Hello everyone,

My name is Robert Hopkins. I've been involved with steam cars for over 10 years and have decided to make a steam powered bicycle.

I was thinking of purchasing or using the 3 speed Raleigh with a transmission I currently own for a steam bicycle.
I was planning to use it for college, but this may be an adventurous use for it and it save me money not having to purchase another bicycle.

For the boiler I was planning on building a flash tube boiler because there's less risk of causing an explosion and I do not have the skills or the money to create a fire tube boiler. Still have to work out the tube sizes.

I was planning on running at 200 psi, so maybe 250 being the safety valve.
That's something else I am not sure about. I have looked at a couple people's bicycles through the internet and most of you seem t run at around 150 with safety at 200. Is there a regulation for that?

The burner would be a liquid fueled vaporizer type burner most likely running on gasoline, but it could be other fuels. Gasoline is just easy to come by.
I am not going to use coal or other solid fuels because though simpler it puts ashes on the roads and in many places in the United States its against the law to let ashes fall on the road no matter how few there are.

For the engine I was thinking about a single 1.5in x 2in double acting cylinder replacing the the chain and sprocket and being connected to the rear axle of the bike by a cam.

I would really like opinions on the engine size, # of cylinders, how its connected to the rear axle.

I would like the bike to be able to go up moderate hills without having to stop.

I found how the water pump was done on the roper bike interesting, but with the raleigh transmission I'm not sure if running the water and fuel pumps of the rear axle would work in my situation. I could possibly run it off the front axle or I'll just have to run it off the engine.

I appreciate all the help and advice I can get.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2009 10:06AM by Stanleyguy101.

hai man are you from ?
same with me try to build steam bike , god luck for you

I'm from Maryland, USA.

Thanks
Good luck to you too

Tomorrow I'll upload pictures of the bicycle that I will eventually use for the steam bicycle.

I have been thinking about the burner and I've decided that a propane burner would be the best solution and simplest to the burner issue because it does not require a fuel pump, adding air to the system as the propane already pressurized, and if I use some sort of propane stove burner for the burner I know that it is reliable and will not clog up with carbon.

In the last couple of days I have been attempting to figure out the horse power of an steam engine with a bore of 1.5 inches and a 2 inch stroke at 20mph, not taking into account steam production from the boiler. Using the gearing ratios I found online I calculated the rpms required to go 20 mph in all 3 gears and using that I then used the equation:

(P x A x S x N)/33,000= Hp (Note this equation does not take into effect the losses in efficiency of transferring the power to the wheels)

P= Working pressure which is about 50% of boiler pressure
A= Area of bore
S= Stroke in feet times 2 for a full cycle
N= Rpms

1st gear
20mph @ 135 rpm and producing .95 Hp @ 200 psi

2nd gear
20mph @ 101 rpm and producing .72 Hp @200 psi

3rd gear
20mph @ 76 rpm and producing .54 Hp @200 psi

I will in the next day or 2 take the ratios from the real bike's 3 gears for these calculations.

Keep in mind this is under ideal conditions where no energy is lost between cylinder and wheels and with unlimited steam. The boiler might not be able to sustain a speed of 20mph.

the website is: [www.smokstak.com]

I'll keep everyone posted.

Robert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2009 02:02AM by Stanleyguy101.

(P x A x S x N)/33,000= Hp (Note this equation does not take into effect the losses in efficiency of transferring the power to the wheels)

Robert,This formula is cylinder HP only, not engine HP. You need to deduct engine friction, packing glands, crosshead, rod and main bearings, and all the pumps.
Normally around 55%
Rolly

Rolly

Thank you Rolly.
I wasn't sure what the average power transfer loss was this would mean in:

1st gear
20mph @ 135 rpm and .42 engine Hp @ 200 psi

2nd gear
20mph @ 101 rpm and .32 engine Hp @ 200 psi

3rd gear
20mph @ 76 rpm and .24 engine Hp @ 200 psi

I tried adding pictures, but i do not know how to lower the resolution so it would be below the 200 KB limit.

