Networks: Steam Engines

Looked up more info on steam engines. Also confirmed that you don't need electrical components to make them run as well. This is looking good so far.

To understand further how it works I looked more into different designs of steam engines and their purposes.

Now, a brief history of steam engines. The idea to use steam to move objects was first made by a Greek called Hero, but at the time there was no application for this idea. Hero's design had a boiler and one piston. Later on, the first applications for steam engines were for pumping water out of mines and wells (Davies, 2007). The most famous of which were the machines by Thomas Savery and Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric steam engines in the 1700s (Lira, 2001).

James Watt converted the straight movements of the pistons into round and round motion in 1776. Before then they only moved in straight lines. Later on George Stephenson made more powerful steam engines that were used in machinery and factories (Davies, 2007).

Also found a pretty good diagram that explains how the straight movement of pistons is changed to a rotational movement. It explains how the Stephenson Steam Engine works in the Youtube video I posted previously.

A type of steam engine machine that we could do is the Stirling machine. It uses the same concept of using pressure to cause movement of pistons, but the difference is that a Stirling doesn't need an exhaust pipe. Instead a certain amount of gas stays inside the Stirling at all times. You could condense the water and use it again. In fact, if you want you don't have to use water and just use plain air that when heated expands, therefore increasing pressure. So that works too. The limitations of a Stirling is that it's impractical for cars andthings since the heat source is external. That won't matterbecause we're not building a car. It also takes time to produce anyuseful energy and it can't change its output of energy quickly (Nice, 2011).

This is an example of a Stirling engine running on just air with the flame heating up one end (Infarc, 2007):

This is another Stirling engine made from readily available materials like tin cans and balloons (Myfordboy, 2008):

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Reference list

Davies, A. (2007). The Steam Engine. George Stephenson. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.design-technology.org/steamengine.htm

Infarc. (2007, May 23). Stirling engine example [Video file]. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF15NA4vR2w

Lira, C.T. (2001). Steam Engine History. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.egr.msu.edu/~lira/supp/steam/

Myfordboy. (2008, March 8). Stirling Cycle Engine from Tin cans [Video file]. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hazK8kxd-uA&feature=relmfu

Nice, K. (2011). HowStuffWorks "How Stirling Engines Work". Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/stirling-engine.htm