re: concentrator questions & clarifications SOLAR.KnowledgePublications.com

re: concentrator questions & clarifications
3 may 1997
...and once you have more than 6:1 concentration, who needs pvs?

engineer rudy behrens ((610) 489-6256) said he had in mind non-condensing
piston steam engines with no superheat, simple things like the stanley steamer
engine, about the size of a kerosene lantern, with a single double-acting
steam piston, and another piston on the same crankshaft, 90 degrees out of
phase, which compressed steam as vapor and reinjected it into the boiler, so
the steam acted as a perfect gas throughout the cycle, without ever condensing
to water. stanleys had no gearboxes, and developed maximum torque at stall,
although they could also lay rubber starting from 60 mph...

rudy mentioned that standard gasoline engines and air compressors made with
nodular cast iron last a long time with "lubricated steam," ie steam with a
specialized oil that dissolves in the steam and carbonizes iron surfaces to
avoid rusting. he said all this is well-known technology, seldom used these
days except in specialized applications, such as icebreaker engines, which
sometimes need maximum torque at stall to break propellors free from ice,
with spent steam heating the bow and air bubblers.

rudy showed me one of his off-the-shelf air compressors attached to a 7.5 hp
3 phase motor with a belt drive, and said he could probably make this into
a steam engine in "a week or two," if not make something less expensive with
a 5 hp briggs and stratton engine (about $200 in the northern catalog) and a
small off-the-shelf stainless steel steam injector compressor, perhaps
combined with an induction generator made from a used 3 phase u-frame motor
with the rotor insulation chemically stripped and redipped to make it a
better generator, with a smoother power curve and less need for a governor. 

but why would anyone want to do this, he asked, since electrical power is
so cheap these days? he mentioned buying a small amount from peco (of all
people) at a negotiated price of 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour...

nick