about that hamilton starter....

[turbochris]

I received one of those hamilton cartridge/air starters. I'm thinking about hooking it up to a steam rocket like anders built. I guess for best performance I would need the highest water temp possible so I guess this means using the HP cartridge port. I'm planing on an insulated stainless tank w electric heaters. I guess I'll start w about a 25 gallon tank. Superheated water fed into this thing has to do something. Brutal torque I hope.

This starter has a compressor wheel, its supposed to be an "air brake" I guess to keep it from overspeeding. I planned on removing it but I think I may just put a big butterfly valve over the intake, with the valve closed I'm hoping it wont take much power to drive and when I need brakes i can open the valve.

I'm looking for a small dragster frame and it will be chain drive.

[ernie wrenn]

Chris

Check the rules.... NO over pressure devices are allowed. To much danger of something strange going wrong. And you might get water on the track...OMG!!

ernie

[turbochris]

The bike turbine is off to get rebuilt so i figured it was time to get into the next project. the hamilton air/cartridge starter. I ripped it apart. it's wonderful inside. The oil pump is splash into a trough that feeds into the center of the sprag, which is also where the overspeed weights are for the switch. The outside of the sprag has pegs to throw oil into the trough when the starter is at rest but N1 is up there. More pics tomorrow.

[pitciblackscotland]

Hi Chris,
Very nice,looking forward to seeing this project take place :-)

Cheers,
Mark.

[racket]

Hi Chris

Thats one sweet looking set of innards :-)

Are you going to remove the "air brake" ( comp wheel) ??

Cheers
John

[turbochris]

Yes, I'm removing it. It looks like it could suck up a few 100 horsepower. I think it stays stock otherwise.

[ernie wrenn]

How much pressure did the cartridge produce across the turbine wheel? That blade has a radically cupped fin. Would hi pressure air 4>5000psi spin it up?

ernie

[turbochris]

1000 psi of hot gas, i figure 500 psi steam/water w heavier mass will be a good starting point.

[ernie wrenn]

It would be easier to do a try with high pressure air... ABO is 4500 psi.

[racket]

Hi Ernie

The original "cartridge" supplied gases at 2,000 F and 1200psi for ~15 seconds , they talk of an output torque of 600 ft lbs at ~4,000 rpm maximum, 67,500 turbine rpm .

Cheers
John

[racket]

Hi Chris

Concerning the flow through those 4 X 0.125" dia nozzles , the numbers I gave you in my PM the other day don't correspond with what the Traux book on hot water rockets gives, though those earlier numbers were for 300 psi whereas the Traux are ~500 psi and hotter by ~50 deg F.

Traux gives an area of ~0.045 sq in /lb/sec , this is about the total area of your 4 holes , and velocities of ~1500 ft/sec, this velocity will be a lot less than the hot gases velocity , and as the impulse blading in the engine works best at around half gas speed you might find your output rpm will be reduced from the standard figure .

Its looking like a good case for trial and error testing , if the power output is down , along with flow rates , then it might just require the nozzles to be opened up a bit at a time until you're happy with the outcome :-)

Could you give me the turbine wheel dimensions please so I can do some numbers .

Cheers
John

[turbochris]

Gladly, I'll post them up in a little while w pics. I was getting ready to spend a week or so making a splined shaft but it seems my buddy Ric just got an indexing head for his CNC mill. His machine operator is a real motorhead too, he rode the jet bike and he'll make me whatever i want as long as he gets to try it!

Now i need a vehicle.......

[turbochris]

Wheel diameter is 7 inches.
Primary reduction 12t 51t 4.25:1
secondary 14t 49t 3.50:1
overall 14.875:1

I could probably just bolt a small drag slick right to the output.... hub motor style!

[turbochris]

I made a stub shaft for the starter. I took the coupler and could see it was pretty decent steel w case hardening. I rough cut the shaft and welded it to the stub shaft, then I cut a register on another piece of steel to locate the splined stub by a machined register in it's unmolested end and used a piece of threaded rod inside to clamp it. Then i turned on the lathe and wobble was just within the extra meet, so i center drilled it and dressed it out. I just wanna fit the bearings before i take it out. As for strength, the material is about the same and the minimal cross section is much larger in dia and area. it fuckin blows up it fuckin blows up.....

[gidge348]

Hi Chris, top project, I was planning on doing something almost exactly the same a few years ago. Built a 160litre (40+ Gallon) pressure vessel and got an air bleed apu. This is on the shelf waiting for the Nimbus to be finished.

I am not sure if you have had a look at it or not, but the Brits have the FIA Steam land speed record at 148mph www.steamcar.co.uk/design.html. The car they built was ****extremely**** complicated and in my opinion not within the rules for a "Steam Powered Vehicle" It used an on board LPG fired boiler and a dry ice condenser, so in effect it was a LPG powered vehicle.....

If you can get about 600 lb/ft at ~ 4000 rpm that is around the 800 hp range.

Then do the boiling in the pits, Gas Burner, electric, what ever you want and take it for a run on the salt, I think this would have a really good chance at the world record simpler and for a fraction of the cost.


Cheers and happy new year

Ian...