Questions tagged [steam]
61 questions
25
votes
9 answers
Why use steam instead of just hot air?
As I understand, a steam machine needs a pressurised gas to work. This can be compressed air but it used to be steam. Energy was provided to the steam engine by heating up water. I don't understand why it used water as the pressurised gas could have…
Manu H
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20
votes
6 answers
Why did steam locomotives not transfer power by cogwheels?
Modern cars use cogwheel to transfer power from the engine to the wheels.
Steam locomotives used some kind of bars (sorry, I'm not a native speaker) to transfer the power to the wheels.
Why did the engineers not use cogwheels?
Would steam…
J. Doe
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1
vote
1 answer
Were steam locomotive fitted with centrifugal governor?
Wikipedia states that steam engines were fitted with centrifugal governor to keep a rotational speed almost constant.
For steam locomotives, Wikipedia speaks about regulator but nothing about the automation of this regulator. I imagine this device…
Manu H
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1
vote
1 answer
Saturated steam equations
I found the following paper and am attempting to put Saturated Pressure and Saturated Temperature into excel. I got Saturated Pressure to work, but can't get saturated Temperature to work.
Saturated Steam Equations Paper
Saturated Pressure…
ericnutsch
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0
votes
3 answers
Why use steam water and not other fuild in steam engines?
Given this answer, I understand the importance of phase change (liquid --> gas) for the fluid used in a steam engine. Thus I understand it is important to use a fluid that is liquid at pressure and temperature this engine may work in (between 600…
Manu H
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