The atmospheric steam engine as energy converter for low and medium temperature thermal energy
The atmospheric steam engine as energy converter for low and medium temperature thermal energy
Many industrial processes and renewable energy sources produce thermal energy with temperatures below 100 °C. The cost-effective generation of mechanical energy from this thermal energy still constitutes an engineering problem. The atmospheric steam engine is a very simple machine which employs the steam generated by boiling water at atmospheric pressures. Its main disadvantage is the low theoretical efficiency of 0.064. In this article, first the theory of the atmospheric steam engine is extended to show that operation for temperatures between 60 °C and 100 °C is possible although efficiencies are further reduced. Second, the addition of a forced expansion stroke, where the steam volume is increased using external energy, is shown to lead to significantly increased overall efficiencies ranging from 0.084 for a boiler temperature of T0 = 60 °C to 0.25 for T0 = 100 °C. The simplicity of the machine indicates cost-effectiveness. The theoretical work shows that the atmospheric steam engine still has development potential.
low and medium temperature, thermal energy, steam engine, desalination
94-100
Müller, G.
f1a988fc-3bde-429e-83e2-041e9792bfd9
May 2013
Müller, G.
f1a988fc-3bde-429e-83e2-041e9792bfd9
Müller, G.
(2013)
The atmospheric steam engine as energy converter for low and medium temperature thermal energy.
Renewable Energy, 53, .
(doi:10.1016/j.renene.2012.10.056).
Abstract
Many industrial processes and renewable energy sources produce thermal energy with temperatures below 100 °C. The cost-effective generation of mechanical energy from this thermal energy still constitutes an engineering problem. The atmospheric steam engine is a very simple machine which employs the steam generated by boiling water at atmospheric pressures. Its main disadvantage is the low theoretical efficiency of 0.064. In this article, first the theory of the atmospheric steam engine is extended to show that operation for temperatures between 60 °C and 100 °C is possible although efficiencies are further reduced. Second, the addition of a forced expansion stroke, where the steam volume is increased using external energy, is shown to lead to significantly increased overall efficiencies ranging from 0.084 for a boiler temperature of T0 = 60 °C to 0.25 for T0 = 100 °C. The simplicity of the machine indicates cost-effectiveness. The theoretical work shows that the atmospheric steam engine still has development potential.
Text
Muller RENE 2013.pdf
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Available under License Other.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 7 December 2012
Published date: May 2013
Keywords:
low and medium temperature, thermal energy, steam engine, desalination
Organisations:
Energy & Climate Change Group
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 348565
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/348565
ISSN: 0960-1481
PURE UUID: bb2d47b0-4804-469a-bfda-007730d8db21
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Date deposited: 14 Feb 2013 10:49
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 13:02
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