system every time. For instance the boiler or steam generator can be adapted to use any heat source, whether obtained from solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, and can furthermore use waste heatWaste heat
Waste heat sometimes called Secondary heat or Low-grade heat refers to heat produced by machines, electrical equipment and industrial processes for which no useful application is found. Energy is often produced by a heat engine, running on a source of high-temperature heat...
; whatever the choice, it will have no direct effect on the design of the engine unit, as that only ever has to deal with steam.
Small-scale stationary plant
This project mainly includes combined electrical generation and heating systems for private homes and small villages burning wood or bamboo chips. This is intended to replace 2-stroke donkey engines and small diesel power plants. Drastic reduction in noise level is one immediate benefit of a steam-powered small plant. Ted Pritchard, of Melbourne, Australia, was intensively developing this type of unit from 2002 until his death in 2007. The company Pritchard Power http://www.pritchardpower.com/ stated in 2010 that they continue to develop the stationary S5000, and that a prototype had been built and was being tested, and designs were being refined for market ready products.Until 2006 a German company called Enginion was actively developing a Steamcell, a micro CHP unit about the size of a PC tower
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
for domestic use. It seems that by 2008 it had merged with Berlin company AMOVIS.
A similar unit is marketed by Powertherm, a subsidiary of Spilling (see below)
Small ship auxiliaries and large portable generators
Once again quiet operation is the immediate benefit sought in this field, a potential recognised by Ted Pritchard, but nothing of note has yet appeared.Small fixed stationary plant
The Spilling company produces a variety of small fixed stationary plant adapted to biomass combustion or power derived from waste heat or pressure recovery.Automotive uses
During the first 1970s oil crisis, a number of investigations into steam technology were initiated by large automobile corporations although as the crisis died down, impetus was soon lost.Ted Pritchard's main field of research from the late 1950s through the Sixties and into the Seventies was the building of several efficient steam power units working on the uniflow system adapted to a small truck and two cars. One of the cars was achieving the lowest emissions figures of that time.
IAV
IAV
IAV GmbH, , abbreviated to IAV, is one of the leading engineering providers to the automotive industry.IAV provides production-ready automotive solutions in all fields of powertrain, electronics and vehicle development. Founded in Berlin in 1983 by Prof. Dr...
, a Berlin-based R&D company that later developed the Steamcell, during the 1990s was working on the single-cylinder ZEE (Zero Emissions Engine), followed by the compact 3-cylinder EZEE (Equal-to-Zero-Emissions-Engine) designed to fit under the bonnet (US hood) of a Škoda Fabia
Škoda Fabia
The Škoda Fabia is a supermini produced by Czech manufacturer Škoda Auto since 1999. It was the successor to the Škoda Felicia, which was discontinued in 2001...
small family saloon. All these engines made heavy use of non-flaming ceramic heat cell
Ceramic heat cell
A ceramic heat cell, also known as Caloric Porous Structure Cell , is a ceramic device to convert thermal enegy to mechanical work by combustion of, in principle, any fuel that can be vapourised and pre-mixed with air. The cell is designed to work without flame, which keeps emissions of ...
s both for the steam generator and at strategic boost points where steam was injected into the cylinder(s).
Rail use
- No. 52 8055DR Class 52.80The Rekolokomotives of DR Class 52.80 first appeared in 1960 in service with the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany as extensive rebuilds of the wartime locomotives or Kriegslokomotiven of DRB Class 52...
, a rebuild of an existing locomotive (East Germany, 1960).
- The 5AT project5AT Advanced Technology Steam LocomotiveThe 5AT Advanced Technology steam locomotive is a conceptual design conceived by the British engineer David Wardale, and first described in his definitive work on modern steam, "The Red Devil and Other Tales from the Age of Steam" ....
, a proposal for an entirely new locomotive (Britain, 2000s).
- The ACE 3000 project , proposed by locomotive enthusiast Ross RowlandRoss RowlandRoss E. Rowland, Jr. is a significant figure in the United States railroad preservation, recreation and enthusiast communities who is closely identified with running public and demonstration excursions on existing railroads utilizing steam locomotives....
during the 1970s oil crisis. The locomotive would look like a diesel, and was designed to compete with current diesel locomotives by using coal, much cheaper than oil at the time. The ACE 3000 would feature many new technologies, such as automatic firing and water-level control. The locomotive would be able to be connected to a diesel unit and run in unison with it, so that it would not be necessary to hook up two identical locomotives. The ACE 3000 was one of the most publicised attempts at modern steam, but the project ultimately failed due to lack of funds.
Novel versus conventional layout
Both 52 8055 and the proposed 5AT are of conventional layout, with the cab at the back, while the ACE 3000 had the cab located at the front. Other approaches are possible, especially with liquid fuel firing. For example:- Cab forwardCab forwardThe term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs which place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice.- Rail locomotives :...
type. This is a well-tried design with the potential for a large power output and it would give the driver a good view ahead. Being single-ended it would have to be turned on a turntableTurntable (railroad)A railway turntable is a device for turning railroad rolling stock. When steam locomotives were still in wide use, many railroads needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many...
, or a triangular junction. Example: Southern Pacific 4294Southern Pacific 4294Southern Pacific 4294 was the last steam locomotive ordered new by Southern Pacific Railroad . It was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in March 1944, and was used hauling SP's trains over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, often working on Donner Pass in California.- Construction and use :4294 was the...
.
- GarrattGarrattA Garratt is a type of steam locomotive that is articulated in three parts. Its boiler is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might...
type. Another well-tried design with large power potential. Example: South Australian Railways 400 classSouth Australian Railways 400 classThe South Australian Railways 400 class is a class of 4-8-2+2-8-4 steam locomotives built in the early 1950s. 400 class locomotives served mainly on the South Australian Railways' narrow gauge Broken Hill line from 1953 to 1963, when they were replaced by diesel locomotives...
. A future design could include shorter water tanks, and a cab at each end, to give the driver a good view in either direction.
- A design mounted on power bogies with compact water-tube boiler similar to SentinelSentinel Waggon WorksSentinel Waggon Works Ltd was a British company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire that made steam-powered lorries, railway locomotives, and later, diesel engined lorries and locomotives.-Alley & MacLellan, Sentinel Works, Jessie Street Glasgow:...
designs of the 1930s. Example: Sentinel-Cammell locomotive (right).
Fireless locomotives
Another proposal for advanced steam technology is to revive the fireless locomotiveFireless locomotive
A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive designed for use under conditions restricted by either the presence of flammable material or the need for cleanliness...
, which runs on stored steam independently pre-generated. An example is the Solar Steam Train project in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
.