Steam boiler & steam engines

[user 6208]

I'd like to hear more about your steam boiler and your steam engine.

I ended up going with a design known as a flash boiler since it cannot explode.

So would I. Better have a very large water supply.

The water is being largely recycled through a condenser (essentially a radiator) and back into the "hotwell" aka a 55 gallon drum. There is loss, but there's also enough to run it all day. I haven't, but it should run longer than I need it to.

The engine is from a guy named Mike Brown. It's linked below. It is approximately 3HP (2.7HP technically if 150PSI steam is delivered).
Although his son has taken over the machining since then, and it looks much nicer and more professionally-made.

I'm running 150 PSI, but will try 200 PSI in the coming weeks. I'm evaporating about an ounce per second, IIRC.

I'm running an alternator to charge AGM batteries.

:

 

[Oddcaliber]

I ended up going with a design known as a flash boiler since it cannot explode.

The water is being largely recycled through a condenser (essentially a radiator) and back into the "hotwell" aka a 55 gallon drum. There is loss, but there's also enough to run it all day. I haven't, but it should run longer than I need it to.

The engine is from a guy named Mike Brown. It's linked below. It is approximately 3HP (2.7HP technically if 150PSI steam is delivered).
Although his son has taken over the machining since then, and it looks much nicer and more professionally-made.

I'm running 150 PSI, but will try 200 PSI in the coming weeks. I'm evaporating about an ounce per second, IIRC.

I'm running an alternator to charge AGM batteries.

:

Reason why I was asking is that my job in the Navy I was a Boiler Technician. 1200 psi at 950 degrees Fahrenheit gets ones attention.

 

[user 6208]

Reason why I was asking is that my job in the Navy I was a Boiler Technician. 1200 psi at 950 degrees Fahrenheit gets ones attention.

I am inspired by marine steam. The fact they were "on their own" made them push the limits of efficiency and power extraction.

1200 PSI and 950F -- that's super-critical. Very cool to be able to use that kind of power. I imagine a turbine was being driven.

I do have a sort of super-heater, but it's really just the module closest to the fire. I am trying to stay below 400F until much more testing can be done. At 400F the pressure would be ~235 PSI. Mike Brown says the engine can't handle that.

My feeling is (without any real experience) that I can manage below 400F and ~200 PSI without leaving a crater in the ground.

 

[user 6208]

The early flash boilers were typically run at 800F and the steam engines themselves could be seen mildly glowing at night.

There's a US-based company which sells a unit which uses flash boilers and even has a Youtube video of over-heating one just to show that it will not explode.

I wish they made really small units, but the smallest they make is about 10BHP and costs a hundred thousand by the time you get everything you need and get it installed. None are capable of using wood or coal for the heat source.

The company is 100-year-old Clayton: Industrial Steam Boilers Manufacturer

They are very generous with information about their technology and are proud of their products.