KowCo Steam Engine
Steam Engine
This engine is being designed to run a low RPM alternator for off grid electrical power generation.
A Solidworks photo rendering not only shows a beautiful picture of the proposed product, but the abilities of Solidworks itself.
This shows an animation of the engine runing slowly. It allows one to see the eccentrics and the flyball governor working in conjunction with the crankshaft.
Like most steam engines, this one uses a flyball govenor to regulate the speed. This animation shows the action which occures when the flyball is rotating and the linkage is in action manipulating the throttle. A gauge face and needle was put into place with a needle to show RPM.
In order to have a smooth running engine the relationship between the piston position and valve timing is critical. In this animation you can see a close up of the details between the steam chest valve timing and the piston.
An example of a Document used to machine one of the 60 custom parts for this engine can be shown here.
An example of a Document used to show an exploded view of the steam chest assembly can be shown here.