Still the most efficient reciprocating design ever produced. Even a two-stroke has an exhaust cycle where its not making power, but on a steam engine, every half stroke is a power stroke. No wasted movement.
The vast majority of steam cars used two cylinders with double-acting pistons like this. Four evenly=spaced power strokes per revolution in a very compact package.
@@ronaldroberts7221 That was likely a Double Expansion engine. Steam pressure gets sent from cylinder to cylinder, ultimately returning to the boiler to be reheated and used again. Very efficient.
Not anywhere remotely close to the most efficient engine 😂😂😂😂 Thermal efficiency is the true measure of the engine efficiency - which means how much actual power is produced compared to the potential energy of the fuel being burnt. Heat = energy Fuel has a finite amount of energy. That means you have an exact amount of energy in the fuel - whether it's fuel oil or wood.. Steam engines only convert like 20% of heat from burning coal into actual power and useful work. There's diesel engines out there that convert OVER HALF of the heat from burnt fuel into work /power. Nothing fancy, just standard diesel tech that gets over 50% thermal efficiency.. Lack of wasted movement DOES NOT MEAN HIGHER EFFICIENCY!!
@@csonkaperdido Of course it does. If an engine makes 4 stroke and only 1 of them makes power, that is way less efficient than the engine having a power stroke on ALL of the same 4 strokes. What you're talking about is fuel power efficiency. The engine's ability to use the fuel's ability to make power. I'm talking about the efficiency of how the engine itself works with the fuel afforded it. Two different things. Every stroke being a power stroke is a more efficient use of how the engine works, as opposed to the power stroke being only once every 2 strokes or 4 strokes.
@@DeanMk1 Fuel power efficiency? Lmfao It's called THERMAL efficiency. As I said - the measure of how efficient an engine is happens to be very simple. How much of the potential energy in the fuel is turned into actual work... Work meaning power. If you knew what you were talking about you'd also know that 2 strokes typically burn MORE fuel per mile than a 4 stroke does. I'm talking about gasoline engines - not diesel. Diesels work much different from a spark - controlled gasoline engine. You're talking about conservation of motion or something... I'm talking about actual efficiency. Go ask any mechanical engineer what defines "efficiency" in an internal combustion engine, and that engineer will tell you the same thing I am. Efficiency has absolutely nothing to do with the number of moving parts or how often they move. Do you not wonder why cars are becoming more and more complicated, yet achieve 50% better fuel economy than the same size engine of 30 yrs ago? Do you not wonder why NOBODY puts a 2 stroke into any road car anymore? There's only 1 outboard engine manufacturer who builds 2 stroke engines - and their engines still burn more fuel per mile than a 4 stroke of the same power? Efficiency = less input for the same output (or better). Number of parts has absolutely nothing to do with the efficiency of the engine.
@@flamesis The valve over the exhaust port moves left and right by the green eccentric cam at the other end of the yellow rod. The green cam is attached to the crankshaft (the small red circle inside the green cam and also the red circle the green oblong crank rotates on). I split the crank in two to make it easier to see them. Since the crank and cam are on the same shaft, when the piston moves the crank, it rotates the crankshaft and the cam, which moves the valve back and forth. I hope I explained it so you understand how it works.
Its called a sliding block. It takes the steam pressure and directs it in and out of the cylinder (also from one side of the piston to the other). This is why it seems slightly out of synch with the piston. It has to slide to direct steam pressure before the piston can move.
Pretty cool - but also a little confusing bc your animation just shows the exhaust dead - ending and seemingly just remaining in the little transfer port. Just a thought to make the animation make sense for someone who knows nothing about how mechanical things or steam engines.... That exhaust was often sent to a 2nd engine that extracted the rest of the energy from the hot exhaust, in this its really hard to tell what's actually happening.
Sorry the animation confused you. I made it a long time ago with a program I don't have anymore, so I can't make changes to it. I did label it "exhaust out". I made the steam change color as it gains and loses pressure. The more pressure, the darker the color and vice versa. My intention was to show how the valve directs the steam to and from the piston cylinder. I don't recall ever seeing the exhaust sent to another engine. It's sent to progressively smaller cylinders on multistage steam engines like the 2 on the Titanic, which had 3 cylinders each. Then it was sent to a turbine that generated electricity for the ship. Thanks for the reply and glad you liked it.
