The engine that lost out to the steam engine

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]This is the engine that could possibly have powered the industrial revolution but didn't. Essentially, what you have is a central chamber with a piston that can go in and out and a heat source. And in this case, we have a a fuel drum here with a wick on the front of it. And as the piston is drawn this way through the chamber, it draws in air and the flame and it heats up the air inside the chamber increasing the pressure. But then the door at the front closes and as it closes, it traps that air in and so the pressure builds up. It pushes the piston but then ah then you get a loss of pressure. So you've got increasing over atmospheric pressure uh causing the piston to go one way and then turning the flywheel and then the flywheel has a bit of momentum to it so it carries it round and the stroke starts going the other way. Then you have atmospheric pressure if you can cool this down enough uh pushing the piston back in again. So you should all going well get a cycle. The fuel I'm using is 99.9% pure IP alcohol. And the reservoir conveniently takes exactly one syringe full. Uno, slightly less.

[00:01:14]>> Right. Then the moment of truth. Will it go?

[00:01:25]It works. It works. And to find out lots more about how exactly they work, what uses they were put to, and their various pros and cons, watch the full video on the Lindy Beige channel.