Steam engine with your own hands. How to make an engine at home Do-it-yourself homemade internal combustion engine

20.06.2019

Manufacturing difficulty: ★★★★☆

Production time: One day

Materials at hand: ████████░░ 80%

In this article I will tell you how to make a steam engine with your own hands. The engine will be small, single-piston with a spool. The power is quite enough to rotate the rotor of a small generator and use this engine as an autonomous source of electricity when hiking.

Telescopic antenna (can be removed from an old TV or radio), the diameter of the thickest tube must be at least 8 mm
Small tube for a piston pair (plumbing store).
Copper wire with a diameter of about 1.5 mm (can be found in the transformer coil or radio shop).
Bolts, nuts, screws
Lead (in a fishing shop or found in an old car battery). It is needed to mold the flywheel. I found a ready-made flywheel, but this item may be useful to you.
Wooden bars.
Spokes for bicycle wheels
Stand (in my case, from a sheet of textolite 5 mm thick, but plywood is also suitable).
Wooden blocks (pieces of boards)
Olive jar
A tube

Superglue, cold welding, epoxy resin (construction market).
Emery
Drill
soldering iron
Hacksaw

How to make a steam engine

Engine diagram

Cylinder and spool tube.

Cut off 3 pieces from the antenna:
? The first piece is 38 mm long and 8 mm in diameter (the cylinder itself).
? The second piece is 30 mm long and 4 mm in diameter.
? The third is 6 mm long and 4 mm in diameter.

Take tube No. 2 and make a hole in it with a diameter of 4 mm in the middle. Take tube No. 3 and glue it perpendicular to tube No. 2, after the superglue dries, cover everything with cold welding (for example, POXIPOL).

We fasten a round iron washer with a hole in the middle to piece No. 3 (diameter - a little more than tube No. 1), after drying, we strengthen it with cold welding.

In addition, we cover all seams with epoxy resin for better tightness.

How to make a piston with a connecting rod

We take a bolt (1) with a diameter of 7 mm and clamp it in a vise. We begin to wind copper wire (2) around it for about 6 turns. We coat each turn with superglue. We cut off the excess ends of the bolt.

We cover the wire with epoxy. After drying, we adjust the piston with sandpaper under the cylinder so that it moves freely there without letting air through.

From a sheet of aluminum we make a strip 4 mm long and 19 mm long. We give it the shape of the letter P (3).

We drill holes (4) with a diameter of 2 mm at both ends so that a piece of knitting needle can be inserted. The sides of the U-shaped part should be 7x5x7 mm. We glue it to the piston with the side that is 5 mm.

We make a connecting rod (5) from a bicycle knitting needle. Glue to both ends of the spokes on two small pieces of tubes (6) from the antenna with a diameter and length of 3 mm. The distance between the centers of the connecting rod is 50 mm. Next, we insert the connecting rod with one end into the U-shaped part and fix it with a knitting needle.

We glue the knitting needle at both ends so that it does not fall out.

Triangle connecting rod

The triangle connecting rod is made in a similar way, only on one side there will be a piece of a knitting needle, and on the other a tube. Connecting rod length 75 mm.

Triangle and spool

steam boiler

The steam boiler will be a jar of olives with a sealed lid. I also soldered a nut so that water could be poured through it and tightly tightened with a bolt. I also soldered the tube to the lid.
Here is a photo:

Photo of the engine assembly

We assemble the engine on a wooden platform, placing each element on a support

Steam engine video
Version 2.0

Cosmetic modification of the engine. The tank now has its own wooden platform and a saucer for a dry fuel tablet. All parts are painted Beautiful colors. By the way, as a heat source it is best to use homemade

Since oil products are constantly rising in price (after all, oil tends to run out), the desire to save on fuel is quite understandable, and mini engine could be a good solution.

How economical is a mini internal combustion engine?

As you know, internal combustion engines are divided into gasoline and diesel, and both the first and the second are undergoing significant changes today. The reason for the modernization of both the mechanisms themselves and the fuel is the significantly worsened ecology, the state of which is also affected by the emissions of equipment running on liquid fuel. So, for example, eco-gasoline appeared, diluted with alcohol in a ratio of 8:2 to 2:8, that is, alcohol in such fuel can contain from 20 to 80 percent. But that's where the upgrade ends. decreasing trend gasoline engines practically not observed in volume. The smallest examples are installed in model aircraft, the larger ones are used on lawn mowers, outboard motors, snowmobiles, scooters and other similar vehicles.

