Radial Air Engine

This is a video of a simple, model oscillating radial air engine I built in 2007. In this video I am running this self-starting engine with an air compressor.
The plans for this engine came from McCabe's model engine website (http://npmccabe.tripod.com/steam.htm). I made a slight modification by using ball bearings and an outer bearing to make the crankshaft more stable. The cylinders are steel, and the pistons are brass rod. Each cylinder has one hole at the end of the bore for the inlet and exhaust port. The three manifold pieces are drilled for inlet and exhaust passage of the air from the compressor. It is routed as you can see from the manifold block at the back where the airline comes in. The flywheel was machined and mounted on a rotary table to mill the spokes. The engine has very little output power because it runs on less than 10psi air pressure.
This engine was a fun build, but it isn't an efficient style engine.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• home machined
• hobby
• metalworking
• model engine

[xxx777aaa]

WHY NOT POWER IT FROM AN AIR TEMP DIFFERENTIAL that is natural like say heat from underground to the ambient above ground temp or use a solar array to heat the air?

[parkerdjte]

@xxx777aaa Thank you for looking at the video.  Wow! You sure ambitious! Remember that this is just a model..Your idea would generate some pressure, possibly enough for a big friction free engine to run but probably not enough to extract any usable power to run much of anything. What you suggest would approach a Sterling cycle engine, they run but have a low power output. The collector would be quite large and elaborate to compress the air enough to get any power out of it.-----don

[1000900903]

how are they sychronized?

[parkerdjte]

@1000900903 Thank you for looking at the video. The cylinders oscillate or wiggle a bit as the piston/rod moves around the crank pin. This moves the inlet ports and the exhaust ports to their needed positions for letting air in or out of the cylinder. Thus I think you could say it is timed by the crank pin position. That is what makes a oscillating engine so simple as long as you get the ports to line up with the cylinder on it's swinging positions. Clear as mud, huh?----don

[CopperheadViper]

Hey man, don't thank us. Thank you.

[parkerdjte]

@sliksQQ Thank you for looking at my video. This technology is very simple but also very inefficient as you need a compressor or boiler to supply the air or steam at a high enough pressure to be able to draw power from the engine to run anything. The amount of fuel to produce power at a gas or diesel engine is much less than that of the fuel for a compressor or boiler and much more portable.

don

[brad112222222]

looking at this stuff makes me think about what well happen the times that come, how well we get a power

[MrROTD]

@parkerdjte sterling engines run generators at solar plants, the mirrors focus the sun onto a sodium filled sterling engine.

[surinderdhiman]

Awesome !!!!!!! Blessed with a Brilliant Brain. Keep it up.

[parkerdjte]

@blkcolas Take a look at "The Miser" engine (kits are/were available from Jerry Howell), They can run off of a small differential temperature in either direction depending upon if the lower plate is warmer or cooler than the top plate. I have some of the larger parts machined for one but am leery of machining the tiny parts enough to keep finding other things to make. There are commercial fans out there to mount on a wood stove to circulate the hot air.---don

[parkerdjte]

@blkcolas Thank you for looking at the video. Yes a way to increase the usable torque from the engine would be to gear it down by belts and sheaves or chain and sprockets.  Another way to acquire more power is to increase the size of the pistons but this would also use more air or increase the pressure which would also use more air.---don

[parkerdjte]

@FEAR6655: Thank you for looking at the video. You made me look! I think the knocking you hear at about 50 seconds into the video is just the base bouncing on the table top, I hope!--------don

[FEAR6655]

0:53 Sounds like a bit of big end bearing knock, lol