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Stationary engine
A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. They are used to drive
immobile equipment, such as pumps, generators, mills or factory machinery. The term usually
refers to large immobile reciprocating engines, principally stationary steam engines and, to
some extent, stationary internal combustion engines. Other large immobile power sources, such
as steam turbines, gas turbines, and large electric motors, are categorized separately.

Stationary engines were once widespread in the era when each factory or mill generated its own
power, and power transmission was mechanical (via line shafts, belts, gear trains, and
Ruston 9XHR, a Robey heavy oil engine
clutches). Applications for stationary engines have declined since electrification has become
and a Blackstone SKG-T in a private
widespread; most industrial uses today draw electricity from an electrical grid and distribute it collection
to various individual electric motors instead.

Engines that operate in one place, but can be moved to another place for later operation, are called portable engines. Although
stationary engines and portable engines are both "stationary" (not moving) while running, preferred usage (for clarity's sake) reserves
the term "stationary engine" to the permanently immobile type, and "portable engine" to the mobile type.

Contents
Types of stationary engine
Applications
Lead, tin and copper mines
Cotton, Woollen and Worsted Mills
Flour mills & Corn grinders
Electricity generation
Pumping stations
Canals
Cable haulage railways
Some manufacturers of stationary engines
Preserved stationary engines
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See also
References
External links

Types of stationary engine

Stationary steam engine
Hit and miss engine
Hot bulb engine
Hot tube engine

Applications

Lead, tin and copper mines

Cotton, Woollen and Worsted Mills

Flour mills & Corn grinders

A flat belt could be used to connect an engine to a flour mill or corn grinder. These machines are popular at old engine shows. Corn
grinders would take corn off of the cob, and grind up corn into animal feed. flour mills make flour.

Electricity generation
Before mains electricity and the formation of nationwide power grids, stationary engines were widely used for small-scale electricity
generation. Whilst large power stations in cities used steam turbines or high-speed reciprocating steam engines, in rural areas
petrol/gasoline, paraffin/kerosene or fuel oil powered internal combustion engines were cheaper to buy, install and operate, since they
could be started and stopped quickly to meet demand, left running unattended for long periods of time and did not require a large
dedicated engineering staff to operate and maintain. Due to their simplicity and economy, hot bulb engines were popular for high-
power applications until the diesel engine took their place from the 1920s. Smaller units were generally powered by spark-ignition
engines, which were cheaper to buy and required less space to install.

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Most engines of the late-19th and early-20th centuries ran at speeds too low to drive a dynamo or
alternator directly. As with other equipment, the generator was driven off the engine's flywheel by a
broad flat belt. The pulley on the generator was much smaller than the flywheel, providing the
required 'gearing up' effect. Later spark-ignition engines developed from the 1920s could be directly
coupled.

Up to the 1930s most rural houses in Europe and North America needed their own generating
equipment if electric light was fitted. Engines would often be installed in a dedicated 'engine house',
which was usually an outbuilding separate from the main house to reduce the interference from the
engine noise. The engine house would contain the engine, the generator, the necessary switchgear
and fuses, as well as the engine's fuel supply and usually a dedicated workshop space with
equipment to service and repair the engine. Wealthy households could afford to employ a dedicated
engineer to maintain the equipment, but as the demand for electricity spread to smaller homes, Buch corn sheller
manufacturers produced engines that required less maintenance and that did not need specialist
training to operate.

Such generator sets were also used in industrial complexes and public buildings- anywhere where electricity was required but mains
electricity was not available.

Most countries in the Western world completed large-scale rural electrification in the years following World War II, making individual
generating plants obsolete for front-line use. However, even in countries with a reliable mains supply, many buildings are still fitted
with modern diesel generators for emergency use, such as hospitals and pumping stations. This network of generators often forms a
crucial part of the national electricity system's strategy for coping with periods of high demand.

Pumping stations
The development of water supply and sewage removal systems required the provision of many pumping stations. In these, some form of
stationary engine (steam-powered for earlier installations) is used to drive one or more pumps, although electric motors are more
conventionally used nowadays.

Canals
For canals, a distinct area of application concerned the powering of boat lifts and inclined planes. Where possible these would be
arranged to utilise water and gravity in a balanced system, but in some cases additional power input was required from a stationary
engine for the system to work. The vast majority of these were constructed (and in many cases, demolished again) before steam engines
were supplanted by internal combustion alternatives.
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Cable haulage railways

Industrial railways in quarries and mines made use of cable railways based on the inclined plane
idea, and certain early passenger railways in the UK were planned with lengths of cable-haulage to
overcome severe gradients.