@@TinkeringJohn it didn't confuse me I meant it could be confusing to people who don't understand steam engines... It's still very informative - just the terms used like "exhaust" can confuse someone into thinking a steam engine burns its own fuel and has an exhaust like an internal combustion engine.
@@TinkeringJohn also as far as the exhaust being sent to another engine - the different cylinders are what I was referring to... I guess technically they aren't each their own engine, but I meant the "waste" steam or exhaust is piped into another cylinder to extract more power... I was calling the 2nd and 3rd cylinders "engines " because on some old tractor I saw once in a museum had the main steam engine powering the wheels, but the 2nd cylinder was used for the PTO. Basically they were just using the remaining energy in the steam to power whatever you connected to the tractor. I have no idea if that tractor made it into production - it may have been a 1 off design and the reason it was in the museum was bc of its 2 "seperate" engines that were connected. I prob just assumed that was the reason for the progressively different size cylinders... Like each one had its own job to do.... Titanic is a good example - I never researched it... I just assumed that the 2nd cylinder would have been used as a 2nd generator to power the ships electrical systems... Not to the propulsion of the ship. But again that was just an assumption.
@@TugIronChief I'm very familiar with steam engines there pal... And I know all about high, medium and low pressure cylinders increasing in size to extract the last bits of energy from the steam. Please stop assuming and being an arrogant TH-cam comments section know it all... 🙄🙄🙄
@@TugIronChief also the 2nd engine absolutely DID happen and if you knew how to read your understand what I said about the pto drive of an old farming tractor... Ya donkey.
Still the most efficient reciprocating design ever produced. Even a two-stroke has an exhaust cycle where its not making power, but on a steam engine, every half stroke is a power stroke.
No wasted movement.
The vast majority of steam cars used two cylinders with double-acting pistons like this. Four evenly=spaced power strokes per revolution in a very compact package.
@@ronaldroberts7221 That was likely a Double Expansion engine. Steam pressure gets sent from cylinder to cylinder, ultimately returning to the boiler to be reheated and used again.
Very efficient.
Not anywhere remotely close to the most efficient engine 😂😂😂😂
Thermal efficiency is the true measure of the engine efficiency - which means how much actual power is produced compared to the potential energy of the fuel being burnt.
Heat = energy
Fuel has a finite amount of energy.
That means you have an exact amount of energy in the fuel - whether it's fuel oil or wood.. Steam engines only convert like 20% of heat from burning coal into actual power and useful work.
There's diesel engines out there that convert OVER HALF of the heat from burnt fuel into work /power. Nothing fancy, just standard diesel tech that gets over 50% thermal efficiency..
Lack of wasted movement DOES NOT MEAN HIGHER EFFICIENCY!!
@@csonkaperdido Of course it does. If an engine makes 4 stroke and only 1 of them makes power, that is way less efficient than the engine having a power stroke on ALL of the same 4 strokes.
What you're talking about is fuel power efficiency. The engine's ability to use the fuel's ability to make power.
I'm talking about the efficiency of how the engine itself works with the fuel afforded it.
Two different things.
Every stroke being a power stroke is a more efficient use of how the engine works, as opposed to the power stroke being only once every 2 strokes or 4 strokes.
@@DeanMk1
Fuel power efficiency?
Lmfao
It's called THERMAL efficiency.
As I said - the measure of how efficient an engine is happens to be very simple.
How much of the potential energy in the fuel is turned into actual work... Work meaning power.
If you knew what you were talking about you'd also know that 2 strokes typically burn MORE fuel per mile than a 4 stroke does.
I'm talking about gasoline engines - not diesel. Diesels work much different from a spark - controlled gasoline engine.
You're talking about conservation of motion or something... I'm talking about actual efficiency.
Go ask any mechanical engineer what defines "efficiency" in an internal combustion engine, and that engineer will tell you the same thing I am.
Efficiency has absolutely nothing to do with the number of moving parts or how often they move.
