Alt-fuel car for Pat K!

[KBCraig]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4270456.html

June 25, 2008

British Steam Car Hits the Road En Route to 170 MPH at Bonneville

THORNEY ISLAND, England — "No one goes round the back, there's 360 horsepower of colorless death 'round there."

It was a statement that made nearby fireman at a secure military base here prick up their ears. The British Steam Car, a potential Land Speed Record breaker, wasn't belching its intense fire when it revved up on a track for the first time today, so there was no need for the firefighters' services. Still, loose talk about dangerous infernos from Matt Candy, the vehicle's project manager, was bound to get their attention.

The Jules-Verne-meets-Batmobile vehicle is being loaded up for a trip across the Atlantic, bound for the Bonneville Salt Flats and a potential rendezvous with racing history in late August. Burning liquid petroleum gas at 750° F to pressurize that 360-hp Curtis turbine, the 25-ft.-long Steam Car can turn 10.5 gallons of water a minute into some boiling-hot action for the record books—and wicked fast, with velocities in excess of 150 mph. That's not much compared to the absolute land speed record of 763 mph, but it would be enough to top the 88-year-old international steam record of 127.66 mph­. The target speed for later this summer: 170 mph.

When the attempt is made, it will be the first time the Steam Car will run as a complete unit. All the car's systems have been exercised individually on a test bed, and it got an eye-popping early workout in motion here today. But the whole thing will run together for the first time in the third week of August, when the supersonic engineering team will test the time-bending machine prior to an all-guns-blazing attempt at the record the following week.

"When I heard it was a steam car, I certainly had some mixed feelings about coming out of record-breaking retirement," said Don Wales, nephew of the late Donald Campbell and grandson of Malcolm Campbell, who between them set some 20 land and water records. Don himself set the electric-car Land Speed Record in Bluebird Electric in 2001, and serves as chief test driver for the Steam Car. "The driver's cockpit is probably the safest place on the entire car—it's the blokes working on the machine who face the most risks."

If the speeds the team aims to break are modest by most standards, the technical challenges certainly aren't. The biggest problem has been the 12 micro boilers that have to make super heated steam, very quickly. Getting the maximum amount of energy from the burners into the water without allowing it to escape has been a formidable challenge.

Unlike a steam locomotive, which uses a steam-powered injector system, the British Steam Car uses compressed-air-powered hydraulics to inject distilled water and pre-prime itself. The water is pumped into the start of 1.86 miles of tubing to develop three megawatts of heat to convert water into 750 F steam. This super-heated "dry" steam is then directed down the car via heavily lagged pipes and two enormous industrial steam valves, which act as throttles, and then into the two-stage turbine. "That's where we turn pressure into velocity," says Candy. The steam is injected into the turbine at over two times the speed of sound; under the assault, the turbine revolves at up to 13,000 rpm. The turbine drives the rear wheels via a conventional crown wheel and pinion. The vehicle turns 10.5 gallons of water a minute into super-heated steam at 40 times atmospheric pressure.

"It's a total-loss system," says Candy. "We're not condensing the steam or anything, we just throw it out the back and, as a consequence, we're only about 10 percent thermally efficient."

It takes longer to start the machine than it can run—eight minutes to get going with enough fuel, compressed air and water to run for three minutes, although the vehicle only needs two minutes to cross the measured mile. "We'll actually coast through the line," says Wales. "We'll then let it roll to a stop rather than use the brakes, and by the time the team manages to find it, things should be cool enough to turn it around and prepare for the return run. If they can't find it, it's got a GPS system on it." —Andrew English

[Pat K]

 

10,000 RPMS THAT THING WILL BE SCREAMING!!

[coffeeseven]

10,000 RPMS THAT THING WILL BE SCREAMING!!

You'd think they could add another gear to the tranny. 

[John Edward Mercier]

I see a lot about the steam turbine, but what are they using for fuel?

[Pat McCotter]

I see a lot about the steam turbine, but what are they using for fuel?

"Burning liquid petroleum gas at 750° F to pressurize that 360-hp Curtis turbine, the 25-ft.-long Steam Car can turn 10.5 gallons of water a minute into some boiling-hot action for the record books—and wicked fast, with velocities in excess of 150 mph."

[KBCraig]

"Wicked fast"... are they from New England instead of England? 

[John Edward Mercier]

I see a lot about the steam turbine, but what are they using for fuel?

"Burning liquid petroleum gas at 750° F to pressurize that 360-hp Curtis turbine, the 25-ft.-long Steam Car can turn 10.5 gallons of water a minute into some boiling-hot action for the record books—and wicked fast, with velocities in excess of 150 mph."

Sorry, I was being sarcastic in that the title was Alt-fuel... but is still a petroleum fuelled vehicle.

[KBCraig]

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/british-steam-c.html

(photos and videos at the link)

British Steam-Car Team Sets Sights on 170 mph
By Chuck Squatriglia EmailDecember 11, 2008 | 4:16:12 PMCategories: Alt Fuel, Extreme Machines 

British_steam_car

British steampunks have successfully tested a steam-powered car they want to see race across the California desert at 170 mph. They aim to break a record that has stood for more than a century.

