ever heard of EXTERNAL combustion engines????

[hillbilly]

this is kinda a geekish post...I apologize in advance to anyone who reads it...

when in Jr high, a few of us joked around about such things as ion propulsion engines being retrofitted at some point in the future to cars from the past...with the mention by this one brainiac kid of an "external combustion engine"...I pictured a terrifying chunk of steel with open cylinders and miniature h-bombs going off in succession without the benifit of any sort of exhaust system...totally impractical and useless....

with a week off work for the holidays, and after being completely bored tonight, I was looking around on the US patent office site for details on wierd stuff.....found several patents for external combustion engines...

at least this thing (http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=05964087&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.usp to.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D% 2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D35%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPT XT%2526p%3D1%2526S1%3D((external.TTL.%252BAND%252B combustion)%252BAND%252Bengine)%2526OS%3Dttl%2Fext ernal%252Band%252Bcombustion%252Band%252Bengine%25 26RS%3D((TTL%2Fexternal%252BAND%252Bcombustion)%25 2BAND%252Bengine)&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idke y=12404CB74678) isnt as frightening as what I imagined...

it is just an engine that doesnt use the cylinder as the combustion chamber, instead, the combustion takes place elsewhere and is fed into the cylinders, which have a normal intake/exhaust valve setup, through a series of tubes, still kinda dangerous looking, wish I had one to tinker with...

has anyone here heard of this setup before, or am I once again the last to know???

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Look up Stirling engines. They are external combustion. I have a friend who builds floor standing fans called "Lake Breeze". They were used in rural areas where there was no electricity. A kerosene lamp created the heat for the Stirling engine which, in turn, powered an 18" fan.

[phatboy]

MARK! What are you do'in up at this time of day? Jason is here for the day. I am looking for an emergency brake handle for a 28 ford. Got any over there?? Trying to have that 28 P>U> running again by spring. See ya

[36-3window]

a steam engine is an external combustion engine. check out the december 1987 (i might be off + or - a month) of Street Rodder for an example of a car with an external combustion engine.....the only car i built that got featured in that magazine

[dusty]

My dad builds a type of ex. comb. engine . It is called a "Flame Licker" or vacuum engine. It uses an alcohol burner outside the cylinder. As the flywheel is turned the flame is drawn into the cylyinder and then the valve is closed. As the air inside cools, it creates a vacuum and draws the cylinder toward the head. Exactly opposite of the internal comb. eng. Hope the explanation helps. Will try to post a pic later after the Xmas thing dies down.

[Thirdyfivepickup]

Idunno... I've blown up my sbc soo many times (dang nitrous) that I'm sure at least one of them would have qualified here.

Do holes in the block count?

[dusty]

Heres the pics I promised.
#1

[dusty]

#2

[JSM56]

the only external combustion engine i have heard of is a air cooled VW when the fuel line fell off the carb and dumped on the distributer. that and maybe a turbine engine, is that considered external combustion? not too sure.

[wingnutz]

My buddy Dr Dave and his friend Harry Braun in Phoenix AZ bought the "Stirling" patents and is marketing Hydrogen powered "Power Plants" for electricity!

His company is called SES (Stirling Energy Systems)and their project is called the Phoenix project and can be reached at this site;

http://www.phoenixproject.net/

Prior to this project there was a Ford pickup on the show circuit that was running a Stirling engine..., check out the site and see how many manufacturers had their hands in this...! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Amazing...! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Mark

[briggs&strattonChev]

[ QUOTE ]
a steam engine is an external combustion engine. check out the december 1987 (i might be off + or - a month) of Street Rodder for an example of a car with an external combustion engine.....the only car i built that got featured in that magazine


[/ QUOTE ]

you built a street rod with a STEAM engine?????

[36-3window]

[ QUOTE ]

you built a street rod with a STEAM engine?????

[/ QUOTE ]


sure did....it was featured in Street Rodder december 1987 , give or take a month , i can't find my copy right now , but check it out....1930 ford roadster,four-bar front suspension,vega steering,pete & jakes front shocks, `40 ford brakes all around, ladder bar rear with Aldan coil-overs and panard bar....and the steam motor from a 1921 stanley steamer car. motor was under the rear, the boiler was under the hood,30 gallon water tank in the trunk... car looked stock.. built the boiler and fired it with kerosene,which was in the original model A fuel tank....after you turned on the switch,it took about 2 nimutes to get the steam up.....about 600 PSI...and when you opened the throttle did it jump! the motor came out of a touring car that weighted about 4500 lbs, and in a light A roadster ,it was a rocket

[briggs&strattonChev]

whoa thats pretty cool! could you drive it long distances or did you have to stop to build up steam and add water?

[36-3window]

it cruised fine at highway speeds..leaving a slight trail of water vapor. the 30 gallon water tank was the limiting factor,if i remember,that would be gone in about 70-75 miles, the 10 gallons of kerosene would go farther,depends how fast you drove... at cruise,it was always using water and fuel to maintain boiler pressure, in town it would cycle on and off.. off the motor there was a high pressure pump and automatic water level control to force the water into the boiler,and a 12 volt GM alternater to supply juice to run the burner and fuel pump. it was fun,but very impractical...and kinda noisy when the burner was going. i liked to turn the burner off about a couple blocks before pulling in somewhere and just cruise in silently with the pressure in the boiler....that made people wunder

[hillbilly]

phatboy! hello! I was gonna come in for christmas, but mom and dad and pat came out here...sorry I didnt reply until now, been busy visitin' with them...

dusty, thanks for the pics man, thats pretty kool...

[choprods]

only after eating beans a lot..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

[disastron13]

Years ago there was a comment in Cycle World about very small internal combustion engines, like model airplane engines etc. A couple days later this genius builder Mike Weston shows up at my shop, fist opens and he says "I think this is small enough, don't you? But it's external combustion so it might not count."
It was a tiny motor, maybe 3/4 inch long. The piston was a copper plated bee bee and instead of a wrist pin the rod acted on a trunnion like a steam engines.
He ran it up on compressed air, maybe 11,000 rpm. Made a cool sound.
Pretty cool.