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103-478: Gardner-Serpollet was a French manufacturer of steam-powered cars in the early 20th century. Léon Serpollet is credited with inventing and perfecting the flash boiler in the late 1800s. Serpollet produced his own automobiles under the name Serpollet and Gardner-Serpollet until his death in 1907. Léon Serpollet was born in the Ain department of France, and went on to establish his factory with his brother Henri on

206-748: A Flemish Jesuit in China. The vehicle was a toy for the Chinese Emperor. While not intended to carry passengers and therefore not exactly a car but a carriage, Verbiest's device is likely to be the first ever engine powered vehicle. Also it seems that the Belgian vehicle served as an inspiration for the Italian Grimaldi (early 1700) and the French Nolet (1748) steam carriage successor. A French inventor , Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot , built

309-477: A Plymouth Coupe , used a Stanley engine. In 1948 and 1949, Keen employed Abner Doble to create a more powerful steam engine, a V4 . He used this in La Dawri Victress S4 bodied sports car. Both these cars are still in existence. Keen died in 1969 before completing a further car. His papers and patterns were destroyed at that time. In the 1950s, the only manufacturer to investigate steam cars

412-471: A "pork chop boiler" the water is contained inside cast iron sections. These sections are mechanically assembled on site to create the finished boiler. Supercritical steam generators are frequently used for the production of electric power . They operate at supercritical pressure. In contrast to a "subcritical boiler", a supercritical steam generator operates at such a high pressure (over 3,200  psi or 22.06  MPa ) that actual boiling ceases to occur,

515-532: A cold start. Their third prototype, EZEE03, was a three cylinder unit meant to fit in a Škoda Fabia automobile. The EZEE03 was described as having a "two-stroke" (i.e. single-acting) engine of 1,000  cc (61  cu in ) displacement, producing up to 220 hp (164 kW) (500  N⋅m or 369  ft⋅lbf ). Exhaust emissions were said to be far below the SULEV standard. It had an oilless engine with ceramic cylinder linings using steam instead of oil as

618-466: A company named Ranotor, with his son Peter Platell to continue its development. Ranotor is developing a steam hybrid that uses the exhaust heat from an ordinary petrol engine to power a small steam engine, with the aim of reducing fuel consumption by 20%. In 2008, truck manufacturers Scania and Volvo were said to be interested in the project. In 1974, the British designer Peter Pellandine produced

721-409: A cylindrical water tank around 27 feet (8.2 m) long and 7 feet (2.1 m) in diameter, and had a coal fire grate placed at one end of a single cylindrical tube about three feet wide which passed longitudinally inside the tank. The fire was tended from one end and the hot gases from it travelled along the tube and out of the other end, to be circulated back along flues running along the outside then

824-461: A given quantity of water by superheating it. As the fire is burning at a much higher temperature than the saturated steam it produces, far more heat can be transferred to the once-formed steam by superheating it and turning the water droplets suspended therein into more steam and greatly reducing water consumption. The superheater works like coils on an air conditioning unit, however to a different end. The steam piping (with steam flowing through it)

927-446: A great deal of heat wasted up the chimney . In later models, notably by John Smeaton , heating surface was considerably increased by making the gases heat the boiler sides, passing through a flue . Smeaton further lengthened the path of the gases by means of a spiral labyrinth flue beneath the boiler. These under-fired boilers were used in various forms throughout the 18th century. Some were of round section (haycock). A longer version on

1030-424: A greater temperature gradient, which helps reduce the potential to form condensation . Any remaining heat in the combustion gases can then either be evacuated or made to pass through an economiser , the role of which is to warm the feed water before it reaches the boiler. For the first Newcomen engine of 1712, the boiler was little more than large brewer's kettle installed beneath the power cylinder. Because

1133-404: A large number of bends and sometimes fins to maximize the surface area. This type of boiler is generally preferred in high pressure applications since the high pressure water/steam is contained within narrow pipes which can contain the pressure with a thinner wall. It can however be susceptible to damage by vibration in surface transport appliances. In a cast iron sectional boiler, sometimes called

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1236-427: A longitudinal welded seam. Welded construction for locomotive boilers was extremely slow to take hold. Once-through monotubular water tube boilers as used by Doble, Lamont and Pritchard are capable of withstanding considerable pressure and of releasing it without danger of explosion. The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels, such as wood , coal , oil , or natural gas . Nuclear fission

1339-575: A lubricant. However, Enginion found that the market was not ready for steam cars, so they opted instead to develop the Steamcell power generator/heating system based on similar technology. In 1892, painter Jöns Cederholm and his brother, André, a blacksmith, designed their first steam car, a two seater, introducing a condenser in 1894. They planned to use it for transportation between their home in Ystad and their summer house outside town. Unfortunately

