Designing a boat at age 12

I thought it was worth a look at, so I picked up plans and built a fairly big two cylinder version. It currently is running off a solar boiler, which provides free steam to the engine. I'll build a bigger one sometime soon to spin a 12 KW generator, which will relieve my electrical needs for the main house. Running 6 hours per day at full output, which is fairly easy in sunny Florida, I can generate 72 KWH. This is above my electrical needs 10 months out of the year for the house. The net result is I'll get a check from the power company each year for producing more electricity then I've used, meaning free with a touch of profit, just to make things worthwhile.

Richard, I'm always brilliant, just ask me, I'll straighten you out every time . . .

 

Thats quite nice to know, thanks.

 

does it have a condenser so you don't have to refill the boiler?

 

I've installed a condenser, which just makes too much sense. The main issue I've had is mineral deposits, which I've mostly remedied with distilled water, filtration and a small pump. The next step up, is a solar/pneumatic system, which will eliminate the water all together. I'm having trouble getting enough pressure with a pneumatic setup, but I'm still tinkering.

 

Paul, could you please deliver some additional info about your genny assembly? Rough figures or even estimations are just enough.
What size is the engine, is it the two cyl. kit? What size and type is your solar collector? Same question for your feeder pump. What about your steam temp. and or pressure?
Would be very helpful to learn from your experience with that arrangement. I could use a similar in a little hideaway in Asia.
Working on a water substitution sounds interesting. But plain air will not work. I would think about compressed air or co² first, due to higher density. In a closed loop naturally.
Regards
Richard

 

Haha! look at my last post on the drivel thread! Also, go to MY drivel thred. Read the rules though please! http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/open-discussion/junior-drivel-thread-25979.html#post254092

 

Yes, the engine is the two cylinder and the piston is quite a bit larger in diameter then the stroke. I'm not sure about displacement. I'm running just barely over atmospheric with a parabolic reflector of faceted mirrors (36"). I could run much higher pressures, but then I'd have more issues. I'd rather go with displacement and low pressures, which keeps things simple and less breakable.

The pump was arranged to push cleaned, reclaimed or fresh distilled water up to the boiler, which is mounted on a pole at the corner of the back porch. The mirror has a stellar tracking motor on it, much like what you'd see on a home telescope, which tracks the suns path across the sky. This keeps the boiler good and hot from mid morning to late afternoon.

The pneumatic system will be pressurized (naturally), but I'm still working on ways to keep the pressure up. It'll use a boiler still, but the air gap will have a bladder that gets contains non-saturated air. As pressures rise in the boiler, a diaphragm compresses the bladder, which pressurizes the air. I'm having a control issue with the valve, but I'll get it worked out.

 

The whole installation using water (apart from sizes) is a self explaining thing, but this does not get into my imagination. Can you help with a little drawing?
After some 35 years in restoration and operation of steamships I thought there are no news, not much left to learn. What a fallacy.
Regards
Richard

 

Think of it as a pressure vessel with a diaphragm containing the air space. As the pressure builds, it pushes up on the diaphragm, a valve prevents the air in the adjacent chamber from escaping, so it is compressed by the expanding diaphragm. The valve releases the pressurized air into the distribution ports on the engine.

It took a surprising amount of math to get a handle on the size of the "containment" bladder and the valve timing, but it does work. Naturally, since I'm moving air, the boiler had to be considerably larger to provide the volume necessary.

I expect piston ring friction to increase, because the steam acts as a lubricant. I think a UMPE or HPPE (or other hydrophobic material) cylinder would solve this issue, possibly with rings of the same. I know of one engine like this that uses carbon cylinders.

My current research is toward a self contained electricity supplementation. You have to remain on the "grid", because it's solar, but if the unit is large enough, it'll provide more then you'll use in a day, so the excess is purchased by the power utility. A "net metering" coupling on your electric service meter is required to receive the benefits of the power generation. The ultimate goal is to produce a boxed unit, that can be placed on a property, hooked to a net meter and essentially remove the property from the grid, during peak usage hours.

I've also looked into the prospect of a geothermal displacement engine doing the same thing, except 24 hours continuous operation. If I could drill a deep enough hole, I could get a huge temperature differential and spin a huge generator. It would be more helpful if I lived over a hot spring or volcano.

 

Move to Iceland, drill 5 mtrs. deep in your backyard. Tataaaa. You should buy a Bank (about 1$ at present) to finance the task.
For the self contained el. supply: you naturally know "Redox Flow Cell" !? I used them for remote resorts.
http://www.isea.rwth-aachen.de/eess/technology/redox-flow/en
http://www.electricitystorage.org/tech/technologies_technologies_vrb.htm
http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/01/vandium_reflux_.html
Thank you and
Regards
Richard

 

I actually know a few Icelandic women and they grow them pretty good up there. If I could get over the crown jewels shriveling up to be a dent where they normally live, cold weather thing, maybe I'd consider moving.

 

4 more days to my b-day. I Hope those stupid dipwads ship my engine on time.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7065205277695921912 watch this.

 

Wow that was a sweet looking engine PAR! it looks very light for the power too!?

 

It's extremely light for its output. I don't know why anyone would want to use a conventional steam engine in light of this innovation. For the price of a small regular steam engine, you could build a few dozen of these, have a lot more output, considerably less weight and low operating pressures.