Technology and Operations
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H202 Engine Revisited
Posted by:
Don Baker
()
Date: June 15, 2000 04:18AM
Hi Guys
Ron and Enrique both sent me papers on the Walter Hydrogen Peroxide engine. The papers were by different authors but each contained a flow diagram of the engine. These diagrams were remarkably similar so we may have somthing here which is close to the way things were. Ron's paper was written by Capt. Logan McKee USN and is not dated but probably written in the late forties or early fifties. The author and date of Enriques paper is unknown.
For those of you who may be interested in how this remarkable engine operated, here is what I have been able to derive from these two papers.
The major propulsion system components were:
1. Fuel tanks for theH202 and Fuel Oil. The H202, at a concentration of 80 - 85 percent, was stored in a polyvinyl chloride bag liner within a steel tank vented to the sea. Hydrostatic pressure kept a positive pressure on the H202 feed pump. As the H202 was consumed the bag collapsed and the H202 volume in the tank was replaced by sea water.
2. Three shaft driven metering pumps supplying (1) fresh water from the condenser/cooler, (2) H202, and (3) fuel oil in the ratio 12 to 9 to 1 sent to the catalytic converter and combustion chamber.
3. A catalytic chamber containing porous porcelain "stones" coated with calcium, potassium, or sodium permanganate operating at a temperature of about 930 F.
4. A combustion chamber operating with a flame temperature near 4000F. Fresh cooling water from the condenser/cooler was circulated around the chamber to maintain desired temperature before being admitted to the chamber.
5. A somewhat conventional multistage steam turbine driving a single propeller shaft through a reduction gear.
6. A turbine exhaust gas condenser
7. A fresh water cooler cooled by sea water
8. A Lysholm-type positive displacement rotary pump for discharging non-condensing exhaust gas components overboard.
These were the main components of the propulsion system. The engine ran as follows: H202 was pumped into the catalytic converter where it broke down in to H20 (steam) and 02 at high temperature. From there it was admitted to the combustion chamber (steam generator) and mixed with proportioned amounts of fresh water and fuel oil. The high temperature steam generated (1020F) was then fed to the steam turbine turning at about 14,000 rpm. The turbine operating fluid was about 94 percent steam by volume and 85 percent by weight. The turbine exhaust consisted mainly of water vapor (steam), traces of C0, and C02. From the turbine the exhaust flowed into a contact type condenser. The non-condensing components were pumped overboard by the rotary pump. In an early version of this engine these gases were forced overboard by the turbine backpressure. Spray water for the contact condenser was cooled by circulating sea water through the water cooler. Cooled fresh water from the condenser/cooler was pumped back into the combustion chamber where it was again mixed with disassociated H202 from the catalytic converter and fuel oil to complete the cycle.
The piping and parts contacting the H202 between the storage tank and catalytic converter were made of stainless steel. After the catalytic converter piping and parts were made of conventional steels.
The Walter engine was an innovative and imaginative concept advanced for its time but probably doomed from the start as a submarine propulsion system by the extraordinary handling problems, safety issues, and costs associated with the Hydrogen Peroxide fuel.
Ron and Enrique both sent me papers on the Walter Hydrogen Peroxide engine. The papers were by different authors but each contained a flow diagram of the engine. These diagrams were remarkably similar so we may have somthing here which is close to the way things were. Ron's paper was written by Capt. Logan McKee USN and is not dated but probably written in the late forties or early fifties. The author and date of Enriques paper is unknown.
For those of you who may be interested in how this remarkable engine operated, here is what I have been able to derive from these two papers.
The major propulsion system components were:
1. Fuel tanks for theH202 and Fuel Oil. The H202, at a concentration of 80 - 85 percent, was stored in a polyvinyl chloride bag liner within a steel tank vented to the sea. Hydrostatic pressure kept a positive pressure on the H202 feed pump. As the H202 was consumed the bag collapsed and the H202 volume in the tank was replaced by sea water.
2. Three shaft driven metering pumps supplying (1) fresh water from the condenser/cooler, (2) H202, and (3) fuel oil in the ratio 12 to 9 to 1 sent to the catalytic converter and combustion chamber.
3. A catalytic chamber containing porous porcelain "stones" coated with calcium, potassium, or sodium permanganate operating at a temperature of about 930 F.
4. A combustion chamber operating with a flame temperature near 4000F. Fresh cooling water from the condenser/cooler was circulated around the chamber to maintain desired temperature before being admitted to the chamber.
5. A somewhat conventional multistage steam turbine driving a single propeller shaft through a reduction gear.
6. A turbine exhaust gas condenser
7. A fresh water cooler cooled by sea water
8. A Lysholm-type positive displacement rotary pump for discharging non-condensing exhaust gas components overboard.
These were the main components of the propulsion system. The engine ran as follows: H202 was pumped into the catalytic converter where it broke down in to H20 (steam) and 02 at high temperature. From there it was admitted to the combustion chamber (steam generator) and mixed with proportioned amounts of fresh water and fuel oil. The high temperature steam generated (1020F) was then fed to the steam turbine turning at about 14,000 rpm. The turbine operating fluid was about 94 percent steam by volume and 85 percent by weight. The turbine exhaust consisted mainly of water vapor (steam), traces of C0, and C02. From the turbine the exhaust flowed into a contact type condenser. The non-condensing components were pumped overboard by the rotary pump. In an early version of this engine these gases were forced overboard by the turbine backpressure. Spray water for the contact condenser was cooled by circulating sea water through the water cooler. Cooled fresh water from the condenser/cooler was pumped back into the combustion chamber where it was again mixed with disassociated H202 from the catalytic converter and fuel oil to complete the cycle.
The piping and parts contacting the H202 between the storage tank and catalytic converter were made of stainless steel. After the catalytic converter piping and parts were made of conventional steels.
The Walter engine was an innovative and imaginative concept advanced for its time but probably doomed from the start as a submarine propulsion system by the extraordinary handling problems, safety issues, and costs associated with the Hydrogen Peroxide fuel.
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
H202 Engine Revisited
|
Don Baker | 06/15/2000 04:18AM |