After looking at the frame I have determined that any possibility of putting a single cylinder horizontally in place of the sprocket attacked to the pedals and the sprocket attached to the transmission because if there is only about a half inch between the frame and the hub. Making it impossible to install a cam.

What would everyone recommend without having to mount the engine on the front wheel?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2009 01:26PM by Stanleyguy101.

Hello everyone since my last post I've been working on boiler/burner calculations based on the calculations I made for a 1.5"x2" cylinder.

From [www.sizes.com]

I have read that basically a hundred years the ASME set the standard that 34,478.8 BTU/hr is equal to 1 Boiler horsepower (BHP) that is the amount of energy required to turn 34.8 pounds of water into steam in one hour and power an steam engine. This standard was created so that owners could determine whether the size of their boilers was adequate, to large, or to small to power their engines.

Since the engine I plan to locate and use for my steam bike will produce about .5 HP and I want to have some reserve hp for going up hills I will plan on a of 2/3 or .67 BHP, which is around 22,000 BTU/hr.

For the burner like I said in an earlier post i plan to use a propane stove for the burner so I have to find a 22,000 BTU/hr propane stove, which shouldn't be to difficult. Then at this point I'll use the specs for it to help design a boiler.

After calculating the BHP of the boiler I located calculations for the required water storage tank size, the flow rate of water that needs to be pumped to run the boiler per hour at .67 BHP, and also determined the pressure the water pump will be required to pump to put water in the boiler on the website

[www.mckenziecorp.com]

The equation for the water storage tank size is:

BHP X 34.5 ÷ 8.337 lbs ÷ 60 min. X 10 X 1.5 = useable capacity in gallons.

BHP= Boiler Horsepower
34.5= lbs of steam (water)/hr to make 1 BHP
8.337= the weight of 1 lb of water
60 min.= The time in 1 hour
10= The amount of time on average the pumps will run per hour

(in my case because I will build a flash tube boiler the pumps will run almost constantly so I ignore this and the 60)

1.5= is a safety factor to make sure there is additional water available.
GMP= Gallons Per Minute
For my case:

(2/3) X 34.5 ÷ 8.337 X 1.5 = 4.13 Gallons, which is basically a 4 gallon tank

The equation for the rate of water that needs to be pumped in is:

BHP X 34.5 ÷ 8.337 ÷ 60 X 1.5 = GPM

For my case:

(2/3) X 34.5 ÷ 8.337 ÷ 60 X 1.5 = .0689 GPM or 4.13 GPH (Gallons Per Hour)

The equation for the pressure the pump should be pumping at is:

safety valve psi X 1.03 + 5 lb drop = psi of pump

1.03= 3% increase over safety valve pressure
5= estimated drop of pressure between pump and boiler

For my case:

250 X 1.03 + 5 = ~260 psi

260 psi will be the correct pressure for the pumps.

That's all for now.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2009 02:33AM by Stanleyguy101.

Robert
To calculate the water rate you should use the cylinder volume time’s total strokes for volume, then from the steam tables at 200 degrees supper heat.
At 200-PSI Saturated temperature of 382 F superheated to 200 F over or say 600F from the steam tables is 52.51 cu ft per Lb of water. You always want to shoot for two hundred degrees over saturated for superheated steam temperature. This is the optimal expansion at any saturated pressure/tempature.

Rolly

Thank you for the advice.

Would it be any trouble to clarify what your saying in a equation for because I've been calculating the volume by:

(1.5/12)^2 X 2/12 X 2 X 135= 2.2 cubic ft. steam/min.

2 is the number of strokes that equal one cycle
135 is the number of cycles per minute

2.2 is just way too low and that means I'm getting 60 mpg on water and that's completely off if I'm getting anymore than 6 I would be surprised, but it definitely is not that high.

