How to Make a Model Hot-Air Engine
By HENRY GREENLY
T
HE hot-air engine, except perhaps forthe water-motor, is the simplest of allprime movers to reproduce in miniature.No boiler is required, no danger attends itsuse, and within a very few seconds of lightingthe lamp it is ready to start. For these reasonsthe writer has chosen the hot-air engine as thesubject matter for the first article of the wintersession. A hot-air engine is certainly a be-ginner's model. Of course, such an enginecannot be made to develop much power, butwhat
model
engine does ? Under ordinarycircumstances so long as the maker, when his
task is finished, sees the wheels go round, heis sufficiently rewarded. If it will also drivesome other light running machine so much thebetter.The hot-air engine, originally called the"caloric engine," is a comparatively ancientinvention, dating from 1807. Theoretically itshould be a perfect heat engine (which thesteam engine is certainly not), but there areso many practical difficulties in the designand construction that it is in reality one of the most inefficient of all machines used forproviding power from the latent heat of coal.Although inthe earlyfifties Erics-son built alarge pas-senger-carryingship drivenb y hot-airengines,readersmust aban-
don any
idea of using anengine of this type
for the pur-po se of
driving alocomotiveor aero-plane. Theweight per
horse-power
is excessive ;quite two
hundredtimes morethan that of a modernaeroplanepetrol-
motor.
There are
two systemsunder whichhot-airengineswork: the
HOW TO MAKE A MODEL HOT-AIR ENGINE
"closed" cycle and the "open" cycle. Theformer deals with a given quantity of air whichis locked up in the apparatus, and which isheated and cooled down alternately. Thissystem is the one which the writer lias adoptedfor the model illustrated herewith. As will beseen by the explanatory diagram, Fig. 2, twocylinders are employed, the larger one (thedisplacer cylinder) being closed at both ends,and the smaller (power) cylinder open at oneend. The closed end of the power cylinder isconnected by a pipe to the displacer cylinder.Inside the displacer cylinder is a large drumor piston which does not quite fit the cylinder.The function of this piston is to force the airfrom one end of the displacer cylinder to theother, the upper end being cooled by a water jacket, the lower end being placed in thefurnace and subjected to the heat of the fireor lamp. This action, of course, causes the airto expand and contract, and therefore toforce out or relieve the pressure from thepiston in the power cylinder. In Fig. 2 thedisplacer piston is at the top of its stroke, and
FIG. 3.—HOW a hot-air engine works—the power stroke.
the air is in contact with the walls of thecylinder which are being heated by the lamp.The air expands and forces down the powerpiston. At the end of the power stroke thedisplacer piston moves downward, the crank of this pistonjbeing placed at right angles to thepower crank. The air passes to the upper endof the displacer cylinder through the spacebetween piston and cylinder |walls and iscooled. Fig. 3 shows this action at the mostfavourable point of the stroke, the air con-tracting and relieving the pressure on thepower piston. The process is repeated withevery revolution of the engine. The fireprovides for the heating and expansion, andthe cold water for the extraction of the heatand contraction of the working medium, viz.,the given amount of air trapped in the apparatus.Both require constant replenishing, and whatis just as important, the air in the cylindersmust have no chance of getting out. The dis-placer cylinder and piston must be quite air-FIG. 3.—How a hot-air engine works—the suction stroke.tight, the gland and the power piston mustbe in the same condition, and at the same timework quite freely. The variation in pressurein a hot-air engine is very small—one or twopounds per square inch—and therefore frictionmust be reduced to the minimum.But to come to the construction of a workingmodel hot-air engine, which is the
raisond'etre
of this article. No expensive materialsare required, and no castings, except one forthe flywheel. A collection of tinned iron cans,some strip and flat brass, steel wire for shaftsand piston-rods, a short length of 3/16" copperpipe, and some drawn tube for the powerpiston and cylinder, should be made beforecommencing the work. With regard to thetins the sizes of the displacer, cylinder, and itsfurnace and water-jacket may have to bemodified to suit the supplies, but a Lyle's2lb. syrup tin would work well for furnace
j
and a stout air-tight canister 2-1/2" dia. by
FIG. 4.—A suggested implement for cutting round holesin end of tin canister.
4-1/4" high for the displacer cylinder. The dis-placer piston should not be more than 2-1/4"diameter by 2-1/16" high. The joints of thecylinder should all be rolled joints. The
THE CAPTAINbottom of the tin must be the bottom of thecylinder, and as this is subjected to the heatof the lamp, a plain soldered-in end will notdo. Although solder is of no use alone, anytendency of the rolled-end joint or side seamto leak may be stopped by soldering from the
I'iG.
5.—Clip for holding displacer cylinder to furnace
casing.
inside of the tin. For flux, any of the solderingpastes, resin, or spirits of salts " killed " withzinc, may be employed for this purpose.The furnace casing is a tin placed bottomupwards. The lower part is pierced with air-holes, and with alarge "nick"through which thelamp is inserted.The top also hasholes to allow theproducts of com-bustion to escape,and, what is more
difficult, a hole in
the end of the tinmust be cut to fitthe displacer cy-linder. To do thiswell a special toolworking from acentre point is tobe advised, or thecanister may beplaced on a woodenblock held in thelathe and the holein the end turnedout. A suitabletool is shown inFig. 4, which sketchis self-explanatory.As the furnacecasing cannot besoldered to thedisplacer cylinder,and any riveted joint might causethe latter to leak,a clip arrangementis suggested. Thisis detailednn Fig. 5,and is [made fromstrip brass or iron,and the ends are
Air f>if>e
FIG. 6.—Component'parts of gland on displacer cylinder.
riveted on to the furnace. Another satisfactorymethod of supporting the displacer cylinder ina fixed position from the base-board would beto solder strips on to the water-jacket and tobring them rightdown to the baseoutside the furnacecasing. The water- jacket is anothertin with an opentop, soldered(soldering is suffi-cient fixing owingto the presence of the water) on tothe outside of thedisplacer cylinder.The top end of cylinder is shownin the generaldrawing, Fig. i,placed inside thedisplacer cylinder.If a suitable lidwhich will fit insidecannot be obtained,the top of the cy-linder may be fittedwith an ordinarylid with an outsideflange, and thecooling waterallowed to flow allover the surface of the lid. In somerespects this ar-rangement mayimprove the effi-ciency of the en-gine. The idea isillustrated in thediagrams Figs. 2and 3.A packed gland
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Model Hot Air Engine
Build a model hot air engine. This is not a steam engine, this is a Stirling concept engine.
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