As for today, a lot has really been done to make this engine truly microscopic. The concern is currently Toyota created the smallest minicars Corolla II, Corsa and Tercel, they are equipped with diesel engines 1N And 1NT only 1.5 liters. One problem is that the service life of such mechanisms is extremely low, and the reason for this is the very fast depletion of the resource. cylinder-piston group. There are also very tiny diesel internal combustion engines, with a volume of only 0.21 liters. They are installed on compact motor vehicles and building mechanisms, but you can’t expect great power, the maximum that they give out is 3.25 hp. However, the fuel consumption of such models is small, as evidenced by the volume fuel tank- 2.5 liters.

How efficient is the smallest internal combustion engine?

A conventional internal combustion engine, which is based on the reciprocating movement of the piston, loses performance as the displacement decreases. It's all about a significant loss of efficiency when converting this very movement of the CPG into rotational, which is so necessary for the wheels. However, even before the Second World War, self-taught mechanic Felix Heinrich Wankel created the first working example of a rotary-piston internal combustion engine, in which all components only rotate. Logically, this design, which is very reminiscent of an electric motor, reduces the number of parts by 40% compared to standard motors.

Even though before today not all problems solved this mechanism, service life, efficiency and environmental friendliness meet the established world standards. Productivity exceeds all conceivable limits. Rotary piston engine with a working volume of 1.3 liters allows you to develop a power of 220 Horse power . The installation of a turbocharger increases this figure to 350 hp, which is very significant. Well, the most small engine internal combustion from a series of "wankels", known under the brand name OSMG 1400, has a volume of only 0.005 liters, but at the same time it produces a power of 1.27 hp. at own weight 335 grams.

Main advantage rotary piston engines- no noise accompanying the operation of mechanisms, due to the low mass of operating units and the exact balance of the shaft.

The smallest diesel engine as a source of energy

If we talk about a full-fledged one, then today the brainchild of engineer Jesus Wilder has the smallest size. This is a 12-cylinder V-type engine, fully consistent with the internal combustion engine Ferrar i and Lamborghini. However, in reality, the mechanism is a useless trinket, since it does not run on liquid fuel, but on compressed air, and with a working volume of 12 cubic centimeters has a very low efficiency.

Another thing is the smallest diesel engine, developed by British scientists. True, it does not require diesel fuel as a fuel, but a special mixture of methanol and hydrogen that spontaneously ignites with increasing pressure. With the clock movement of the piston in the combustion chamber, the volume of which does not exceed one cubic millimeter, a flash occurs that sets the mechanism in motion. Curiously, microscopic dimensions were achieved by installing flat parts, in particular, the same pistons are ultra-thin plates. Already today, in an internal combustion engine with dimensions of 5x15x3 millimeters, a tiny shaft rotates at a speed of 50,000 rpm, as a result of which it produces a power of about 11.2 watts.

So far, scientists are facing a number of problems that need to be solved before producing diesel mini-engines on mass production. In particular, these are colossal heat losses due to the extremely thin walls of the combustion chamber and the fragility of materials when exposed to high temperatures. However, when tiny internal combustion engines do roll off the line, just a few grams of fuel will be enough to make a mechanism with an efficiency of 10% work 20 times longer and more efficient than batteries the same sizes.

You can, of course, buy beautiful factory models of Stirling engines, such as in this Chinese online store. However, sometimes you want to create yourself and make a thing, even from improvised means. Our website already has several options for manufacturing these motors, and in this publication, read completely simple option manufacturing at home.

To make it, you will need improvised materials: a can of canned food, a small piece of foam rubber, a CD, two bolts and paper clips.

Foam rubber is one of the most common materials used in the manufacture of Stirling motors. An engine displacer is made from it. From a piece of our foam rubber we cut out a circle, we make its diameter two millimeters less than the inner diameter of the can, and the height is slightly more than half of it.

We drill a hole in the center of the cover, into which we then insert the connecting rod. For a smooth running of the connecting rod, we make a spiral from a paper clip and solder it to the cover.

We pierce the foam rubber circle from foam rubber in the middle with a screw and lock it with a washer from above and below with a washer and a nut. After that, we attach a piece of paper clip by soldering, having previously straightened it.

Now we stick the displacer into the hole made in advance in the lid and hermetically solder the lid and the jar together. We make a small loop at the end of the paper clip, and drill another hole in the lid, but a little more than the first one.

We make a cylinder from tin using soldering.

We attach the finished cylinder to the jar with a soldering iron, so that there are no gaps left at the place of soldering.

We make a crankshaft from a paper clip. Knee spacing should be done at 90 degrees. The knee, which will be above the cylinder in height, is 1-2 mm larger than the other.

We make racks for the shaft from paper clips. Making a membrane To do this, we put a plastic film on the cylinder, push it inward a little and fix it on the cylinder with a thread.