1442-594: A much more practical source of power for an automobile. The oil-fired flash boiler fed steam to a very advanced four-cylinder enclosed engine similar to the contemporary petrol engine design including poppet valves and an enclosed crankcase . On July 22, 1894 four Serpollet vehicles competed in the Le Petit Journal Contest for Horseless Carriages from Paris to Rouen . Maurice Le Blant finished 14th and Ernest Archdeacon finished 16th, but 'De Prandiéres' and Étienne le Blant stopped en route. In 1898

1545-930: A practical proposition. By the 1850s there was a flurry of new steam car manufacturers. Development was hampered by adverse legislation (the UK Locomotive Acts from the 1860s as well as the rapid development of internal combustion engine technology in the 1900s) leading to the commercial demise of steam-powered vehicles. Relatively few remained in use after the Second World War . Many of these vehicles were acquired by enthusiasts for preservation. The search for renewable energy sources has led to an occasional resurgence of interest in using steam technology to power road vehicles. While gasoline-powered ICE cars have an operational thermal efficiency of 15% to 30%, early automotive steam units were capable of only about half this efficiency. A significant benefit of

1648-428: A rate which can vary according to the pressure above the boiling water. The higher the furnace temperature, the faster the steam production. The saturated steam thus produced can then either be used immediately to produce power via a turbine and alternator , or else may be further superheated to a higher temperature; this notably reduces suspended water content making a given volume of steam produce more work and creates

1751-416: A rectangular plan was developed around 1775 by Boulton and Watt (wagon top boiler). This is what is today known as a three-pass boiler, the fire heating the underside, the gases then passing through a central square-section tubular flue and finally around the boiler sides. An early proponent of the cylindrical form was the British engineer John Blakey, who proposed his design in 1774. Another early proponent

1854-425: A selected vendor $ 20,000 ($ 182,754 in 2023 dollars ) toward the cost of developing a Rankine cycle engine, and up to $ 100,000 ($ 913,772 in 2023 dollars ) for outfitting six Oldsmobile Delmont 88s as operational patrol vehicles. This deal fell through because the engine manufacturers rejected GM's offer. The plan was revised and two 1969 Dodge Polaras were to be retrofitted with steam engines for testing. One car

1957-429: A significant issue for California in the mid-1960s the state encouraged investigation into the use of steam-powered cars. The fuel crises of the early 1970s prompted further work. None of this resulted in renewed steam car manufacturing. Steam cars remain the domain of enthusiasts, occasional experimentation by manufacturers, and those wishing to establish steam-powered land speed records. In 1967, California established

2060-499: A single fire tube, at one end of which was placed the fire grate . The gas flow was then reversed into a passage or flue beneath the boiler barrel, then divided to return through side flues to join again at the chimney (Columbian engine boiler). Evans incorporated his cylindrical boiler into several engines, both stationary and mobile. Due to space and weight considerations the latter were one-pass exhausting directly from fire tube to chimney. Another proponent of "strong steam" at that time

2163-425: A smaller boiler that forms an integral part of the vehicle; stationary steam engines , industrial installations and power stations will usually have a larger separate steam generating facility connected to the point-of-use by piping. A notable exception is the steam-powered fireless locomotive , where separately-generated steam is transferred to a receiver (tank) on the locomotive. The steam generator or steam boiler

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2266-511: A speed of 120 km/h (75 mph) over the flying kilometre on the Promenade des Anglais at Nice , France on April 13, 1902, exceeding the 1899 record of Camille Jenatzy 's La Jamais Contente . Steam car The first experimental steam-powered cars were built in the 18th and 19th centuries, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick had developed the use of high-pressure steam around 1800 that mobile steam engines became

2369-618: A standard V8 and gave about half the power. In October 1969, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology put out a challenge for a race August 1970 from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Pasadena, California for any college that wanted to participate in. The race was open for electric, steam, turbine power, and internal combustion engines: liquid-fueled, gaseous-fueled engines, and hybrids. Two steam-powered cars entered

2472-505: A steam car running in 1788, after being granted a British patent No.1674 of December 1788. An illustration of it even appeared in Hergé 's book Tintin raconte l'histoire de l'automobile (Casterman, 1953). The London Steam Carriage was built by Richard Trevithick in 1803 and ran successfully in London, but the venture failed to attract interest and soon folded up. An amphibious steam car

2575-550: A steam car, Donald Healey decided to make a basic steam car technology more in line with Stanley or Doble and aimed at enthusiasts. He planned to have the car in production by 1971. Edward Pritchard created a steam-powered 1963 model Ford Falcon in 1972. It was evaluated by the Australian Federal Government and was also taken to the United States for promotional purposes. As a result of

2678-665: A steam turbine into a Chevrolet Vega , while Steam Power Systems built the Dutcher, a car named after the company's founder, Cornelius Dutcher. Both cars were tested by 1974 but neither car went into production. The Dutcher is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Both Johnson and Lear had contemplated constructing steam-powered cars for the Indianapolis 500 , Johnson first in

