Robinson's patent hot air engine
Although never of great practical use, the hot air engine continues to fascinate its observers. It dazzles with a brilliant performance, running so smoothly and quietly. Admittedly, power and efficiency are less than impressive - but as an example of thermodynamical and engineering principles it is in a class of its own, and worth further study.
This book explains how a hot air engine works and describes several of the many designs that have been used. The first section actually is a 1915 model engineer's description of his very simple hot air engine - you yourself can build one, at the same time learning its basic principles. The second section describes a full-scale design, by John Ericsson, dating from 1861. It includes a number of improvements over the really very basic engine described above. This text is taken from a patent specification.
One of the best-known inventors of hot air engines was James Stirling. The third section of our book is devoted to one of his larger engines, built in 1842. His son read a paper on the subject to the Institution of Engineers in Scotland; which was followed by an extensive discussion. That elucidates some of the problems inherent in this type of engine.
The final two sections, taken from 1890 engineering journals, cover much-improved designs. One is that invented by Bénier, quite a large one in fact: over 6 hp! The other is the Robinson's patent, small but simple and most suitable for domestic use.
omvang - 25 pp - 17 illus
afmetingen - A5
uitvoering - paperback en hardcover