yea thats me.
JW
I have spent many years working towards the completion of this project. To actually run this so called Otto cycle steam engine. Now begins the actual proof of concept demonstrations.
What has been learned? First and foremost is how flash steam actually behaves inside an engine. In theory you may run a great verity of engine types with flash steam. This includes two cycle steam engines. In an internal combustion engine there are significant heat losses. Heat lost from the radiator or generated from the compression stroke. While experimenting with flash steam, heat instantly became the primary focus. While contemplating the heat losses of the IC engine, I wondered if the same rules of loss would apply to a flash steam engine. What was found as a result of this speculation is interesting. What heat would be a lost in an internal combustion engine, becomes a performance gain with a flash steam engine. So heat generated by the compression stroke has a discrete advantage. As well as the reduced firing interval that a four cycle engine accommodates. Whereas a two stroke configuration (live steam) has a firing (admission) interval twice that of an Otto cycle engine, for the same rotations per minute of engine crank-shaft run speed. Anyone who has actually attempted to supply superheated water to an engine will realize this helps by a big amount. Since it is quite difficult to maintain this supply. The current technique that we use to get this water into the engine is a direct injection valve. So that every time the spark plug used to fire (in an Otto engine), now the direct injection valve opens for the prescribed duration. Which is usually less than a third of a power stroke from top dead centre. Since in a (very basic) live steam engine the steam is admitted “the full length of travel” of the power stroke. However, some more advanced live steam engines may in-fact feature, what is called “variable cut-off”. Four cycle (Otto) steam engines are considered intermittent in nature. “ie” they don’t admit the working medium continuously on the power stroke. Instead spark-ignition which is similar to, partial admission is utilized, and expansion is relied upon. Also, steam can expand farther after the injection duration. Differing from the chemical reaction of spark-ignition engines. It was my design goal to achieve a combustion type of reaction with flash steam. I will be the first to admit that this science is not easy. It took years of careful experimentation to know all this. Otto steam engines may be flash steam in nature, or driven by high-pressure-live-steam and alternately, compressed inert gasses such as argon.
Flash steam is tricky stuff, so do your homework. Officially flash steam is only created when water under pressure and heat, is released to a lower pressure. Which then flashes to cool itself off. Some will describe throwing water on red-hot, or hot materials as flashing steam from water. Although this sounds appropriate its really not flash steam, in the book sense. Nevertheless both of these mechanisms are used on the Otto Steam Engine described here. As the L912 Injector releases superheated water, this water turns to flash steam as it enters the engine, for one reason only, the inside of the engine has a pressure of about 125psi. The injector on the other hand is carrying between 2000psi and 700psi, and the water is around 350*f. A positive displacement pump exerts pressure on the water which is then heated by the corn burner, then this water is routed to the injector. Where it enters the engine and flashes to steam, then the flashed steam is heated further, by the already hot engine block. The engine block is heated to at least 300*f (in our case) by the corn burner as well. Depending on the metallurgy of your piston cylinder arrangement, you may reach higher temps such as 450*. If you have ever tried to manage such parameters you will know it’s a thrill a minute. Although it is doable.
Densification
This subject was brought up by a bright individual through e-mail correspondence. While exploring the viability of the Otto steam engine, heat engine. Several dynamic tests took place, these tests included driving the engine with compressed gas at a pressure of 2500psi. When the engine is run in this mode (CDFC) heat engine. There are no technical or mechanical configuration changes made. So instead of supplying superheated (critical) water (or Hp-live-steam) to the injector assembly, you can supply compressed gas. And the engine will run this way, with a high pressure source or pressure tank. The tank pressure starts at 2500psi and the engine will run down to 600psi or so. Anyone who has run two stroke engine, or air-motor this way will remark the engine gets cold. In fact with no heating activated in the
L912 Injector and none being applied to the engine block, while running a 11hp briggs engine. Ice is observed forming on the exhaust valve stem (this ice forms from relative humidity). But the heat generated by the compression stroke kept the block from getting to freezing temps simultaneously. This tends to alert me that the Otto cycle is capable of remarkable efficiencies. While running the engine this way it seemed to run forever. As a well seasoned mechanic I was stunned to see the engine run for a half hour or more on a single tank. This caught me off guard, I did not predict the engine would run so long from a single tank. Now back to the densification. A question was asked of me, which do you think is better for the engine cycle? Heat, Or densification. Lets not forget here that as the (Otto) engine runs, it is aspiring ambient air. As well as the injector, adding air to the engine (in this case) “and” the engine is taking in air through the intake stroke. All these air sources are coming in contact with the piston during a power stroke. This is what is being referred to as densification. A two stroke air motor does not do this, nor does it produce an internal source of heat from a compression stroke. I am a firm believer that you have way more to work with thermodynamically, with an Otto Steam Engine, than with a live steam engine (which may feature advanced cut-off) or air motor (which does not feature cut-off).