2781-523: A supercritical pressure steam generator, as no "boiling" actually occurs in this device. Feed water for boilers needs to be as pure as possible with a minimum of suspended solids and dissolved impurities which cause corrosion , foaming and water carryover . The most common options for demineralization of boiler feedwater are reverse osmosis (RO) and ion exchange (IX). When water is converted to steam it expands in volume 1,600 times and travels down steam pipes at over 25 m/s. Because of this, steam

2884-466: A third time beneath the boiler barrel before being expelled into a chimney. This was later improved upon by another 3-pass boiler, the Lancashire boiler which had a pair of furnaces in separate tubes side-by-side. This was an important improvement since each furnace could be stoked at different times, allowing one to be cleaned while the other was operating. Railway locomotive boilers were usually of

2987-556: Is a good way of moving energy and heat around a site from a central boiler house to where it is needed, but without the right boiler feed water treatment, a steam-raising plant will suffer from scale formation and corrosion. At best, this increases energy costs and can lead to poor quality steam, reduced efficiency, shorter plant life and an operation which is unreliable. At worst, it can lead to catastrophic failure and loss of life. While variations in standards may exist in different countries, stringent legal, testing, training and certification

3090-415: Is also used as a heat source for generating steam. Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) use the heat rejected from other processes such as gas turbines . In order to create optimum burning characteristics of the fire , air needs to be supplied both through the grate, and above the fire. Most boilers now depend on mechanical draft equipment rather than natural draught . This is because natural draught

3193-435: Is an integral component of a steam engine when considered as a prime mover . However it needs to be treated separately, as to some extent a variety of generator types can be combined with a variety of engine units. A boiler incorporates a firebox or furnace in order to burn the fuel and generate heat . The generated heat is transferred to water to make steam , the process of boiling . This produces saturated steam at

Gardner-Serpollet - Misplaced Pages Continue

3296-422: Is applied to try to minimize or prevent such occurrences. Failure modes include: The Doble steam car uses a once-through type contra-flow generator, consisting of a continuous tube. The fire here is on top of the coil instead of underneath. Water is pumped into the tube at the bottom and the steam is drawn off at the top. This means that every particle of water and steam must necessarily pass through every part of

3399-422: Is directed through the flue gas path in the boiler furnace. This area typically is between 1,300–1,600  °C (2,372–2,912  °F ). Some superheaters are radiant type (absorb heat by thermal radiation ), others are convection type (absorb heat via a fluid i.e. gas) and some are a combination of the two. So whether by convection or radiation the extreme heat in the boiler furnace/flue gas path will also heat

3502-400: Is named " saturated steam ". For example, saturated steam at atmospheric pressure boils at 100 °C (212 °F). Saturated steam taken from the boiler may contain entrained water droplets, however a well designed boiler will supply virtually "dry" saturated steam, with very little entrained water. Continued heating of the saturated steam will bring the steam to a "superheated" state, where

3605-417: Is subject to outside air conditions and temperature of flue gases leaving the furnace, as well as chimney height. All these factors make effective draught hard to attain and therefore make mechanical draught equipment much more economical. There are three types of mechanical draught: The next stage in the process is to boil water and make steam. The goal is to make the heat flow as completely as possible from

3708-466: The 1973 oil crisis , SAAB started a project in 1974 codenamed ULF (short for utan luftföroreningar, Swedish for Without Air Pollution)) headed by Dr. Ove Platell which made a prototype steam-powered car. The engine used an electronically controlled 28-pound multi-parallel-circuit steam generator with 1-millimeter-bore tubing and 16 gallons per hour (61 L/h) firing rate which was intended to produce 160 hp (119 kW) of continuous power, and

3811-616: The American Bicycle Co. of Toledo, Ohio , created a 6.25 hp Toledo steam carriage (a description from the Horseless age , December 1900). The American Bicycle Co was one of the enterprises within Col. Albert Pope's large conglomerate of bicycle and motor vehicles manufacturers. The Toledo Steam carriage was a very well-made, high-quality machine where every component, bar the tires, bell, instruments and lights were made within

3914-663: The California Air Resources Board and began to implement legislation to dramatically reduce exhaust emissions. This prompted renewed interest in alternative fuels for motor vehicles and a resurgence of interest in steam-powered cars in the state. The idea for having patrol cars fitted with steam engines stemmed from an informal meeting in March 1968 of members of the California Assembly Transportation Committee. In

4017-597: The Daytona 500 stock car race This record was not exceeded by any car until 1910. Attempts were made to bring more advanced steam cars on the market, the most remarkable being the Doble Steam Car which shortened start-up time very noticeably by incorporating a highly efficient monotube steam generator to heat a much smaller quantity of water along with effective automation of burner and water feed control. By 1923, Doble's steam cars could be started from cold with

