Steam Engines

We have two steam engines:

• the big steam engine
• the small steam engine

The Big Steam Engine

History

This 170 HP duplex steam engine was ordered by the university on March 31, 1926 with a foreseen delivery time of 8 months. The manufacturer was the company Les Nouvelles Usines BOLLINCKX S.A. The engine drives a DC generator through a huge belt drive (partially shown in the picture), and the total cost of this electrical power plant, excluding installment, was 111.000 BEF. This power plant was ordered by the university to supply DC electricity to nearby university buildings. However, at the time the engine was installed, third-party AC electricity became available at a much lower cost.

The engine then served as an educational laboratory test stand. Engineering students (all disciplines) had to perform measurements of brake torque, power and overall efficiency. Full first law and second law Sankey diagrams had to be produced, as well as indicator diagrams had to be planimetrically measured. Very extensive and detailed reporting was required. The last big-steam-engine laboratory session was held in 1972.

The power plant is now run at zero load with live steam on selected occasions. Participants at international seminars, delegates from other universities or occasionally the general public can enjoy the hissing and puffing of this old machine. The co-ordination of the motion of the cranks with the valve rods and the lubrication gears, the tripping of the steam admittance valves: it is pure harmony. For our contemporary students, it serves as a monument of how mechanical engineering has progressed the last 70 years. Next to it, and not shown in the picture, sits a steam turbine of 2600 HP that is not bigger than the crankcase of one of the pistons of the steam engine.

A much bigger steam engine is run on live steam almost every day at the Science Museum in London.

Specifications

Table: Technical specifications (twin cylinders, horizontal, each double acting, double expansion)

Table: Guarantees

Table: Technical details

The Small Steam Engine

History

This small steam engine was donated to the university by the company "Van Der Kelen en Van Impe, Hoboken." The manufacturer was the company Les Nouvelles Usines BOLLINCKX S.A. Although the manufacturing date of the engine is not known, the machine was transported to the building at the time the Thermotechnic Institute was established in 1926. The engine drives a DC generator through a belt drive.

">

The engine is equipped with the scissors of Stephenson. By changing the position of the lever, the operator can change the rotation of the engine to forward, idle and backward drive.

The engine has always served as an educational laboratory test stand. Engineering students (all disciplines) had to perform measurements of brake torque, power and overall efficiency. Full first law and second law Sankey diagrams had to be produced, as well as indicator diagrams had to be planimetrically measured. Very extensive and detailed reporting of the engine technology and operation was required.

Today, the power plant is run at zero load as a demonstration of how steam can be used to generate power for traction. It is run more often than our big steam engine, because the warm-up time is much shorter.

Specifications

Table: Technical specifications (single cylinder, horizontal, double acting)

 Table: Technical details