Thread: Know how a Watt Beam Engine works?

As it happens I know exactly how they work but I never get tired of watching them, any proper steam engine in fact.

Pity he didn't include all the valve workings for the steam engines, they can be the most fascinating parts, especially when a Stepenson's reversing link is thrown in. Extremely simply adaptation but not easy to explain without such an animation.

Years ago we went to Mildura and had a river cruise on the P.S. Melbourne which was one of the very few river boats still running steam. I spent at least half the voyage below watching that magnificent machine !

Also interesting to note that a hell of a long time after dear Mr Watt was consigned to his grave Ford released a Falcon, the XE which had a "Watts Link" rear suspesion. A good simple idea that works can live on for centuries.

Isn't the Newcomen engine diagramme wrong?
The pump is on the incorrect side and the counterweight is missing!

In the Newcomen (low pressure) cycle, it is the atmospheric pressure during the condensation phase that generates the pumping effort, the steam only fills the cylinder under the effect of the counter weight.

This animation shows the pumping effect corresponding to the steam induction cycle???

If ever you go to the UK there are a few fully restored ones and running on steam.

Landy110, PS Industry, still running tours out of Renmark, she was the very last working steamer on the river in SA, beautiful old girl.

Lotz-A-Landies, that whole diagram looks wrong to me, never seen a Newcomen though so can't be entirely sure.

Just down the road from us at a dot on the river called Cobdogla is the only working example of a Humphrie Pump left in the world, sadly she no longer runs on steam, something about OHS stuff, she is run on compressed air now, but still an amazing and damned big piece of engineering history.

Pics Shorty?

There are operating beam engines in Goulburn; a credit to the Council and well worth a visit, - even SWMBO thoroughly enjoyed this, see
Goulburn Historic Waterworks Museum

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Pics Shorty?

Just as soon as I can organise myself to get to "Cobby" during one of the rare times the pump is running.
Should have some pics of "Industry" within the next couple of weeks.

OK, as promised, pics of the ONLY still working Humphrie Pump in the world.

What an amazing bit of engineering it is too. Works, in general, on the 4 stroke engine principle. Has a cylinder, a head, inlet and exhaust manifolds with valves etc, that is where the engine part stops.
The water in the pump chamber is the piston, conrod, crank and flywheel.
And the bugger is HUGE. Fuel air mixture (charcoal gas made on site) IS A MASSIVE 5 CUBIC METERS PER FIRING STROKE.
The schematic photo (sorry about the glare from the plastic cover) shows the layout.
She is started by forcing the fuel\air mixture into the combustion chamber via a compressed air system, 6 radially placed spark plugs ignite that mixture, the resulting expanding gases work on the water in the pump section of the cylinder, forcing about 350 tons of water through the "play tube" as it is called, this "pumped" volume of water then surges into the discharge tubes, approximately 2\3 of this reaches the discharge pipe and is flowed into the main distribution channel and out to the irrigation system. The rest of the water then flows back into the main pump body and initiates the exhaust stroke to rid the engine section of spent gases. The water then "bounces" again through the "play tube" to induce the next fresh fuel\air mixture, then back to the main cylinder to compress that mixture which is then ignited and the cycle begins again.
This machine is actually a twin unit, only one of which is still functional, it was used right up until the 1960's when shiny new fangled electric pumps were installed in an adjacent building.
The water suction side resides in a pit some 6 metres below river level, currently dry so folks can go down and take a looksee, the "balance valve" is "supposed" to give some surge control during operation, however the water level in the suction pit still bounced about 60 to 75 CM during operation, or 2 to 2 1/2 feet in the old measures.