I'm not sure what I'm doing right or wrong based on what you said



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2009 10:28AM by Stanleyguy101.

It's been a long time since I updated this, but I've located and purchased a steam powered bicycle designed using plans made by Richard Smith.

This means that for the time being my plans for building a unique steam bicycle are over, but I will make good use of this bicycle and if I end up building a bicycle I will certainly learn a lot from this bicycle.

I made a video of the history of my steam bicycle.

[www.youtube.com]

Not the most exciting video, will make another next weekend maybe with the bike

you have to do a video of the bike in action, that would be more exciting.
But hay you have your steam bike now and all I have is a bunch of wood patterns. Maybe next year I will actually be steaming along (fingers crossed)

I will make a video of it running, but I am at college and my bike is at home and it isn't running currently.

On thursday I will get home and make a video of the bike, but not running.

Hey I just realized your sorta local, Im here in Stanton Delaware. Maybe we can meet up sometime so I can get a look at your steam bike in person.

I actually live in maryland, but I go to UD
Though in two weeks I might but not likely bringing the Bike to a Steamin Day at Auburn Heights in Yorklyn, DE
The organization is Friends of Auburn Heights.
We have an open house on the first sunday of every month.
In the future I may ask to store it at auburn heights though a few years down the road.
The open house in August would be more likely would be an opportunity to see it. Your actually closer to Auburn Heights then I am at UD.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2010 09:12PM by Stanleyguy101.

Robert,,Please pay especial attention to Mr.Marshall's choice of words,diction and patterns of thought,,It will give you an insight to what education of the past generations was like,,,,and ask if there are any recordings of his fathers voice,,on tape or other,,It is clear in my mind,,from the lakeville Ct meet of 1955,,but there is no way to convey that to you,,In fact,,,inquire if Tom would attempt to replicate his fathers voice,,If he will/can,,,gaurenteed it will be an experiance,,Fond memories,,of the past,,Cheers,,Ben

In 2005 we went to lakeville, Ct for the Eastern Steam Car tour and I actually recorded the speech Tom gave about the event 50 years ago, it's amazing how well his memory is.

This is an update about how my Richard Smith bike is doing. I've run it 5 times the second time it ran relatively well, but the spindle was slipping far too excessively to allow for any acceleration above Idle speed.

On the 3rd run I broke the pilot because my left foot hit it and broke it off. Using a brass sleeve made from a 1/8" brass nipple we pushed the two halfs back together. THen I added insulation to improve efficiency of steam consumption and I replaced the spring on the throttle so it would not leak as much.

SO the fourth time everything was going well and the bike began picking up so idle speed when all of sudden a whoosh came out of the steam line after the throttle valve and instantaneously i knew I had a major steam leak. I shut everything down waited for it too cool off. Once it cooled I unwraped the insulation and found that the steam line separated at some Swaglok adapter and the only thing holding it all together was the insulation. I wouldn't have thought something put on the steam line would have gotten too hot and come apart. Anyway so I put a piece of copper tube to temporarily replace it.

Later in the day the fifth run took place and sadly I had run out of propane after firing it twice and putting around for 5 minutes. It often only takes a minute or so to steam up. On the way back up when I got off the bike. Disaster strikes again and once again I snapped the pilot with my size 11 foot. The next day i spent the evening building a guard for the pilot and attached it to the bike with hose clamps. Now I just have to rebuild the pilot again in the same way. In the plans I got with the bike it calls for 1/4" steam lines and so i decided to replace the 3/16" steam line which as I said earlier was only temporarily fixed, but going into the engine the steam line is only 3/16" and now I'm trying to figure out a way to connect the 1/4" steam line I made to the 3/16" hole.

