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Astationary engine is anengine whose framework does not move. They are used to drive immobile equipment, such aspumps,generators,mills or factory machinery, orcable cars. The term usually refers to large immobilereciprocating engines, principallystationary steam engines[1] and, to some extent, stationaryinternal combustion engines. Other large immobile power sources, such assteam turbines,gas turbines, and largeelectric motors, are categorized separately.
Stationary engines, especially stationary steam engines were once widespread in the lateIndustrial Revolution.[1] This was an era when each factory or mill generated its own power, and power transmission was mechanical (vialine shafts,belts,gear trains, andclutches). Applications for stationary engines have declined sinceelectrification has become widespread; most industrial uses today draw electricity from anelectrical grid and distribute it to various individual electric motors instead.
Engines that operate in one place, but can be moved to another place for later operation, are calledportable 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.
There are many types of stationary engines.[2] These include:
Stationary engines had a wide range of applications but they were especially used by small companies and operations, requiring power in limited settings at specific sites.[3]
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 the cob, and grind up corn into animal feed. flour mills make flour.
Beforemains electricity and the formation of nationwidepower grids, stationary engines were widely used forsmall-scale electricity generation. While largepower stations in cities usedsteam turbines or high-speed reciprocatingsteam engines, in rural areaspetrol/gasoline,paraffin/kerosene, andfuel 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 thediesel 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.
Most engines of the late-19th and early-20th centuries ran at speeds too low to drive adynamo oralternator directly. As with other equipment, thegenerator 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 inEurope andNorth America needed their own generating equipment ifelectric 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 necessaryswitchgear andfuses, 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, 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 theWestern world completed large-scale rural electrification in the years followingWorld 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 moderndiesel generators for emergency use, such ashospitals andpumping stations. This network of generators often forms a crucial part of the national electricity system's strategy for coping with periods of high demand.
The development of water supply and sewage removal systems required the provision of manypumping stations. In these, some form of stationary engine (steam-powered for earlier installations) is used to drive one or morepumps, althoughelectric motors are more conventionally used nowadays.
Forcanals, a distinct area of application concerned the powering ofboat lifts andinclined 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.
Industrial railways in quarries and mines made use ofcable railways based on theinclined 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, theLiverpool and Manchester of 1830, it was not clear whetherlocomotive traction would work, and the railway was designed with steep 1 in 100 gradients concentrated on either side ofRainhill, just in case. Had cable haulage been necessary, then inconvenient and time-consuming shunting would have been required to attach and detach the cables. The Rainhill gradients proved not to be a problem, and in the event, locomotive traction was determined to be a new technology with great potential for further development.
The steeper 1 in 50 grades from Liverpool down to the docks were operated by cable traction for several decades until locomotives improved. Cable haulage continued to be used where gradients were even steeper.
Cable haulage did prove viable where the gradients were exceptionally steep, such as the 1 in 8 gradients of theCromford 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 minimize fuel costs for the stationary engine. Various kinds ofrack railways 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.
Manysteam rallies, like theGreat Dorset Steam Fair, include an exhibit section for internal combustion stationary engines for which purpose the definition is usually extended to include any engine that was not intended primarily for the propulsion of a vehicle. Thus many are in factportable 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.
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 theInternal Fire Museum of Power, in Wales, and theAnson Engine Museum in Cheshire. TheAmberley Working Museum in West Sussex also has a number of engines, as doesKew Bridge Steam Museum in London.
