Subject: Steam Power



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(3548)   Tue 23 Jul 91 17:10                             
By: Don Kulha
To: Tom Keller

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> Original Message Date: 23 Jul 91  11:00:24
> From: Tom Keller
> To: Don Kulha

> *STEAM*   I am an absolute *FANATIC* about STEAM!!!!!!  
> (Well, OK, maybe I'm just highly enthusiastic, but really, 
> you know?)
>  
     I'm possibly becoming a convert there too. It might just have 
some practical applications in alternative energy systems. Now 
granted,  the conference isn't just on AE but also on personal 
power production. Still it behoves us to look at alternatives to 
gas fired backup generators. They have their place certainly but we 
should look down every avenue to find ways of avoiding their use. 
Solar produced steam  could be ideal. Part of the reason folks have 
the gas fired generators is that sometimes the sun ain't out, the 
wind doesn't blow and you don't have any hydro potential. I 
suspect, though I don't have the hard data to back it up, that it's 
better for the enviornment to get a 1000 btu from your wood lot 
than from Standard Oil.

>    As for the Tesla Bladeless Turbine, I suspect that it 
> would not run well on anything but steam, and (just 
> possibly) compressed air.  I know we used to use a large air 
> compressor to turn over the 2500BPH triple-expansion, dual 
> reciprocating steam power plant about the S.S. Jeremiah 
> O'Brien when we aere servicing her. 
>  
     I found the catalogs a few days back....Lindsay's Publications 
(POB 583, Manteno IL 60950 (815)468-3668) puts out several catalogs 
full of interesting low/hi tech stuff. The two catalogs of theirs I 
have (Electrical Books/Technical Books) are fascinating. A lot of 
the stuff relates to old technology and how to do it yourself. 
Their electrical books catalog lists a phamplet titled "Tesla: The 
lost inventions" featuring data on several devices including the 
bladeless turbine. I ordered three books/phamplets from them 
today...the one just mentioned plus one on building copper-oxide 
solar cells and another on windmills. There are a couple sketchs in 
the catalog of the Tesla turbine which have whetted my curiousity. 
They look simple to make so after I get the book one of the 
machinists at the lab and I will probably build a small one to 
experiment with (using a bunch of scrap 5.25" diameter aluminum 
disk platters for plates).
>  
>    Steam is a clean, simple technology (of course, the 
> cleanliness of it depends on the source of heat).   Steam is 
> reliable, efficient and *FUN*.  It is also tricky, and can 
> be *EXTREMELY* dangerous!
>  
    Yep, as per my observations above it may be a great way to 
break reliance on fossil fuels for some apps. The Edmunds 
scientific catalog lists one freznel lens (about 3 feet sq.) as 
generating over 2000 deg. F at it's focal point so at some point 
short of that focal point might be a good place to focus it on a 
heavy copper block attached to the boiler to focus the light on. 
I'm only thinking about about building a small 2-3hp engine at this 
point and this might do it dependant on the efficency of the 
boiler/engine combo. The co-generation possibilities also have me 
fascinated. 
>  
>     For this reason, water-tube, as opposed to fire-tube 
> boilers are much safer.  In the event of a leak, the boiler 
> is self-quenching.  Moreover, there is less metal surface 
> exposed to a dangerous combination of high temperature *AND* 
> high pressures.  While a water-tube boiler can still 
> explode, it is much less likely, and generally somewhat less 
> violent (water tube boilers hold less water per pound of 
> steam per hour capacity).
>  
> Tom 'Steam is Grand!' Keller,
> Steam Enthusiast!
> 
   I'll confer with you later on in my project. Borrowed a book on 
building various sterling and steam engines and boilers today. I 
need to do a lot of research and procede cautiously when it comes 
to the actual steam generation. Water @ 275 deg. F and 150 PSI 
expands to steam volumetrically at a rate of 1800:1? Wow! Sounds 
like theres some real useable power there! Thanks for the info....DCK

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