STEAM COOLING

Shannon News, 4 November 1927, Page 4

STEAM COOLING

BOILING ENCOURAGED. Because the water cooling systems employed in most cars are over-effi-cient and waste too much of the povjer generated by combustion, manufacturers are experimenting with “steam cooling.” In both Britain and the U.S.A. tests are being made, with encouraging results. For every 25 h.p. delivered to the road wheels of a, motor vehicle, another 25 h.p. is wasted in the cooling system. If under the present method, the water boils the cooling system will not function- efficiently, so that it is designed to keep the temperature of the engine below 212 deg. Fahrenheit (boiling point). Usually the temperature does not exceed 185 deg., so that engines are over-cooled and not working at full efficiency, and thermo-'syphonic action cools the water rapidly when the engine is stopped. “Steam cooling” systems are designed to carry less water and to operate at higher temperatures. Water level is about half an inch above the cylinder bead, and the connecting pipe from above does not join the radiator at the top but at its base, converting it into a condenser. There is a comparatively small water chamber in the bottom of the radiator which receives the water condensed from steam in the tubes, and a small pump keeps the water in the cylinder jacket at its right level. In working effect the water on the cylinder heads begins to boil soon after the engine commences working. This brings the temperature to an efficient 212 deg., at once. The steam given off is condensed into water, and the slow working gear pump replaces the water dissipated in steam.

Instead of preventing boiling, this system encourages it,