350 HP Wetherill
(Page 3 of 3)
May / June 2005
By Bill Vossler
"About six years ago I went down to Albany to see what the show had, because I knew they had all the OilPull tractors ever made, and that year the show was incorporated with Allis-Chalmers, so that got me there to start with." He discovered the SCPC needed help with the Wetherill, and since he had a steam license, he volunteered.
RELATED CONTENT
Once Kermit signed on, he had to learn some of the basics of the Wetherill, including how the valving works and why it's called a Corliss engine. "That's because of the valves," Kermit says. "It has two rotating valves on the top for the inlet and two rotating valves on bottom for the outlet, which allows for more control of letting the steam in and out. It's more efficient than the slide valve that's found on most steam engines." The valves cut off the steam so full pressure isn't in the cylinder to be discharged out the exhaust. "On some engines, you can hear them chugging when they're not pulling a load, and that means they're wasting steam. As a result, you have to haul more water and use more fuel to replenish the steam that was used unnecessarily. Other engines, you don't really hear anything when they're not pulling a load, so they're not wasting any steam."
In the Wetherill, Kermit says, a polish-rod is connected to a shoe or slipper that carries the end of the rod and also the connecting rod. The connecting rod changes reciprocal motion to rotary motion at the crank pin, or crankshaft. The shoe – or slipper or crosshead, as it is variously called – takes pressure on both sides, depending on what side of center the crankpin is on. If on the bottom, there's upward pressure on the shoe, if on the top, downward pressure.
"What fascinates me about the Wetherill steam engine," Kermit says, "is how the technology grew." And Kermit loves watching the amazement on people's faces as he shares how the engine works. "Most of it is simple," he says. "You have reciprocating, rotating and propulsive motions." Reciprocating is like a cylinder or knee that goes up and down, and back when riding a bicycle; rotating motion is like the crankshaft on an engine or crank pin on a steam engine; and propulsive is when you put motion in a belt.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 | 3 |