The connecting rod that will need to be attached to the membrane is made from a paper clip and inserted into a piece of rubber. The length of the connecting rod must be made such that at the bottom dead center shaft, the membrane was drawn into the cylinder, and in the upper one, on the contrary, it was extended. The second connecting rod is configured in the same way.

We glue the connecting rod with rubber to the membrane, and attach the other to the displacer.

We attach the legs from the paper clips to the jar with a soldering iron and attach the flywheel to the crank. For example, you can use a CD.

Stirling engine made at home. Now it remains to bring heat under the jar - light a candle. And after a few seconds, give a push to the flywheel.

How to Make a Simple Stirling Engine (with Photos and Video)

www.newphysicist.com

Let's make a Stirling engine.

A Stirling engine is a heat engine that works by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas (working fluid) at various temperatures, so that there is a net conversion of thermal energy into mechanical work. More specifically, the Stirling engine is a closed cycle regenerative heat engine with a constantly gaseous working fluid.

Stirling engines have more high efficiency compared to steam engines and can reach 50% efficiency. They are also able to operate silently and can use almost any heat source. The thermal energy source is generated outside the Stirling engine, and not by internal combustion, as is the case for Otto or diesel cycle engines.

Stirling engines are compatible with alternative and renewable energy sources, because they may become more significant as the price of traditional fuels rises, and in light of issues such as depletion of oil reserves and changing of the climate.

In this project we will give you simple instructions to create a very simple engine DIY Stirling using test tube and syringe .

How to Make a Simple Stirling Engine - Video

Components and steps to make a Stirling motor

1. Piece of hardwood or plywood

This is the basis for your engine. Thus, it must be rigid enough to handle the movements of the engine. Then make three small holes as shown in the picture. You can also use plywood, wood, etc.

2. Marble or glass beads

In a Stirling engine, these balls perform important function. In this project, the marble acts as a hot air displacer from the warm side of the test tube to the cold side. When marble displaces hot air, it cools down.

3. Sticks and screws

Studs and screws are used to hold the tube in a comfortable position for free movement in any direction without any interruption.

4. Rubber pieces

Buy an eraser and cut it into the following shapes. It is used to securely hold the tube and maintain its tightness. There should be no leakage at the mouth of the tube. If so, the project will not be successful.

5. Syringe

The syringe is one of the most important and moving parts in simple engine Stirling. Add some lubricant to the inside of the syringe so that the plunger can move freely inside the barrel. As the air expands inside the test tube, it pushes the piston down. As a result, the syringe barrel moves up. At the same time, the marble rolls towards the hot side of the tube and pushes the hot air out and causes it to cool (reduce volume).

6. Test tube The test tube is the most important and working component of a simple Stirling engine. The test tube is made of a certain type of glass (such as borosilicate glass) that is highly heat resistant. So it can be heated to high temperatures.

How does a Stirling engine work?

Some people say Stirling engines are simple. If this is true, then just like the great equations of physics (e.g. E = mc2), they are simple: they are simple on the surface, but richer, more complex, and potentially very confusing until you realize them. I think it's safer to think of Stirling engines as complex: many are very bad videos YouTube shows how easy it is to "explain" them in a very incomplete and unsatisfactory way.

In my opinion, you can't understand a Stirling engine just by building it or watching it work from the outside: you need to seriously think about the cycle of steps it goes through, what happens to the gas inside, and how it differs from what happens in a conventional steam engine.

All that is required for the operation of the engine is the presence of a temperature difference between the hot and cold parts of the gas chamber. Models have been built that can only operate with a temperature difference of 4 °C, although factory motors will likely operate with a difference of several hundred degrees. These engines may become the most effective form internal combustion engine.

Stirling engines and concentrated solar energy

Stirling engines provide a neat method of converting thermal energy into motion that can drive a generator. The most common arrangement is to have the engine at the center of a parabolic mirror. The mirror will be mounted on the tracker to focus the sun's rays on the engine.

* Stirling engine as receiver

You may have played with convex lenses during your school days. Concentration solar energy for burning a piece of paper or a match, am I right? New technologies are developing day by day. Concentrated solar thermal energy is gaining more and more attention these days.

Above is a short video of a simple test tube motor using glass beads as a propellant and a glass syringe as a force piston.

This simple Stirling engine was built from materials that are available in most school science labs and can be used to demonstrate a simple heat engine.

Pressure-volume per cycle diagram

Process 1 → 2 Expansion of the working gas at the hot end of the tube, heat is transferred to the gas and the gas expands, increasing the volume and pushing the syringe plunger up.

