Steam Engines Anyone? [RE-wrenches]

[Jeff Yago]

About 25 years ago I did something like this with a steam driven generator
package that I purchased surplus which was used to provide 120 volt DC power
for a ship (never understood why not AC).  It had a 25 HP steam engine and
weighed over 3 tons!   Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Steam systems are usually classified by pressure, so the lower the pressure,
the fewer the regulations and safety issues.  High pressure steam is
invisible (not like the white fog in the movies!) and many boiler operators
have been cut in half by walking by a leaking high pressure steam leak that
they could not see.  That's why they wave a broom in front of them when they
think there is a leak!!

Low pressure systems in the 5 psi range would be easiest and safest to
build, but low pressure steam requires very large steam cylinders to provide
the same horsepower output as a high pressure system and have very slow
shaft speeds (under 400 RPM).  This means lots of engine weight and may
require gearing to get a generator to operate at these slow shaft speeds.

Most slow speed steam engines use mechanical spinning governors to control
RPM.  These have a slow feedback response time so the shaft RPM will
constantly speed up and slow down.  This means you will need very good
electronic voltage regulation on the generator output.

You always want to use this waste heat after the steam flow passes through
the steam engine, not before, since after passing through the engine it has
given up most of its energy as work(pressure) but still has useful heat
energy (thermal).

Since the steam leaving the steam engine is actually now condensed high
temperature water, this water can be pumped through space heating radiators,
but may be too hot and too small a flow for in slab heating.  Don't expect
gallons of hot water condensate flow leaving the engine, it will be more
like a leaking faucet!   If this will not meet needs, then you will need a
heat exchanger to transfer this heat to a separate hot water heating piping
loop.

Jeff Yago

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