Do you not wonder why cars are becoming more and more complicated, yet achieve 50% better fuel economy than the same size engine of 30 yrs ago?
Do you not wonder why NOBODY puts a 2 stroke into any road car anymore?
There's only 1 outboard engine manufacturer who builds 2 stroke engines - and their engines still burn more fuel per mile than a 4 stroke of the same power?
Efficiency = less input for the same output (or better).
Number of parts has absolutely nothing to do with the efficiency of the engine.
Good animation tanq
Just found your channel and Subscribed. Really nice work.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Niceeeee!!! This is what i was looking for 👍👍
Thanks. Glad you found it useful.
@@flamesis The valve over the exhaust port moves left and right by the green eccentric cam at the other end of the yellow rod. The green cam is attached to the crankshaft (the small red circle inside the green cam and also the red circle the green oblong crank rotates on). I split the crank in two to make it easier to see them. Since the crank and cam are on the same shaft, when the piston moves the crank, it rotates the crankshaft and the cam, which moves the valve back and forth. I hope I explained it so you understand how it works.
good
what is the slide valve attached to? i don't know if it's my imagination but it seems to be lagging slightly behind the rotation of the wheel
Its called a sliding block. It takes the steam pressure and directs it in and out of the cylinder (also from one side of the piston to the other). This is why it seems slightly out of synch with the piston. It has to slide to direct steam pressure before the piston can move.
Pretty cool - but also a little confusing bc your animation just shows the exhaust dead - ending and seemingly just remaining in the little transfer port. Just a thought to make the animation make sense for someone who knows nothing about how mechanical things or steam engines....
That exhaust was often sent to a 2nd engine that extracted the rest of the energy from the hot exhaust, in this its really hard to tell what's actually happening.
Sorry the animation confused you. I made it a long time ago with a program I don't have anymore, so I can't make changes to it. I did label it "exhaust out". I made the steam change color as it gains and loses pressure. The more pressure, the darker the color and vice versa. My intention was to show how the valve directs the steam to and from the piston cylinder. I don't recall ever seeing the exhaust sent to another engine. It's sent to progressively smaller cylinders on multistage steam engines like the 2 on the Titanic, which had 3 cylinders each. Then it was sent to a turbine that generated electricity for the ship. Thanks for the reply and glad you liked it.
@@TinkeringJohn it didn't confuse me I meant it could be confusing to people who don't understand steam engines... It's still very informative - just the terms used like "exhaust" can confuse someone into thinking a steam engine burns its own fuel and has an exhaust like an internal combustion engine.
@@TinkeringJohn also as far as the exhaust being sent to another engine - the different cylinders are what I was referring to... I guess technically they aren't each their own engine, but I meant the "waste" steam or exhaust is piped into another cylinder to extract more power... I was calling the 2nd and 3rd cylinders "engines " because on some old tractor I saw once in a museum had the main steam engine powering the wheels, but the 2nd cylinder was used for the PTO.
Basically they were just using the remaining energy in the steam to power whatever you connected to the tractor. I have no idea if that tractor made it into production - it may have been a 1 off design and the reason it was in the museum was bc of its 2 "seperate" engines that were connected. I prob just assumed that was the reason for the progressively different size cylinders... Like each one had its own job to do.... Titanic is a good example - I never researched it... I just assumed that the 2nd cylinder would have been used as a 2nd generator to power the ships electrical systems... Not to the propulsion of the ship.
But again that was just an assumption.
@@TugIronChief I'm very familiar with steam engines there pal... And I know all about high, medium and low pressure cylinders increasing in size to extract the last bits of energy from the steam.
Please stop assuming and being an arrogant TH-cam comments section know it all... 🙄🙄🙄
@@TugIronChief also the 2nd engine absolutely DID happen and if you knew how to read your understand what I said about the pto drive of an old farming tractor... Ya donkey.
Video achhi hai.. Part ka name mention ka den to sahi rahega
Sorry, I don't know what you said. Please translate in English. Thanks.
@@TinkeringJohn
He said "Video is good.. It would be better if the parts were labelled"
Ur animation explain nothing, especially for those who knew nothing about steam explain.