Race Engine Forum UK

hi guys,

This is completely off topic and not much to do with cars but it's a pretty large engine, be it from another era. I just thought you might like to see it.

As most of you know, large parts of The Netherlands are below sea level; mostly lakes and marshes that we pumped the water out of. And to keep your feet dry, you then need to keep pumping every day.
That started back in the late middle ages with wind mills, today it's mainly electric and some diesel.

Normally all water is dumped into rivers and canals that somehow find their way out to the North Sea.
When there is too much water coming in and not enough flowing out, like when you're having days and days of rainstorms blowing in from the sea, then the water is pumped straight out into the sea.

During the last weeks we had a situation like that and it was all hands on deck. 'All hands' means Grandpa is called out of retirement. They fire up the Woudagemaal (Wouda pump station).
Commissioned in 1920 and named after the engineer who built it, this is the largest operational steam pump station in the world. It takes a crew of 12 men and some 6 hours to wake him up, and up to 11 hours to be running at full power. Normally he's run only a few days per year; for demonstration and to keep the machines in working order.
This week Grandpa meant business...

There are four boilers that provide steam for four sets of twin engines: all double-acting (steam working on either side of the piston: push/pull) and set up in high and low pressure teams. The steam coming out of the high pressure engine still has enough energy to drive the low pressure engine.
Each set of engines drives two massive vane-type pumps, making that eight pumps in total.
Running at full steam (literally!) this big boy displaces 4000 cubic meters of water per minute. Think about it... that is 4.000.000 litres of water being pushed up some two meters, every minute, around the clock. I make that an effective output of about 1300kW or 1800HP.

Steam engines are nice. They smell of oil, steam and hot steel. They hiss and rumble and click. They give off heat. And everywhere you look they sweat and drip. It's almost like they are alive. Big beasts.


Anyway, when I heard there was a general alert I gave them a call. Yes, it was running and yes, there were tours around the site. Took the day off, drove two hours up north, waited for an hour to get into a tour group and witnessed the beast going all out.

Some pictures for you, with descriptions we can all relate to.
I hope you guys like it.

regards
Tom

Thank you Tom, really good stuff. I think it ties very well to cars and their owners. Massive community efforts like this are where resources are made available to develop technologies and knowledge that benefit all disciplines of engineering.

And yes the organic nature of a beast like this does constitute a living thing. The same can't be said for most of the invisible, sterile, untouchable devices that power our world these days. I resurrected a 1982 Rabbit diesel for my shop truck just so I can putt around town surrounded by rattles and vibrations. Some people just like the mechanical nature of things.

Tim

Thanks for posting that up Tom, steam power really is the big daddy of them.

Last year when we had that severe winter, the that rescued the diesels that couldnt cut it was one by the name of Tornado, a brand new locomotive, built from scratch using the original plans for such engines as the flying scotsman and that kind.
It didnt fail, it was the only one capable of doing the job, amazing when you think how far we've come yet still have to call on the "old guys" occasionally to do some heavy work.
Steam engine always have a dimension about them that reminds me of a large living beast, love em.

Thanks for sharing I live on this kind of stuff. As you say that is one huge volume of water they can shift !

Brilliant thanks for posting.

MODEL POST!

Great photos of a marvellous impressive and important subject, well-captioned and some great background.

Off-topic? Well I still liked it!

Well done Tom.

G

Brilliant. I love the old tools on the wall

Absolutely fantastic. Anyone with a mind for all things mechanical surely shares a passion for thoroughbred machinery usually with little matter about what kind of fuel (or impellent) makes it move.

And speaking of machinery, only that on a much smaller scale:
The other day I was watching a video depicting the machining, construction, assembly and operation of a tiny little W16 engine which was moved by compressed air, I felt tempted to post a link here at GCRE but I didn't want to break one of the most important rules of the forum.

BTW Guy, you got mail.

Some of the high torque diesel engines found in ships and staitionary generators and the like are started up with 'compressed air' is that what you mean ?

Great read Tom and even more enjoyable pictures.

Brings back memories to when I was 12 or 13 and I bought my first mini steam engine with flywheel, gauge, coal tray, boiler etc.

You could attach mini belts to the flywheel. Must have been on a platform no more than 14x14 inches. My first introduction to mechanics.
It all started from that moment. I was hooked!

Chris

Great story, thanks for the share!

My grandpa was an airplane mechanic but has worked on steam engines, too. I remember a story when they bought a second-hand steam roller in the company he worked at. It was 30 years old, but grandpa said that means it has just bedded in and will work for at least 50, more likely 80 years, with no major breakdowns.

I love seeing where, how engineering has evolved and love looking vintage machinery those guys that designed and built those were true genius'

Thanks for sharing!