4120-589: The Rainhill trials of 1829 Henry Booth , treasurer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway suggested to George Stephenson , a scheme for a multi-tube one-pass horizontal boiler made up of two units: a firebox surrounded by water spaces and a boiler barrel consisting of two telescopic rings inside which were mounted 25 copper tubes; the tube bundle occupied much of the water space in the barrel and vastly improved heat transfer . Old George immediately communicated

4223-551: The San Francisco Bay Area that year. Instead of a Polara, Thermodynamic Systems (later called General Steam Corp), was given a late-model Oldsmobile Delmont 88. Lear was given a Polara but it does not appear to have been built. Both firms were given 6 months to complete their projects with Lear's being due for completion on August 1, 1969. Neither car had been completed by the due date and in November 1969, Lear

Gardner-Serpollet - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-473: The 1-pass type, although in early days, 2-pass "return flue" boilers were common, especially with locomotives built by Timothy Hackworth . A significant step forward came in France in 1828 when Marc Seguin devised a two-pass boiler of which the second pass was formed by a bundle of multiple tubes. A similar design with natural induction used for marine purposes was the popular Scotch marine boiler . Prior to

4429-476: The ECE is that the fuel burner can be configured for very low emissions of carbon monoxide , nitrogen oxides and unburned carbon in the exhaust, thus avoiding pollution. The greatest technical challenges to the steam car have focused on its boiler . This represents much of the total mass of the vehicle, making the car heavy (an internal combustion-engined car requires no boiler), and requires careful attention from

4532-712: The Los Angeles Herald two weeks later. In December 1901, the company changed from the American Bicycle Company to the newly formed International Motor Car Company to concentrate on steam- and gasoline-driven models, with electric vehicles being made by the separate Waverly Electric Co. Both steam and gasoline models were manufactured, but, as the public favored the gasoline models and steam carriage sales were slow, steam carriage production ceased in July 1902 and gasoline-driven models were then made under

4635-565: The South Rim of The Grand Canyon, a distance of 67 miles. As a publicity exercise the trip was to assess the potential of starting a steam bus service but the anticipated afternoon journey took three days due to problems with supplies of the wrong fuel. Though the Toledo towed a trailer filled with additional fuel and water supplies, the four participants omitted to take any food, one, the journalist Winfield Hoggaboon, wrote up an amusing article in

4738-408: The U.S. The center of U.S. steamer production was New England , where 38 of the 84 manufacturers were located. Examples include White ( Cleveland ), Eclipse ( Easton, Massachusetts ), Cotta ( Lanark, Illinois ), Crouch ( New Brighton, Pennsylvania ), Hood ( Danvers, Massachusetts , lasted just one month), Kidder ( New Haven, Connecticut ), Century ( Syracuse, New York ) and Skene ( Lewiston, Maine ,

4841-556: The UK. It had a three cylinder double-acting engine in a 'broad-arrow' configuration, mounted in a tubular steel chassis with a Kevlar body, giving a gross weight of just 1,050 lb (476 kg). Uncomplicated and robust, the steam engine was claimed to give trouble-free, efficient performance. It had huge torque (1,100 ft⋅lbf or 1,500 N⋅m) at zero engine revs, and could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in under 8 seconds . Pellandine made several attempts to break

4944-633: The United States in Auburn, Indiana . Johnson was also noted as working on a steam-powered helicopter. William D Thompson, 69-year-old retired San Diego automotive engineer, also announced he planned to enter a steam-powered race car. Thompson was working on a $ 35,000 ($ 290,799 in 2023 dollars ) steam-powered luxury car and he intended to use the car's engine in the race car. He had claimed that he had almost 250 orders for his cars. By comparison, Rolls-Royces cost about $ 17,000 ($ 141,245 in 2023 dollars ) at that time. With Lear pulling out of attempting to make

5047-539: The United States. Endurance (1924-1925) was the last steam car manufacturer to commence operations. American/Derr continued retrofitting production cars of various makes with steam engines, and Doble was the last steam car manufacturer. It ceased business in 1930. From the 1940s onward, various steam cars were constructed, usually by enthusiasts. Among those mentioned were Charles Keen, Cal Williams' 1950 Ford Conversion, Forrest R Detrick's 1957 Detrick S-101 prototype, and Harry Peterson's Stanley powered Peterson. The Detrick

5150-472: The atmosphere, necessitating frequent refilling of the water tank; after 1914, all Stanleys were fitted with a condenser , which considerably reduced their water consumption. In 1906, the Land Speed Record was broken by a Stanley steam car, piloted by Fred Marriott , which achieved 127 mph (204 km/h) at Ormond Beach, Florida . This annual week-long "Speed Week" is still run, headed by

5253-867: The automobile was destroyed in Sweden's first automobile accident but the Cederholm brothers soon built a second, improved version of their steam car reusing many parts from the first one. The car is preserved in a museum in Skurup . What is considered by many to be the first marketable popular steam car appeared in 1899 from the Locomobile Company of America , located in Watertown, Massachusetts , and from 1900 in Bridgeport, Connecticut . Locomobile manufactured several thousand of its Runabout model in

