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| Our town is in the process of setting up an 1890's model steam powered carousel. It was owned at one time by some people in town and was sold a few times and was recently located again. Our town sesquicentennial is in 2 years so we are trying to have it running again for that. It is now powered by a 180v DC motor with a converter to 230 vac that ran when they quit using it 20+ years ago. It does not run now so we are in the process of getting that checked out.
Here's where the steam guys come in. It is a Herschel Spillman engine. We have the original engine with it but the whole thing is on loan from a museum and their one rule is it can't be run on steam for liability. They will allow it to run on air but we are getting mixed responses of how that will work. I'm told that steam lubricates it and air doesn't so it can't be ran on air for a long period. What can we do for lubrication if we use air? Our idea is to use a 185 cfm compressor and fill a 1000 gallon anhydrous or propane tank for storage and regulate after that to the engine. That way the compressor wouldn't be running constam. These are preliminary plans that may be shot down or just not work but that was our quick thoughts. Thanks in advance | |
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Question for you steam engine experts.
