The Steamboating Forum

A lotta people looking.................not many offers!

The quest for reasonably efficient and reliable rotary type steam engines has gone on for well over 100 years, and virtually none of them has attained the status of a viable design.

Hundreds upon hundreds of rotary engine designs have been developed, patented, and examined in detail. The main attraction is simplicity, self starting, and, during the later part of the 19th century, the potential to drive dynamos at high speed, which was generally difficult for the reciprocating engines of that time.

The seals are always the problem, and nobody has solved this yet. There is also generally too much surface area exposed to the expanding steam, which hurts the steam economy very much with condensation.

If this engine were to show real promise, then common engine performance tests would have demonstrated its economy and operability over the last several decades it has been in existence. But all I see is a testimonial from an enthusiastic supporter, with no meaningful numbers or backup information.

For an interesting look at this history:

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/POWE ... ryeng6.htm

As a machinist trying to make a living without dieing from laughter, I have to be on my guard when anything looking even vaguely like an inventor comes through the door.

My latest hoot was a guy who wanted to convert an old 6-71 GMC die-sel engine to a steam engine. After explaining to him in simple terms about fuel consumption, he said, "That's not a problem. I have an unlimited supply of oil from a place down the road where they salvage old power pole transformers." Then I got to explain to him about dioxins.

You couldn't make up things like this. Next week it will the fiftieth one in ten years with a 100 mpg carburator. I seem to be a geek magnet. Maybe I should offer free tin foil for brain protection.

PCBs YUMMY

Whole towns have been demolished due to contaminated oil being used to keep the dust down on dirt roads...

I bet you could get 100mpg out of a carb... on a 40cc motorbike

Dioxins? When I bought my boat it came with three drums of transformer fluid and a paper certifying that the oil was PCB free.Nobody mentioned Dioxins.It was a great burning fuel-no smoke ,no soot but did I melt the icecap or poison humanity? Enlighten me what are Dioxins? Den

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxins_a ... _compounds

Avoid burning organics compounds that contain chlorine - plastics in particular.

- Bart