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5356-441: The boiler has no liquid water - steam separation. There is no generation of steam bubbles within the water, because the pressure is above the critical pressure at which steam bubbles can form. It passes below the critical point as it does work in a high-pressure turbine and enters the generator's condenser . This results in slightly less fuel use and therefore less greenhouse gas production. The term "boiler" should not be used for

5459-585: The brothers met Frank Gardner, a wealthy American. They formed the Gardner-Serpollet Company which began producing cars in 1900. A 1903 Gardner-Serpollet is on display at Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts . Besides being an inventor and manufacturer, Leon Serpollet became the first driver of a non-electrically powered car to hold the Land Speed Record . His ovoid steam car Œuf de Pâques ( Easter Egg ) reached

5562-508: The coil as the fire would be automatically cut off by the temperature. Similar forced circulation generators , such as the Pritchard and Lamont and Velox boilers present the same advantages. Steam boilers are used where steam and hot steam is needed. Hence, steam boilers are used as generators to produce electricity in the energy business. It is also used in rice mills for parboiling and drying. Besides many different application areas in

5665-418: The company built everything but the tires). By 1903, 43 of them were gone and by the end of 1910 of those companies that were started in the decade those left were White which lasted to 1911, Conrad which lasted to 1924, Turner-Miesse of England which lasted to 1913, Morriss to 1912, Doble to 1930, Rutherford to 1912, and Pearson-Cox to 1916. Assembly line mass production by Henry Ford dramatically reduced

5768-466: The consortium of Planning Research Corporation and STP Corporation, Battelle Memorial Institute , Columbus, Ohio, Continental Motors Corporation , Detroit, Vought Aeronautical Division of Ling-Temco-Vought , Dallas and Thermo Electron Corporation, Waltham, Massachusetts . General Motors introduced two experimental steam-powered cars in 1969. One was the SE 124 based on a converted Chevrolet Chevelle and

5871-464: The cost of owning a conventional automobile, was also a strong factor in the steam car's demise as the Model T was both cheap and reliable. Additionally, during the 'heyday' of steam cars, the internal combustion engine made steady gains in efficiency, matching and then surpassing the efficiency of a steam engine when the weight of a boiler is factored in. With the introduction of the electric starter ,

5974-445: The dedicated 245,000 sq ft factory in Toledo, Ohio. The Toledo is considered to be one of the best steam cars produced at the time. The engine was particularly robust and the 2, 3" diameter x 4" stroke pistons employed piston style valves instead of 'D' valves thus insuring better balance and reduced leakage of steam. In September 1901 two Toledo steamers, one model B (a model A machine 1,000 to 2,000 pounds or 454 to 907 kilograms but with

6077-513: The definitions are somewhat flexible, it can be said that older steam generators were commonly termed boilers and worked at low to medium pressure (7–2,000  kPa or 1–290  psi ) but, at pressures above this, it is more usual to speak of a steam generator . A boiler or steam generator is used wherever a source of steam is required. The form and size depends on the application: mobile steam engines such as steam locomotives , portable engines and steam-powered road vehicles typically use

6180-563: The discussion, Karsten Vieg, a lawyer attached to the Committee, suggested that six cars be fitted with steam engines for testing by California District Police Chiefs. A bill was passed by the legislature to fund the trial. In 1969, the California Highway Patrol initiated the project under Inspector David S. Luethje to investigate the feasibility of using steam engined cars. Initially General Motors had agreed to pay

6283-403: The driver, although even the cars of 1900 had considerable automation to manage this. The single largest restriction is the need to supply feedwater to the boiler. This must either be carried and frequently replenished, or the car must also be fitted with a condenser , a further weight and inconvenience. Steam-powered and electric cars outsold gasoline-powered cars in the United States prior to

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6386-495: The early 1960s when with Controlled Steam Dynamics and in 1968 with Thermodynamic Systems and Lear in 1969. A third steam racing car was contemplated by a consortium of Planning Research Corporation and Andy Granatelli of STP Corporation . Lear proceeded with the idea and constructed a car, but ran out of funds while trying to develop the engine. The car is thought to be at the National Automobile and Truck Museum of

6489-446: The early 20th century. The engine (excluding the boiler) is smaller and lighter than an internal combustion engine. It is also better-suited to the speed and torque characteristics of the axle, thus avoiding the need for the heavy and complex transmission required for an internal combustion engine. The steam car is also quieter, even without a silencer . The first steam-powered vehicle was supposedly built in 1679 by Ferdinand Verbiest ,

6592-406: The engine's power was derived from the vacuum produced by condensation of the steam, the requirement was for large volumes of steam at very low pressure hardly more than 1  psi (6.9  kPa ). The whole boiler was set into brickwork which retained some heat. A voluminous coal fire was lit on a grate beneath the slightly dished pan which gave a very small heating surface; there was therefore

