Traction engine
A traction engine ( sing / fem, cf locomotive, from Latin locus: .. Place and mobilis: mobile ), now sometimes referred to as Lokomobil ( neuter ), is a steam engine plant in closed design, in which all information required for operation of the plant components ( furnace, boiler, control, and the entire drive unit, consisting of cylinder ( s), pistons, crankshaft and flywheel, pulley ) mounted on a common platform.
Lokomobile could be spatially mobile and stationary mounted. In contrast to the automobile Lokomobile were in their basic form, not "auto - mobile", ie self-propelled - the term "mobile" only means that the plant has wheels and can thus be moved passively at least. This meant that they were drawn by horses or oxen to their various places.
Later there were also a number of different self-propelled traction engines, for example steam road rollers, steam plows, steam tractors and smaller steam boats.
Worldwide came Lokomobile especially in agriculture and in large civil engineering projects for use. Stationary used in mining, they produced pressure air for rotary hammers and power for mine lighting. The side flywheels driven to hoist ropes or sucker rod with which the mines were gesümpft.
History
With Locomobiles farms were mechanized ( to drive the threshing machine ), as well as small businesses in the incipient industrialization. In the course of electrification and small power plants were operated with traction engines. In contrast to large plants with an open structure, ie with separate boiler house and separately mounted equipment, compact traction engines could be relatively easily transported.
After several different attempts to find the best possible design, and finally most of the machines were manufactured with horizontally lying above the boiler attached drive. This design was also a breakthrough for the self-propelled traction engines, because the boiler in a reinforced construction was unnecessary a separate platform and all components of the machine took place on it.
In the advent of industrialization from 1850 onwards, where often did not have enough power from the water wheels for the new machines, traction engines were borrowed from motor distributors. They transferred the force on the belt on the existing transmission into the factory buildings.
In agriculture, traction engines were used from about 1810 to the 1970s, on isolated farmsteads are still individual plants still in operation.
Outstanding traction engine
In 1910 the company built its Lanz 25,000. Traction engine with the then sensational performance of 1,000 hp net. She was the largest ever Lokomobile the world. It was built for the World Exhibition in Brussels and made as driving a generator during the 6 months ( during the day) for the current required and received three Grand Prix for this achievement gold medals. At night, worked a 800 hp traction engine from Wolf Buckau.
Specifications:
- Name: Lanz'sche 1000 pferdige superheated steam valve locomobile with dynamo directly coupled
- Operation: Hot steam Verbundlokomobile ( Compoundlokomobile ) with valve control system Lentz
- Continuous power: 1,000 hp maximum power for 1 hour: 1,150 hp
- Diameter high-pressure cylinder: 560 mm
- Diameter low-pressure cylinder: 970 mm
- Piston stroke both cylinder: 550 mm
- Rated speed: 215/min
- Heizrohrkessel with 2 fire rifles and 1 pull- tube boiler, one additional non- extendable tube boiler
- Grate area: 3,7 m², in contact with water boiling tube area: 214 m²
- Superheater area: 73 m² flat tubes
- Avg. Superheated steam temperature: 350 degrees Celsius
- Condensation built to minimize water consumption
- Medium coal consumption: 0.5 kg per hp-hour
The traction engine driving a generator of the company AEG.
- Weight of the anchor: 7.500 kg ( mounted directly on the crankshaft of the traction engine )
- Voltage: 230 V, 460 V switching to possible
- Power: 735 kW at 215/min
- Auxiliary poles for controlling the power of 0 to 100 % power
When Moorseer Mill Museum in Nordenham - bog lake every year is the " Dampftag " and the " Mill Festival " a lance locomobile from 1911 can be seen in operation. It weighs five and a half tons and makes 26 hp. This restored " colonial model" in 1989 re-imported from Guatemala, where they had operated a sawmill. A similar Lokomobile used the miller of Moorseer mill to grind grain. 1908 but was replaced by a stationary steam engine.