Applications of engine block heat
As is stated on the “basics” page it is necessary to heat the engine block for the flash steam engine to operate. In theory if the engine block is ‘cold’ you could inject a flash steam discharge into the engine and nothing will happen. Even if the flash steam discharge was coming from a super-critical source. Take this example for instance; you could contain water and heat it to 705ºf develop an internal pressure of 3204psi. Then discharge it into the engine at TDC, and the piston ‘will not’ be pushed by this discharge. However ‘as’ the engine block is heated to temperatures in excess of 212ºf a strong reaction ‘will’ occur. And the piston will move downward violently. This is the type of reaction that’s needed to run an engine. Some will speculate that as the engine is manually brought through the cycle (cranked over) it will pick up this heat from the actual flash steam discharge. Although it is true that a flash steam discharge will in fact release heat. There is a problem, the actual mass of the flash steam discharge itself is quite small in relation to the mass of the engine block assembly. So you would have to crank the engine over literally for hours to get the block to an adequate temperature for a reaction (power pulse). Since we are in fact discharging water that is hot enough to flash, this is not a cold water injection application. It has been speculated on the internet by various sources that an engine cylinder lacks sufficient surface area to evaporate cold water to steam, I agree. The engine cylinder does lack sufficient surface area to transform water to steam, ‘in most cases’. The engine that’s being worked with here, takes care of the “970 btu wall” with an actual flash steam discharge, and supplemental block-heating. The flash steam that’s formed is already steam. Its just being “superheated” by the engine cylinder and head. However there is a massive technical conundrum at work here. When the heated water is at less than the supercritical range. The Btu quantity of the water under pressure is insufficient, for a 100% transformation to steam vapor. At best under the most ideal conditions you may get 50% flash-rates. And since the sufficient btu energy needed, cannot be stored in the hot-water-under-pressure “itself”, to accommodate an 100% flash-rate. Another secondary means to add energy to the reaction MUST be employed. The common methodology to heat the engine block. Forced hot oil circulation works well for this purpose. This hot-oil is not under pressure, and may be circulated in the coolant passages surrounding the cylinder and cylinder head assembly. So the engine uses two separate heating circuits, that are both in the fire. One circuit heats the water for flash steam injection (or live steam generation) and the other heats the oil that is circulated through the engine coolant passages.
Summary
The Otto Steam Engine may run on either flash steam or compressed air or even live-steam. Providing the engine has suitable robust direct injection technology. As stated before I was unable to acquire such technology “on shelf” and Flashsteam.com single handedly developed L912 direct-injection-valves, with Variable Lift for this purpose.
Some may ask why do you call it L912 ?
We started to call the injector assembly L912 back in 1994. There were several variations of the injector you see today. The L912 was the best design overall and it became the most workable unit. And this unit easily accommodated Variable Valve Lift.
Lets dissect the name to understand its REAL origin.
L this denotes liner model (non-rotary valve)
9 this denotes 900 watts of onboard heating
12 this denotes 12 volt direct current actuation
The idea here is to continue the natural evolution of the Otto cycle engine. Which was truly the most fantastic invention in human history.
Also to demonstrate that an atmospheric balance in relation to the Carbon Cycle may be achieved using Corn Burners, for energy production needs.
Corn Burners
The corn burners seen on this website are very different from the type used for home heating. These units are industrial grade. At the beginning of the project corn burners used for home heating were considered. However the necessity to install liquid heat exchangers caused some concern. So we started over from scratch. The first units produced were fully automated. They would have been suitable for home heating usage. But they could not accommodate the heat exchangers. The process of refinement lasted several years. And this was totally separate from the L912 design process. As you can imagine a lot of work has been necessary to get to this stage. As stated on the “corn burners” page the steam engine project (PSTG1) required a very compact unit. There was no space on the platform for a corn storage hopper. So the unit was stripped down to the bear essentials. Which is okay for that unit in particular. All the corn burners that we work with are very different and unique from what is currently available. These units do not need a fan to operate, they will induce the drought they need to operate correctly without one. However introducing compressed air at low pressure 5 to 10psi through the J-tube assembly will enable the unit to melt glass. The performance that we experience with these units is unprecedented. We just cant say enough positive things about them. When you hear the “jet engine type roar” this thing makes, then realize its doing that only with corn, well its astonishing. And the emissions that are produced are minimal. There are no noxious fumes, no smoke under all conditions, and its as cheap to run as we predicted. In fact I burn corn that the insects have gotten to all the time, little bit of mold no problem. It just works great. We heat a lot of mass with this thing and its no problem for it. This is probably the most rewarding part of the project. In the future I would like to move into plastics mold injection heating with this corn burner technology. I am looking for someone to collaborate with on such a project, preferably recycled plastics. Or even heating systems for home or large buildings.