6695-631: The first Pelland Steamer for a contract with the South Australian Government. It had a fiberglass monocoque chassis (based on the internal combustion-engined Pelland Sports) and used a twin cylinder double acting compound engine. It has been preserved at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, South Australia. In 1977, the Pelland Mk II Steam Car was built, this time by Pelland Engineering in

6798-404: The first repossession of an automobile in 1867 and the first getaway car the same year, both by Francis Curtis of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The 1880s saw the rise of the first larger scale manufacturers, particularly in France, the first being Bollée (1878) followed by De Dion-Bouton (1883), Whitney (1885), Olds (1886), Serpollet (1887) and Peugeot (1889). The 1890s were dominated by

6901-545: The first working self-propelled land based mechanical vehicle in two versions, one in 1769 and one in 1771 for use by the French Army. William Murdoch built and operated a steam carriage in model form in 1784. In 1791 he built a larger steam carriage which he had to abandon to do other work. Also William Symington built a steam carriage in 1786. There is an unsubstantiated story that a pair of Yorkshiremen, engineer Robert Fourness and his cousin, physician James Ashworth had

7004-745: The formation of numerous car manufacturing companies. The internal combustion engine was in its infancy, whereas steam power was well established. Electric powered cars were becoming available but suffered from their inability to travel longer distances. The majority of steam-powered car manufacturers from this period were from the United States. The more notable of these were Clark from 1895 to 1909, Locomobile from 1899 to 1903 when it switched to gasoline engines, and Stanley from 1897 to 1924. As well as England and France, other countries also made attempts to manufacture steam cars: Cederholm of Sweden (1892), Malevez of Belgium (1898-1905), Schöche of Germany (1895), and Herbert Thomson of Australia (1896-1901) Of all

7107-619: The foul-weather gear designating it as a model B) and one class E (public delivery vehicle), were entered by the American Bicycle Co. into the New York to Buffalo Endurance Contest of mid-September 1901. There were 36 cars in class B and three in class E, the class B Toledo won the Grosse Point race. On 4 January 1902, a specially built Toledo steam carriage was the first automobile to forge a trail from Flagstaff, Arizona to

7210-445: The fuel expended to produce it. Another way to rapidly produce steam is to feed the water under pressure into a tube or tubes surrounded by the combustion gases. The earliest example of this was developed by Goldsworthy Gurney in the late 1820s for use in steam road carriages. This boiler was ultra-compact and light in weight and this arrangement has since become the norm for marine and stationary applications. The tubes frequently have

7313-412: The generator causing an intense circulation which prevents any sediment or scale from forming on the inside of the tube. Water enters the bottom of this tube at the flow rate of 600 feet (183 m) a second with less than two quarts of water in the tube at any one time. As the hot gases pass down between the coils, they gradually cool, as the heat is being absorbed by the water. The last portion of

7416-457: The generator with which the gases come into contact remains the cold incoming water. The fire is positively cut off when the pressure reaches a pre-determined point, usually set at 750 psi (5.2 MPa), cold water pressure; a safety valve set at 1,200 lb (544 kg) provides added protection. The fire is automatically cut off by temperature as well as pressure, so in case the boiler were completely dry it would be impossible to damage

7519-405: The heat source to the water. The water is confined in a restricted space heated by the fire. The steam produced has lower density than the water and therefore will accumulate at the highest level in the vessel; its temperature will remain at boiling point and will only increase as pressure increases. Steam in this state (in equilibrium with the liquid water which is being evaporated within the boiler)

7622-402: The hot gases exiting the firebox; the saturated steam flows backwards from the wet header towards the firebox, then forwards again to the dry header. Superheating only began to be generally adopted for locomotives around the year 1900 due to problems of overheating of and lubrication of the moving parts in the cylinders and steam chests . Many firetube boilers heat water until it boils, and then

7725-563: The industry for example in heating systems or for cement production, steam boilers are used in agriculture as well for soil steaming . The preeminent code for testing fired steam generators in the USA is the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) performance test code, PTC 4. A related component is the regenerative air heater. A major revision to the performance test code for air heaters will be published in 2013. Copies of

7828-399: The internal combustion engine became more popular than steam, but the internal combustion engine was not necessarily superior in performance, range, fuel economy and emissions. Some steam enthusiasts feel steam has not received its share of attention in the field of automobile efficiency. Apart from Brooks of Canada, all the steam car manufacturers that commenced between 1916 and 1926 were in

7931-414: The invention of the electric starter , since internal combustion cars relied on a hand crank to start the engine, which was difficult and occasionally dangerous to use, as improper cranking could cause a backfire capable of breaking the arm of the operator. Electric cars were popular to some extent, but had a short range, and could not be charged on the road if the batteries ran low. Once working pressure

8034-616: The land speed record for steam power, but was thwarted by technical issues. Pellandine moved back to Australia in the 1990s where he continued to develop the Steamer. The latest version is the Mark IV. From 1996, a R&D subsidiary of the Volkswagen group called Enginion AG was developing a system called ZEE (Zero Emissions Engine). It produced steam almost instantly without an open flame, and took 30 seconds to reach maximum power from