The British Steam Car made several low-speed runs last week before uncorking the car's 12 microboilers and 360-horsepower turbine Thursday. There's no word on how hard driver Dan Wales pushed the car, but early reports indicate everything went well.

The campaign continues a British tradition for speed that dates from the 1920s and '30s, when Sir Malcolm Campbell set several records on land and sea. Of course, speed is a relative term in a steam-powered car. The goal is to hit 170 mph, which is nothing for a Ferrari but more than enough to shatter the record Fred Marriott set in 1906 when he reached 127.659 mph behind the wheel of a Stanley Steamer Rocket.

A buck seventy is nothing compared to the the current land speed record of 763.035 mph, but the challenge is no less daunting. Engineers are trying for a modest speed, but the technology they're using is no shrinking violet.

According to Popular Mechanics, the British Steam Car uses liquefied petroleum gas and a dozen microboilers to generate the 3 megawatts of heat needed to create a steam temperature of 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam flows through 1.86 miles of tubing and several giant valves to a two-stage turbine spinning at 13,000 rpm and drives the rear wheels. The system can turn 10.5 gallons of water a minute into steam at 40 times atmospheric pressure.

"It's a total-loss system," project manager Matt Candy told Popular Mechanics. "We're not condensing the steam or anything. We just throw it out the back and, as a consequence, we're only about 10 percent thermally efficient."

After making a successful low-speed run last week, the car made several runs Wednesday and Thursday. The boilers built sufficient pressure and the safety system shut the car down when it detected a minor problem, according to the Telegraph. The rules require vehicles attempting a speed record to make two runs within an hour, so the crew practiced launching the vehicle and turning it around quickly before freezing temperatures forced them to pack it in.

The team hopes to make its run for the record next year and has been talking to officials at Edwards Air Force Base in California about running on a dry lake bed there. It's also asking the Southern California Timing Association to help survey the course and time the run.

[KBCraig]

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/01/lsr-steam-car-n.html

Team Steam Chugs Toward 170 mph

We here at Autopia love anything LSR-related. That's land-speed record for the uninitiated, and it doesn't matter what form it takes. Cars, bikes, belly tankers, rocket cars, whatever. We're even into the patently weird and wacky endeavors, like building the world's fastest steam-powered car.

You laugh, but steam is serious business. Messing around with it as a propulsive force is not for the faint of heart. Steam is a huge maintenance hassle and the engineering is a bear. What, you think railroads went diesel-electric because it's more elegant?

So what have the engineers, wrench spinners and speed freaks at British Steam Car been up to since deciding to challenge a record that has stood for more than a century?

First, don't you love that it's the Brits doing this? The only thing that could have made it better is if it was the Scots (Watt and all that) but the English have their own cache here (Campbell, Cobb, Noble, et al). The British have a tradition for speed starting from the 1920s. And few can top the British when it comes to eccentricity, so building the world's fastest steam car fits right in.

Team steam hopes to bring the car to California later this year challenge  the record Fred Marriott set in 1906 when he reached 127.659 mph behind the wheel of a Stanley Steamer Rocket.

The car uses liquefied petroleum gas and a dozen microboilers to generate the 3 megawatts of heat needed to create a steam temperature of 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam flows through 1.86 miles of tubing -- yes, you read that right -- and several giant valves to a two-stage turbine that spins at 13,000 rpm and produces 360 horsepower. The system can turn 10.5 gallons of water a minute into steam at 40 times atmospheric pressure.

Anyway, the British Steam Car has completed its first fully powered test runs at an airfield in England. According to the steam team, the car has made six dynamic runs and accelerated at full throttle -- though clearly not in the video below -- at a place called Thorney Island.

"No steam is exiting via the by pass pipes; all spent steam is coming from the turbine," the team reports.

They're testing at a place called Thorney Island. Are John Steed & Emma Peel taking an interest? And yeah, of course the car has a turbine, but hearing "all spent steam is coming from the turbine" makes us go rubbery. A steam turbine. It's simultaneously quaint and cool.

The steam team also is dialing in the suspension, which is critical because you don't won't things going all wobbly at 170 mph. But getting the car running is only part of the challenge. They've got to make the run, and here, too, things are going swimmingly. "The team were able to practice turning the car around, refueling and starting the car against the clock."

That may not seem like a big deal, but LSR cars aren't made to turn -- just look at that wheelbase -- and horsing these cars around so they're pointed in the right direction is not to be taken lightly. Every second counts because you've got to make one run in each direction to counter any tailwinds and you've got a limited time to do it. We've seen more than one record-setting run shot down because the crew couldn't get its car swung 'round, refueled and ready to make the second sprint within the allotted time.

[KBCraig]

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/07/british-steam-car/

[Pat K]

I don't know but it seems there be alot
of room in all that complication, for
MR. Murphy to rear his ugly head.

[KBCraig]

Well, they set a new record. I guess 139 mph on steam is impressive. To my mind, considering it's 2009, 139 isn't nearly as impressive as the 127 mph previous record, which was set in 1906! 

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/08/british-steam-car-record-2/

[Pat McCotter]

They probably should have replicated Stanley's Rocket. He destroyed it in an accident in 1907 at about 132mph/140-150mph (depending on the source) when he hit a rut/gully at Daytona Beach.