I want to reference a very significant book that all steam enthusiasts should know about. -The Pictorial History of Steam Power- by J.T. van Riemsdijk and Kenneth Brown. 1980 Octopus Books Limited. ISBN-0-7064-0976-0- On page 56 begins a very interesting sub chapter. Called EFFICIENT USE OF STEAM. If you are lucky enough to obtain this book I highly recommend reading it from cover to cover. It not only has wealth of drawings but also seriously discusses steam theory. Trust me this book covers everything if you look close enough. And it is a pleasure to read
As this article progresses you will find the scope will become quite advanced. Taking what was learned in the past and applying it to the advancement of the technology. And building on it successfully, without breaking any laws of thermodynamics. But taking advantage of more than just the "first and second laws". J.W. 10/25/2002.
During my experience as a A.S.E. master automotive technician. I often wondered why so called critics believe that flash steam engines cannot be built. And at the time I was studying thermodynamics. To better understand turbochargers. And how they positively affect the performance of internal combustion engines. Needless to say I learned much on how turbochargers actually work. Also I studied using water injection as an intercooler in diesel turbo applications. Which I found very very interesting. And can tell you this is common practice at "today's" diesel tractor pulls. It is how they maintain such high boost pressures. Since all turbo's work on a principle of heat of compression in the impeller section. I mention this because it is important to have a diverse background of study. And most who attempt flash steam engine construction do not. The same can be said of those who criticize such engines. But that being said, people tend to interpret things differently. It is inevitable that there will be a different view of the same thing. And this is usually learned by experimentation and reproducible results.
I am enthusiastic about the prospect of a flash steam engine. Many years ago I begun my own research and development to explore this possibility. The very first thing I was concerned with was the primary heat source for such an engine. Certain prerequisites had to be established. Cost of the fuel was of primary concern. Since I have put in hundreds of hours testing external combustion chambers. And fuel can be expensive over time. Feed corn is the solid fuel of choice. It's cheap and burns remarkably clean. But most importantly has "tons" of btu energy per weight. And is inherently much safer to use than typically available liquid fuels. Such as fuel oil and propane or hydrogen. I disagree with those who say corn should not be burned as a fuel. It is a shame to see "mountains" of feed corn simply rot in distribution locations since there's no buyers. After all the American farmer almost always loses money on this crop. Since there is sometimes an excess supply. In this application it can be used directly without ANY processing. It can be burned in external combustion chambers. Burning corn in an ideal combustion chamber, is considered as a high-grade heat source as fuel oil. For this purpose. The real benefit here is that the corn does not require further processing. Such as is the case with ethanol or other alternative liquid fuels. Making it cheaper to use in this application. In fact it has been speculated that if it wasn't for the cheap price of corn. building a steam engine of this type wouldn't be economically reasonable. because this type of steam engine will in fact operate with the other fuels. But I wouldn't go so far as to say any heat source will do. You need a high-grade heat source to make this work. When this reaches a commercial stage the fuel will be cheap enough to make it economically attractive. As far as the super efficiencies that have been claimed by people in the past. That is still unclear. But the flash steam engine may be made to operate. That is clear.
So with the heat source situation under control, I set off to create a flash steam engine. And decided to base my flash steam engine on a four stroke engine. I want to point out some benefits to using an four stroke engine. First is compression stroke, it makes heat and this is good. second is the intake manifold vacuum it's good because it can draw steam thru a condenser. And since the spark plug only fires once during two rotations of the crankshaft. It has a conservative operating schedule. So I said why not, lets inject superheated water thru the spark plug port. It should flash and produce pressure and cause the engine to run. My first attempt was to run an engine off solenoid valves. I used argon just to test the idea. The first engine was a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder Toyota engine. And I used on shelf Honeywell 12 volt pilot operated solenoid valves. Set up a timing system to operate them. Plumbed them to the engine and connected a 2600psi argon tank to the thing. Believe it or not it worked. The highest engine speed I got was about 600rpm. And it ran about 3 minutes or so. And it could not be throttled. I tried using a ball valve but the engine either half choked itself or ran as fast as it could. Needless to say the dynamics were way off. And I deemed that type of valve unusable for flash steam injection. And I immediately realized the seat of the valve, needed to be inside the combustion chamber. Or as close to it as possible. The next thing that became painfully clear was the need to throttle the engine. The ball valve just wouldn't do. The injection valve itself needed to have variable valve lift to throttle engine. Then the pressure source could be unobstructed in its passage to the valve. Eliminating dynamic flow problems. And it didn't take long for me to realize nobody sells a valve like this. So I started my own company and built one. Once I had a good working valve in hand I was able to do the real experimenting. And I learned a lot real fast.