8137-705: The name Pope-Toledo. Total production of the steamers was between 285 and 325 units, as confirmed by a letter from the International Motor Car Co bookkeeper to the firms' accountant in June 1902. The White Steamer was manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio , from 1900 until 1910 by the White Motor Company . Steam boiler A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water . Although

8240-508: The new manufacturers from the 1890s, only four continued to make steam cars after 1910. They were Stanley (to 1924) and Waverley (to 1916) of the United States, Buard of France (to 1914), and Miesse of Belgium (to 1926). There were a large number of new companies formed in the period from 1898 to 1905. Steam cars outnumbered other forms of propulsion among very early cars. In the U.S. in 1902, 485 of 909 new car registrations were steamers. From 1899, Mobile had ten branches and 58 dealers across

8343-491: The other was designated SE 101 based on the Pontiac Grand Prix . The SE 124 had its standard gasoline engine replaced with a 50 hp Besler steam engine V4, using the 1920 Doble patents, the SE 101 was fitted with a 160 hp steam engine developed by GM Engineering. Power was transferred via a Toric automatic gearbox. The results was disappointing. The steam engine was heavy and weighted 300 kg more than

8446-650: The period 1899–1903, designed around a motor design leased from the Stanley Steamer Company . The company ceased producing steam cars in 1903 and changed to limited-production, internal combustion powered luxury automobiles. In 1922, it was acquired by Durant Motors and discontinued with the failure of the parent company in 1929. Perhaps the best selling and best known steam car was the Stanley Steamer, produced from 1896 to 1924. Between 1899 and 1905, Stanley outsold all gasoline-powered cars and

8549-445: The race. University of California, San Diego 's modified AMC Javelin and Worcester Polytechnic Institute's converted 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle called the tea kettle . Both dropped out on the second day of the race. The California Assembly passed legislation in 1972 to contract two companies to develop steam-powered cars. They were Aerojet Liquid Rocket Company of Sacramento and Steam Power Systems of San Diego. Aerojet installed

8652-558: The rue des Cloÿs in the 18th arrondissement of Paris , a location that has become the Parc Léon Serpollet today. In 1886 the brothers formed La Société des Moteurs Serpollet Frères in Montmartre . Leon Serpollet and his brother Henri, early French steam car pioneers, worked together to perfect the flash tube boiler that introduced an efficient and new way to produce steam. The exact date that their innovative system

8755-498: The scheme to his son Robert and this was the boiler used on Stephenson's Rocket , outright winner of the trial. The design formed the basis for all subsequent Stephensonian-built locomotives, being immediately taken up by other constructors; this pattern of fire-tube boiler has been built ever since. The 1712 boiler was assembled from riveted copper plates with a domed top made of lead in the first examples. Later boilers were made of small wrought iron plates riveted together. The problem

8858-581: The steam is heated to a temperature above the saturation temperature, and no liquid water can exist under this condition. Most reciprocating steam engines of the 19th century used saturated steam, however modern steam power plants universally use superheated steam which allows higher steam cycle efficiency. L.D. Porta gives the following equation determining the efficiency of a steam locomotive , applicable to steam engines of all kinds: power (kW) = steam Production (kg h )/Specific steam consumption (kg/kW h). A greater quantity of steam can be generated from

8961-402: The steam is used at saturation temperature in other words the temperature of the boiling point of water at a given pressure (saturated steam); this still contains a large proportion of water in suspension. Saturated steam can and has been directly used by an engine, but as the suspended water cannot expand and do work and work implies temperature drop, much of the working fluid is wasted along with

9064-412: The steam pressure alone drove the piston and was then exhausted to atmosphere. The advantage of strong steam as he saw it was that more work could be done by smaller volumes of steam; this enabled all the components to be reduced in size and engines could be adapted to transport and small installations. To this end he developed a long cylindrical wrought iron horizontal boiler into which was incorporated

9167-419: The superheater steam piping and the steam within as well. While the temperature of the steam in the superheater is raised, the pressure of the steam is not: the turbine or moving pistons offer a "continuously expanding space" and the pressure remains the same as that of the boiler. The process of superheating steam is most importantly designed to remove all droplets entrained in the steam to prevent damage to

9270-461: The turbine blading and/or associated piping. Superheating the steam expands the volume of steam, which allows a given quantity (by weight) of steam to generate more power. When the totality of the droplets is eliminated, the steam is said to be in a superheated state. In a Stephensonian firetube locomotive boiler, this entails routing the saturated steam through small diameter pipes suspended inside large diameter firetubes putting them in contact with

