The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1901-08-21
Says His Engine Needs No Steam

f1SkOdle, GuS., Aux. 1t'.- w AiAAoi1i
H. Bracewell, of Fiskdale, engineer at
the Fiskdale mills, has been working
on model of an engine to run With
out steam. He says it is in the expert
mental stage, and that it will be some
time before he will have it working
as he wants it to.
The model is an ordinary steam en-
CINE of the Corliss type, with valve
of Mr.. Bracewell's design, but fol-
lowing in general principles the Cor
liss valve gear. The engine is design
ed to run by atmospheric pressure
with an auxiliary of vacuum in the
opposing end of the cylinder Of the
engine. This vacuum to be produced
by an air pump designed for the pur-
pose.
The model was cylinder two inches
in diameter and four inches long, and
has all the appliances that go toward
making up an ordinary steam engine,
and can be run by steam like any en-
CINE. It has perfectly fitting eccen-
trio and valve rod gear, which control
the valves, and has Pinch balance
wheel. The valve chest in the toy
has 15-inch inlet for air or steam,
and in the bottom there is 34-inch
outlet, to which is attached the
vacuum pipe. =.
Mr.. Bracewell's idea is, that with a
vacuum pump large enough to take
care of all the air admitted through
the inlet in the top, the atmosphere
pressure of l4.7 pounds to a square
inch, will keep the engine going, and
will carry a load corresponding with
the size of the engine. Mr.. Bracewell
now has the engine attached to the
condenser of the large 500 horse power
engine at the Fiskdale mills, and is
showing his friends how an engine
can be made to run without steam.
Mr.. Bracewell says that he conceiv-
ed the idea to construct an engine to
run by atmospheric pressure, assisted
bv vacuum, some time ago, and has
been working on the idea ever since.
He claims that by removing the at
mospheric pressure on one end OF the
piston of an engine, the pressure on
the other end will cause the piston to
move toward that end. and by revers-
ing the motion continuous motion
is secured.
In the cylinder of the model which
he has built, at every revolution OF the
engine the air pump will have to re-
move 25. 1928 cubic inches of air. And
Mr.. Bracewell says that a properly con-
structed air pump will do this with
out difficulty. He says after an en-
CINE is running it will furnish the
power to run the air pump, and IN
this way the cost of running a power
plant is reduced to the minimum. No
steam will be required, only on large
plants, to first start the pump, as a
hand pump would supply the necessary
vacuum to start the engine, and after
it was started the engine would take
care of itself.
Mr.. Bracewell says that as soon as
he gets the model perfected as he
wants it he will apply for patents on
the idea, and place it on the market
for the consideration Of engine build
ers. He has reached the stage IN his
experiments with the idea where he
expects no trouble in making it work,
and before long he hopes many OF the
larger plants where power is used will
have his special valve attached to the
engine, and they will be running by
atmospheric pressure instead of steam.
Mr. Bracewell is engineer at the
No. l. mill of the Fiskdale Mills, and
is a thorough student of steam en-