A high order of
thermal efficiency is achieved in a
steam engine or expander having a
piston clearance that approximates zero together with a negligible amount of compression, such that pressure in the clearance volume approximates
ambient pressure, i.e. atmospheric or condenser pressure as the case may be at the end of the
piston return
stroke when the clearance is essentially zero. These two provisions working together simultaneously provide a method and apparatus which constitute a new engine apparatus and Rankine
operating cycle that can be referred to as “zero clearance with zero compression”. The invention also provides an improved steam admission valve
assembly that can be operated either automatically responsive to
piston movement or by means of a
cam shaft and
cam or electrically by means of a solenoid that provides an intermittent
magnetic field for operating one or more valves. A biphasic exhaust
system is described in which a piston operated valve opens to exhaust steam in a primary phase at or near
maximum displacement, and in a
secondary phase an auxiliary, normally open
exhaust valve facing the top of the piston permits virtually all residual steam to be exhausted through the approximate end of the piston return
stroke after which it is closed by the piston, by a lifter on the piston or by the
cam and finally held closed during the
power stroke by a fresh charge of steam injected through the steam admission valve into the clearance volume as it approaches zero.