9373-521: The turn of a key and driven off in 40 seconds or less. When the boiler had achieved maximum working pressure, the burner would cut out until pressure had fallen to a minimum level, whereupon it would reignite; by this means the car could achieve around 15 miles per gallon (18.8 liters/100 km) of kerosene despite its weight in excess of 5,000 lb (2,268 kg). Ultimately, despite their undoubted qualities, Doble cars failed due to poor company organization and high initial cost. In 1900,

9476-711: Was Paxton. Abner Doble developed the Doble Ultimax engine for the Paxton Phoenix steam car, built by the Paxton Engineering Division of McCulloch Motors Corporation , Los Angeles. The engine's sustained maximum power was 120 bhp (89 kW). A Ford Coupe was used as a test-bed for the engine. The project was eventually dropped in 1954. In 1957, Williams Engine Company Incorporated of Ambler began offering steam engine conversions for existing production cars. When air pollution became

9579-431: Was about the same size as a standard car battery. Lengthy start-up times were avoided by using air compressed and stored when the car was running to power the car upon starting until adequate steam pressure was built up. The engine used a conical rotary valve made from pure boron nitride . To conserve water, a hermetically sealed water system was used. The project was cancelled and the project engineer, Ove Platell, started

9682-542: Was attained, early steam cars could be instantly driven off with high acceleration, but they typically take several minutes to start from cold, plus time to get the burner to operating temperature . To overcome this, development has been directed toward flash boilers , which heat a much smaller quantity of water to get the vehicle started, and in the case of Doble cars, spark ignition kerosene burners. The steam car does have advantages over internal combustion-powered cars, although most of these are now less important than in

9785-640: Was built by Oliver Evans in 1805. The first substantiated steam car for personal use was that of Josef Božek in 1815. He was followed by Julius Griffith in 1821, Timothy Burstall and John Hill in 1824 and Thomas Blanchard in 1825. Over thirty years passed before there was a flurry of steam cars from 1850s onwards with Dudgeon , Roper and Spencer from the United States, Leonard and Taylor from Canada, Rickett , Austin, Catley and Ayres from England, Bordino and Manzetti from Italy, others followed with Bollée and Lejeune from France, Thury from Switzerland and Kemna from Germany. This early period also saw

9888-402: Was constructed by Detrick, William H Mehrling, and Lee Gaeke who designed the engine based on a Stanley. Charles Keen began constructing a steam car in 1940 with the intention of restarting steam car manufacturing. Keen's family had a long history of involvement with steam propulsion going back to his great-great-grandfather in the 1830s, who helped build early steam locomotives. His first car,

9991-401: Was first built appears to be unknown, but after further development it went on to make steam power in an automobile more practical because of its advanced design and quick steam output. They made a steam tricycle in the late eighteen-eighties to test the steam engines and it soon convinced others of the merit of the design. In 1896 Léon Serpollet patented the flash boiler , which made steam

10094-454: Was producing big enough plates, so that even pressures of around 50  psi (344.7  kPa ) were not absolutely safe, nor was the cast iron hemispherical boiler initially used by Richard Trevithick. This construction with small plates persisted until the 1820s, when larger plates became feasible and could be rolled into a cylindrical form with just one butt-jointed seam reinforced by a gusset ; Timothy Hackworth's Sans Pareil 11 of 1849 had

10197-525: Was reported as saying the car would be ready in 3 months. Lear's only known retrofit was a Chevrolet Monte Carlo unrelated to the project. As for the project, it seems to have never been completed, with Lear pulling out by December. In 1969, the National Air Pollution Control Administration announced a competition for a contract to design a practical passenger-car steam engine. Five firms entered. They were

10300-522: Was second only to the electric cars of the Columbia Automobile Company in the U.S. It used a compact fire-tube boiler to power a simple double acting two cylinder engine. Because of the phenomenal torque available at all engine speeds, the steam car's engine was typically geared directly to the rear axle, with no clutch or variable speed transmission required. Until 1914, Stanley steam cars vented their exhaust steam directly to

10403-484: Was the American engineer, Oliver Evans , who rightly recognised that the cylindrical form was the best from the point of view of mechanical resistance and towards the end of the 18th century began to incorporate it into his projects. Probably inspired by the writings on Leupold's "high-pressure" engine scheme that appeared in encyclopaedic works from 1725, Evans favoured "strong steam" i.e. non condensing engines in which

10506-494: Was the Cornishman, Richard Trevithick . His boilers worked at 40–50 psi (276–345 kPa) and were at first of hemispherical then cylindrical form. From 1804 onwards Trevithick produced a small two-pass or return flue boiler for semi-portable and locomotive engines. The Cornish boiler developed around 1812 by Richard Trevithick was both stronger and more efficient than the simple boilers which preceded it. It consisted of

10609-653: Was to be modified by Don Johnson of Thermodynamic Systems Inc. and the other by industrialist William P. Lear 's Lear Motors Incorporated. At the time, the California State Legislature was introducing strict pollution control regulations for automobiles and the Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, John Francis Foran, was supportive of the idea. The Committee also was proposing to test four steam-powered buses in

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