Water Lifter - AKA thermocompressor.

[mgj]

Does anyone have a drawing/plan for a 3" scale sized water lifter for a traction engine. I designed one which lifts intermittently, and when it feels like working it shifts about a gallon a minute (more than necessary) but I need something a little more reliable, and some dimensions which somemone else has tested . (!) Thanks M.

[Ned Ludd]

Hallo hallo, what's this, a new boy? Welcome M
Ned

[John Stevenson]

Have you tried the Traction Engine talk forum, some very clever guys on there.

John S.

[Jasonb]

I could probably sort you one from a 2" Fowler which is not a lot smaller than your 3" LS and as said TT is where most of us traction engine builders hang out.

Also quite a few builders of the Little Samson on there, including Edward George so you can ask how theres work.

Jason

[mgj]

Jason thanks - what I need to know is roughly how far the steam nozzle sticks into the primary cone.

I did a bit with rocket motors, so the mathematics of con-di (de Laval) nozzles and mass flow therein is not strange teritory, (30deg inlet cone 5 deg outlet/diffuser and a diffuser lenngth about 15 times throat dia for modern water type commercial pumps/eductors/thermocompressors).  However positioning the steam nozzle is always a bit empirical. Given that rather foolishly I made my  water lifter highly inaccessible (silly mstake) I was hoping for a crude % figure - these things are not, unlike injectors, very critical.

I was hoping to get the info so that I can get this one , which will work - thats not in doubt,  - reliable without too much faffing about and awkwardness. So if you have that I'd be most grateful  gettitng it out to adjust is a 2 hour job done entirely by feel!!

TT - yess. I'm sure its very good, in parts. In other parts there seems to be a lot of confusion which a good read of some theoretical work on Stevensons valve gear and its various geometries by the likes of Don Ashton, Doug  Hewson and Evans (and others) would dispel. So for the time being  it is probably not for me.