The Steamboating Forum

Howdy,

If I am able to get my boat running I am pondering taking to the high seas (ok low seas......stay close to shore, in the bay, ok..in the harbor......). I dont have my condensing loop set up yet. I seem to recall that water use is typically assumed at 5 gallons per hp per hour.
Does that sound right ? I am wondering if I can set up to carry some amount of water to allow for a little harbor cruise. I would like to take my teenage daughter out for a ride to show her how I spent her college money..

Also, is it pressure related ? If I run at 80 psi versus 130 psi will I use less water ?

thanks in advance for the help

jon

I used 5 gal/hr as a working figure; seemed about right when I was non condensing.

Bring extra water. Delays happen.

- Bart

JonRiley56 wrote:...
Also, is it pressure related ? If I run at 80 psi versus 130 psi will I use less water ?

thanks in advance for the help

jon

Yes, the lower the pressure, the more water you will use- steam engines are heat engines, the more pressure you have in the boiler, the more energy you put into the steam per lb, simplistically, your boiler at 80psi and engine at 40psi would be using half of the energy available- with a boiler at 120psi and engine at 40psi you would be using a third of the energy available from your boiler, but with the same performance from your engine. You will use less water this way because you don't have to open the throttle as much.

You might you a smaller amount of fuel than you would by keeping the boiler at 80psi, however.

Greg

gondolier88 wrote:

JonRiley56 wrote:...
Also, is it pressure related ? If I run at 80 psi versus 130 psi will I use less water ?

thanks in advance for the help

jon

Yes, the lower the pressure, the more water you will use- steam engines are heat engines, the more pressure you have in the boiler, the more energy you put into the steam per lb, simplistically, your boiler at 80psi and engine at 40psi would be using half of the energy available- with a boiler at 120psi and engine at 40psi you would be using a third of the energy available from your boiler, but with the same performance from your engine. You will use less water this way because you don't have to open the throttle as much.

You might you a smaller amount of fuel than you would by keeping the boiler at 80psi, however.

Greg

The slower you run the boat, the less water you'll use. It doesn't matter (much) whether you throttle the steam (and turn down the fire), or link up (and turn down the fire) or just turn down the fire, running at half speed will use approximately 1/8 the water as running at full speed because water consumption is basically proportional to power delivered, and every time speed doubles, power requirements go up by a factor of 8 - cube law.

- Bart

I 've never really measured but it seems I use as much water as fuel! I pack about twenty-eight gal of fuel and a similar about of water which gets me about 10 hours steamin' Those are the tanks built into the boat.Then I pack a similar amount stashed all over the boat! Better to be looking at it than looking for it!! And then there's the whistle blowing! well that's another story! Den[/img]

Hm. I'm a little horrified by all this. I was out steaming around for two hours last week and the boiler level didn't vary a fraction of an inch. I have ten gallons of makeup water in two jugs and I haven't opened them in a month.

Now I burn wood and have no stack blower and I tend to fuss with leaky valves and rod packings. I have been toying with the idea of burning oil of some sort but you guys have me all worried. Maybe I'll just arrange an oil drip on my wood fire to extend my range. Are there any oil burners that don't need steam or propane to make them work?

I must think this over. I hadn't thought of water as a consumable except for drinking!

Mike

Sure Mike -Go buy a Becket burner,12 volt battery,alternator then maybe using water in an atomizing burner doesn't sound to bad does it? As for the drips and the packing leaks,one by one maybe even I can diminish them.I read somewhere how much a drop a second amounts to and it's quite large-but being a senior I forgot the amount!!

Lopez Mike wrote:Hm. I'm a little horrified by all this. I was out steaming around for two hours last week and the boiler level didn't vary a fraction of an inch. I have ten gallons of makeup water in two jugs and I haven't opened them in a month.

Now I burn wood and have no stack blower and I tend to fuss with leaky valves and rod packings. I have been toying with the idea of burning oil of some sort but you guys have me all worried. Maybe I'll just arrange an oil drip on my wood fire to extend my range. Are there any oil burners that don't need steam or propane to make them work?

I must think this over. I hadn't thought of water as a consumable except for drinking!

Mike

Otter uses less than 1 gallon/hr of water for her burner, but if that is still too much you can use a small gear pump or high pressure car fuel pump to spray diesel through a sprayer nozzle. Since you've already got a wood fire that will help w/ the draft, this should work fine even w/o added air.

- Bart

How about a vaporizing oil burner, no propane, no steam, no electricity, no engine driven pump, just a bicycle pump to charge the fuel tank, and a hot coil to vaporize the oil. Coleman camp stoves, camp lanterns, Stanley Steamers, and many others. used this setup.

fredrosse wrote:How about a vaporizing oil burner, no propane, no steam, no electricity, no engine driven pump, just a bicycle pump to charge the fuel tank, and a hot coil to vaporize the oil. Coleman camp stoves, camp lanterns, Stanley Steamers, and many others. used this setup.

I've used one of these for a while in the early 90s.... Diesel doesn't really work in a vaporizer; kerosene works alright (although cleaning the coil and nozzle will be needed sooner or later), and gasoline isn't really a very safe fuel in a steamboat. If you can wind a tight coil, you should be able to make a reasonably
compact vaporizer - but kerosene remains a difficult fuel to get cheaply in a lot of places.

- Bart