Process 2 → 3 As the marble moves towards the hot end of the tube, the gas is forced from the hot end of the tube to the cold end, and as the gas moves, it gives off heat to the wall of the tube.

Process 3 → 4 Heat is removed from the working gas and the volume decreases, the syringe plunger moves down.

Process 4 → 1 Ends the loop. The working gas moves from the cold end of the tube to the hot end as the marbles displace it, receiving heat from the wall of the tube as it moves, thus increasing the pressure of the gas.

Instruction

Remove the engine from the car. To do this: drain the oil from the crankcase and the coolant from the cooling system, remove the battery. Then unscrew 4 bolts with a “13” key and remove the hood to make it easier to carry out other manipulations in the future. Remove air filter. After unscrewing the four bolts with a “13” key, remove.

Remove the muffler starting from the rear. Using the “13” wrench, unscrew the four nuts that secure the “pants” to the exhaust manifold. Unscrew the key "13" back cardan shaft attached to the gearbox rear axle. Remove outboard bearing, pull the cardan out of the gearbox. Unscrew 4 bolts with a “17” wrench that secure the box to the engine, 3 “13” bolts and two “13” nuts from the rear gearbox holder. Remove the box.

Remove everything from the engine attachments: , fuel pump, ignition distributor. Unscrew on the front beam. Remove . Unscrew the cylinder head bolts with a socket head, mark each one to your mark so as not to make a mistake during assembly. Remove the cylinder head. Pull out the engine with a winch or by hand. Lay it on a flat and clean surface.

Remove the oil pan, oil pump. Unscrew the socket "14" nuts connecting rod bolts, remove the covers and carefully remove the pistons with connecting rods through the cylinders. Mark the pistons, connecting rods and caps so as not to mix up during assembly. Lock the flywheel and remove it from the crankshaft. Turn away bolts of covers of radical bearings and remove them together with the lower loose leaves; remove the crankshaft.

Press out piston pins. Inspect the pistons, if they have a defect, then replace. Give the cylinder block for boring under new size pistons. Measure the crankshaft, in case of a defect, either give it for boring to the repair size, or for surfacing, or replace it with a new one. according to neck size crankshaft choose the size of it. Inspect and measure the connecting rods, in case of a defect, replace. Inspect the cylinder head mating to the cylinder block. In case of gap - sand. Inspect the valves, defective - replace, take diamond grease and lap the seats.

Press the piston pins into the piston and connecting rods. Replace oil slinger and compression rings. Insert the pistons with a mandrel into the cylinder block. Insert the crankshaft bearings into the connecting rods, install the crankshaft. Insert bushings into connecting rod caps and screw onto connecting rods torque wrench with the required effort. Put oil pump, pallet.

Install the engine on the car. Screw the cylinder head with a torque wrench to the required torque. Adjust the valves with a feeler gauge. Put valve cover. Screw the box, muffler, attachments. Adjust ignition timing. Pour mineral oil and go through the run. Do not overload the engine at first. Try to keep the engine speed within 2500 rpm.

In everyday activities, a person most often has to deal with internal combustion engines. Petrol and diesel engines are widely used in the automotive industry. But there is also a special class of power plants with common name engines external combustion.

External combustion engines

In external combustion engines, the process of fuel combustion and the source thermal effect separated from the working installation. This category usually includes steam and gas turbines and Stirling engines. First prototypes similar installations were designed more than two centuries ago and were used throughout almost the entire 19th century.

When the rapidly developing industry needed powerful and economical power plants, the designers came up with a replacement for explosive steam engines, where the working fluid was steam under high pressure. This is how external combustion engines appeared, which became widespread already at the beginning of the 19th century. Only a few decades later they were replaced by internal combustion engines. They cost significantly less than their wide distribution.

But today, designers are looking more closely at outdated external combustion engines. This is due to their benefits. The main advantage is that such installations do not need a well-cleaned and expensive fuel.

External combustion engines are unpretentious, although their construction and maintenance are still quite expensive.

Stirling's engine

One of the most famous representatives of the family of external combustion engines is the Stirling machine. It was invented in 1816, improved several times, but subsequently on for a long time was undeservedly forgotten. Now the Stirling engine has received a rebirth. It is successfully used even in space exploration.

The operation of the Stirling machine is based on a closed thermodynamic cycle. Periodic processes of compression and expansion take place here at different temperatures. Workflow management occurs by changing its volume.

The Stirling engine can work as a heat pump, pressure generator, cooling device.

IN this engine At low temperatures, the gas is compressed, and at high temperatures, it expands. Periodic change of parameters occurs due to the use of a special piston, which has the function of a displacer. Heat is supplied to the working fluid from outside through the wall of the cylinder. This feature gives the right