STEAM-POWERED AUTOMOBILES SHOULD COME BACK

BECAUSE AUTOMOTIVE EXHAUST POLLUTES THE AIR, THERE HAS BEEN A SEARCH FOR A SATISFACTORY ALTERNATE TO THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. OF ALL OTHER SYSTEMS, THE RECIPROCRATING STEAM ENGINE APPEARS MOST PROMISING ON THE BASIS OF SPECIFIC ENERGY AND POWER AS WELL AS POTENTIAL COST PROVIDED IT IS RESTRICTED TO A POWER PLANT OF 100 TO PERHAPS 150 SHAFT- HORSEPOWER OUTPUT. ALSO, ON AN OVERALL BALANCE OF NUMBERS OF COMPONENTS AND THEIR WEIGHTS, STUDIES INDICATE THAT FOR A 125 SHAFT HORSEPOWER OUTPUT, THE STEAM ENGINE WOULD BE COMPETITIVE ON A WEIGHT AND VOLUME BASIS. MOREOVER, THE STEAM ENGINE HAS TWO OTHER ADVANTAGES: (1) IT WILL NOT BURN FUEL WHEN IDLING, AND (2) THE BOILER CAN BE DESIGNED WITH SUCH THERMAL CAPACITY THAT FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME DOUBLE OR MORE OF THE STEADY STATE RATING CAN BE WITHDRAWN. FURTHERMORE, AIR POLLUTION CHARACTERISTICS ARE EXCELLENT. ONE STEAM ENGINE, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH HAD 25,000 MILES ON IT, SHOWED HYDROCARBON EMISSION OF ONLY 30 TO 40 PPM COMPARED TO THE 275 PPM STANDARD SET FOR 1968 CARS. CARBON MONOXIDE WAS 0.3% COMPARED TO THE 1.5% STANDARD, WHILE OXIDES OF NITROGEN RANGED BETWEEN 25 TO 35 PPM COMPARED TO 1,500 TO 3,000 PPM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. AT PRESENT SIX COMPANIES HAVE MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, BUT RELUCT- ANCE TO CHANGE IS THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTION AGAINST STEAM ENGINES. AT FIRST THESE ENGINES COULD BE INTRODUCED IN POST-OFFICE TRUCKS, DELIVERY VANS, TAXIS, TRACTORS, AND BOATS.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 9, No 3, PP 22-26, 2 FIG, 2 PHOT
• Corporate Authors:

  Engineer

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Gouse, S W
• Publication Date: 1968-6

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pollution; Automobiles; Boilers; Carbon monoxide; Costs; Development; Emissivity; Energy; Engine idling; Fuel consumption; Horsepower; Hydrocarbons; Internal combustion engines; Nitrogen; Oxides; Power; Ratings; Research; Steady state; Steam engines; Utilization
• Uncontrolled Terms: Research and development
• Old TRIS Terms: Idling; Thermal capacity; Weight volume relationships
• Subject Areas: Energy; Finance; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222748
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 5 1994 12:00AM