For the first proper railway, the Liverpool and Manchester of 1830, it was not clear whether
locomotive traction would work, and the railway was designed with steep 1 in 100 gradients Rushton 2cyl gas engine, at
concentrated on either side of Rainhill, just in case. Had cable haulage been necessary, then Dareton, New South Wales
inconvenient and time-consuming shunting would obviously have been required to attach and (Wentworth Region). The coke gas
detach the cables. The Rainhill gradients proved not to be a problem, and in the event, locomotive producer is at left, that feeds the
traction was determined to be a new technology with great potential for further development. 2cylinder 128 horsepower (95 kW)
engine with 6 ton flywheel. This ran
the irrigation pump to draw water
The steeper 1 in 50 grades from Liverpool down to the docks were operated by cable traction for
from the Murray River for the
several decades until locomotives improved. Cable haulage continued to be used where gradients Coomealla Irrigation Area. It is now
were even steeper. an exhibit in a park in the town.

Cable haulage did prove viable where the gradients were exceptionally steep, such as the 1 in 8
gradients of the Cromford and High Peak Railway opened in 1830. Cable railways generally have
two tracks with loaded wagons on one track partially balanced by empty wagons on the other, to
minimise fuel costs for the stationary engine. Various kinds of rack railway were developed to
overcome the lack of friction of conventional locomotives on steep gradients.

These early installations of stationary engines would all have been steam-powered initially.

Rushton 4cyl oil-diesel engine. This

Some manufacturers of stationary engines ran as an engine driving an irrigation
pump to draw water from the Murray
Associated Manufactures Company USA River for the Coomealla Irrigation
Blackstone & Co UK c.1882 - 1936 Area. It is now an exhibit.
Briggs & Stratton USA
Charter Gas Engine Company c.1883-1920s
Cushman
Deere & Company / John Deere USA
Electro-Motive USA
Emerson-Brantingham USA
Fairbanks-Morse USA
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Fuller and Johnson

Hercules Gas Engine Company 1912-1930s
Hercules Motors Corporation 1915-1967, 1976-
Richard Hornsby & Sons UK
International Harvester USA
Jacobson Machine Manufacturing Company
Kohler Company USA
Lister Petter UK
R A Lister and Company UK
Petters Limited UK
Malkotsis Greece
National Gas Engine Company UK
New Holland Machine Company USA
Olds Gasoline Engine Works (Pliny Olds, sons Wallace and Ransom) (1890s-1910)
Otto Gas Engine Works
Palmer Brothers
Rider-Ericsson Engine Company
Stover Manufacturing and Engine Company
Van Duzen Gas and Gasoline Engine Company c.1891-1898
Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company USA
Wärtsilä
Witte Engine Works

Preserved stationary engines

Many steam rallies, like the Great Dorset Steam Fair, include an exhibit section for internal combustion stationary engines for which
purpose the definition is usually extended to include any engine which was not intended primarily for the propulsion of a vehicle. Thus
many are in fact portable engines, either from new or having been converted by mounting on a wheeled trolley for ease of transport and
may also include such things as marine or airborne auxiliary power units and engines removed from equipment such as motor mowers.
These engines have been restored by private individuals and often are exhibited in operation, powering water pumps, electric
generators, hand tools, and the like.

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In the UK there are few museums where visitors can see stationary engines in operation. Many museums have one or more engines but
only a few specialise in the internal combustion stationary engines. Among these are the Internal Fire - Museum of Power, in Wales, and
the Anson Engine Museum in Cheshire. The Amberley Working Museum in West Sussex also has a number of engines, as does Kew
Bridge Steam Museum in London.

See also
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
Diesel generator, which may be stationary
Engine-generator, which may be stationary
Hillclimbing
Non-road engine

References

External links
Antique Stationary Engines (http://www.rustyiron.com/)
Internal Fire Museum of Power in Wales (http://www.internalfire.com/)
Anson Engine Museum in Cheshire (http://www.enginemuseum.org/)
Stationary engine website (http://www.stationaryengine.org/)
Stationary engines in South Africa (http://www.oldengine.org/members/blkstone/Africa.htm)
Harry's Old Engine Home Page (http://www.old-engine.com/)
Antique-engine.com (http://www.antique-engine.com/)

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This page was last edited on 23 November 2019, at 05:49 (UTC).

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