Maybe in the next few days I will attempt to fix the pilot, but I'm waiting on the steam line. it's frustrating because I searched swaglok's website and I can't figure out what connections are used in the original steam line. It says on the swaglok website they can make custom parts, but making an $100 custom 1/4" flare to 3/16"-24 thread doesn't seem appealing I can try to get a quote on that it may be what I have to do sadly. I don't have a mill and or lathe at home. I do at work, but I'm not to thrilled about using the stuff at work for personal use.
Plus I couldn't make a flare, would have to figure out how to modify something with a 1/4" flare on it already.

This is the crossroads I'm at. I plan on bringing it to the Eastern Steam Car Tour up in Camden,Maine. Hopefully can get at least one run before then.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2011 07:28PM by Stanleyguy101.

[www.youtube.com]

This is the youtube url for the video of the bike running. I accidently deleted a section of video on the camera of the firing up process and the good first person shots of the engine running. Though I got a 3rd person shot out of the bike. I will make a better video in the future, but I hope you enjoy this video in the mean time. I also have two other videos if you want to see the parts of the bike look at the one about how it works.

Hello ! I am a new member.
My name is Nicole and I like to say thanks to the site owner for this great site and all the members of this forum for sharing good and useful
information to all people. I found this forum quite informative as well interested, it is really great!

__________________



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2010 03:46AM by SSsssteamer.

Hello Everyone,

I haven't given an update in a while so I probably ought to. At the end of the Summer last year I got a plug in the boiler which is discussed in another thread on the forum. The bicycle spent the winter at my grandfather's house. Then this Spring Break I brought it back home and proceeded to build a stand for it and remove the boiler from the bicycle so it could be worked on. Then in early June after school got out. I began dealing with the plug. I put vinegar in the superheater end of the boiler which after talking with people was determined to be the likely end for a plug. I immediately then decided to use water or air to force the vinegar through to get it farther into the boiler. When I applied pressure I got lucky and the plug broke through.

Over the Spring I also worked on the Throttle by replacing the worn out ball and made spare balls for the throttle, which is a homemade ball valve designed to deal with the steam temp. I found the original bronze ball was slightly out of round and the keyway that allows you to turn the ball was so worn that you literally had to turn it a quarter turn or full throttle to even get a slight response. Once on the the 2010 Maine tour I got it to really open up and couldn't get it to close. I decided to ride it for a little around the parking lot because I had never had the throttle open so much, but after 2 minutes I decided I had had enough and remembered I had a main fuel shut off.

Also I managed to purchase another water bypass for the bicycle, a whitney toggle valve, off ebay as well as a blow down to hopefully prevent future issues with boiler plugs.

Now that the plug is gone I have been working on adding a new dash panel along with moving the water bypass forward in order to allow for easier access to that as well as seperating the pilot from the main fuel line.

In regards to the dash panel I am adding a water pressure gauge, a main fuel pressure gauge, a pilot pressure gauge, and a temperature gauge in addition to the water bypass. I have made a prototype dashboard out of 3/8" plywood and have started attaching the lines in the last day to the bicycle starting with the main fuel pressure gauge.

Then I'm gonna work on putting together the pilot pressure or water pressure lines. The new pilot line will be partially constructed using a torch hose to allow for a flexible connection with the propane tank.

I may end up waiting to connect the water pressure gauge because Karl Petersen has recently writen an article about constructing a version of Smith's Flow limiting valve that only uses standard and modified pipefittings opposed to a solid Brass Block, but I will have to consider just getting the bike back together and running again first. I know it works without the flow control abd I don't want to get too much on my plate. I want to have the bicycle running for the HCCA tour at the begining of August. I'm just a few hours of work away from getting the bike running and really excited because of that.

I'll have to use my parents camera to take pictures as mine has broken due to sand getting in it. To show my progress.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2011 08:55PM by Stanleyguy101.

Hello everyone I have discovered amongst other things google can do these days you can have a google website. So I am creating a website for my steam bicycle. Feel Free to visit it at:

[sites.google.com]

Robert