I already knew that if there was a volume of gas in the cylinder, it would push the piston. But what would flash steam do? In my endeavors with the injection valve, I was releasing flash steam. I would fill the valve with water then seal it. Then turn on the valve's onboard heaters. The pressure increased to very high pressures, such as 5000psi. I would then actuate or open the valve. Trust me its quite loud. And is similar to the sound of a shot gun blast. I was full of optimism when I installed it on the test engine. J.W. 10/27/2002
Please bear in mind that the experiments described here, were performed about two years ago. From the date of this writing. And this specifically pertains to moving a piston with flash steam not argon. Anyway here's what happened. I modified a 11hp Briggs and Stratton engine to accept the L912™Injector. Then set about discharging it while it was installed on the engine. First I rotated the engine to top dead centre on the compression stroke. Then installed the injector, heated it up and discharged it. Just like you see in the picture above. Except that it was discharging into the combustion chamber of the engine. The injector developed an internal pressure of about 3000psi. If the concept was to be sound, I needed good results from a static test such as this. So I crossed my fingers and discharged the injector into the engine. I was astonished to see that nothing happened. The piston didn't move one millimeter. I was overcome with disbelief. The engine was suppose to turn over but it did not. And I knew that if the engine did not rotate thru a compression stroke. In a static test, then it would not operate at speed. Or perhaps not at all. I asked myself what is going on here. This should work, the results in open air discharge were so fantastic. So I decided to put some more thought in to it. A day or two later I figured out what was happening.
Flash steam can form, or condense in a micro-second. Generally your expecting it to flash instantaneously when your trying to run an engine off flash steam. And this is possible. but it can destabilize just as quickly. And this is what was happening in my experiment. I was producing the flash steam just fine. But the engine block was cold. And it absorbed the flash steam directly into water. Almost producing a vacuum it was happening so fast. The room I was working in was air-conditioned and at a temp of 74°f. The mass of the engine block was at equilibrium with the room temp. And since the mass of the engine block was so much greater than the mass of the actual flash steam discharge. It simply absorbed it. This is probably the most important thing to consider when contemplating a flash steam engine. Back to the static test. I then proceeded to take a small propane torch and heat the block and cylinder head of the 11hp Briggs and Stratton engine. First I heated it to 180°f. Then set up the experiment same as before and discharged the injector. This time it worked. The engine kicked over about 740°of rotation. At 212°f the results were almost twice as good. In fact the rotation of the engine was so dramatic the engine almost jumped off the table. This is a very important thing to learn. And what is going on in this situation must be watched very closely. Since it is a relative factor that will affect performance drastically. For example It has been observed causing extended run times, in four-cycle engines running on argon. The hotter the engine block the better the performance. It has been observed in engines that are running on argon for ice to form on the exhaust valve stem. And the block is generally cooled by the compressed argon. but if you heat the block before running the engine. You will always get better performance. So this phenomenon is relative even in non-flashsteam applications. As should be the case. But the effect is much more critical in the case of a condensable vapor such as flash steam.
It is important to understand the concept of engine block heating. In fact this is common practice even with live steam engines. I believe its called steam jacket, or flowing a small amount of steam around the cylinder casting. This practice always promotes further expansion of the steam in the cylinder. Their by increasing efficiency. And is necessary on the flash steam engine as well. Except on a flash steam engine live steam is only present in the cylinder and exhaust. And if you are running the engine on flash steam, the hot water that your injecting into the engine. Will flash and release heat. And this is working in your favor. However all the engines that I work with, have a mechanism to heat the block. But the mechanism to heat the injected water is always more substantial.
-edit-
As research and development progress we found that cold or lukewarm water injected will work with the engine and can be run with it. The total surface area of the engine cylinder and head is insufficient to cause a 100% flash rates. What was discovered was that we can still start and run the engine at 60% flash rates.
-edit- 9/01/2023
J.W. 11/03/2002
