Largest piston engine in the world---

[Brian Rupnow]

Having recently finished my first steam engine (One of Elmers simple wobblers), and being a veteran insomniac, I was laying in bed the other night wondering just how small the worlds smallest piston engine is, and how large the largest one. I never messed around with model airoplanes, so really the smallest piston engine I have ever seen is the 3/8" diameter engine that I just built. I have seen pictures of really large engines in trans Atlantic ships, and I am curious ---would the largest piston engine be something current, or would it have been built at the time of the industrial revolution. I don't care if it was steam, gasoline, or diesel---long as it was a piston engine.

 

[rangerssteamtoys]

I dont know the exact answer. But I would guess around the industrial revolution, simply becuase the technology was as advanced as it could get. SO they just built bigger engines. As technology advanced, things got smaller.

 

[Bernd]

This may be the biggest engine built so far.

http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/

Bernd

 

[Bogstandard]

Maybe not the largest engine, but in one of my old reference books (now gone to a better home), it mentioned and showed pics of an old steam ship engine (mid to late 1800's). I am sure it said something like 8ft bore and 14ft stroke in a twin cylinder oscillator.

Fancy making one of those on your chinese import.

John

 

[andrewh]

I am working from memory, but I remember reading in the 1960s that the largest reciprocating IC engine was in south Australia, used for pumping water.
The "Piston" was the column of water and was, from memory about 20 feet diameter
I couldn't find the article again, it must have been in Aeromodeller.

From more recent experience the smallest is probably one of Rainer Gaggl's C02 motors which I think are in the Guiness book of records. I have seen his 0.1cu mm motor in action but I'm sure he then started to make them small!

andrew

 

[Twinsquirrel]

I can remember seeing a tv show on discovery showing these http://www.emma-maersk.com/engine/Wartsila_Sulzer_RTA96-C.htm 2 stroke diesel engines, perhaps not the biggest ever made but with a 300 ton crankshaft a 3ft bore and 8ft stroke pretty big!!! some nice pictures on that site too!

David

EDIT sorry just realised I posted the same engine as Bernd did previously, was reading the post on my mobile and didnt see Bernds' entry

 

[agr]

Andrew

This link provides info on the "Humphrey Pump" you referred to in south Australia. It state it has a 66" cylinder but is smaller than its "Chingford" conterparts.

http://www.steamengine.com.au/ic/history/humphrey_pumps/

I have a copy of old home video of this engine running back in the 90's.

I have also seen a nice working model of this water column engine at one of our local steam rallies (Lake Goldsmith, Victoria, Australia) running on LP Gas.

 

[nemt]

Talking about large piston engines, in Kewbridge Museum in England there is a steamengine, Cornish type, that has a cilinderdiameter of 100".
But there is even bigger!
http://www.museumdecruquius.nl/
When you go to the above mentioned site, you will find a steampumping engine with a cilinderdiameter of 3.66 meters. For the Imperial fans, that is about 144 inches.
It is still in working order, but is does not run on steam anymore. For demonstration purposes they added hydraulics to show people how it worked.
It drove 8 pumps to empty one of our older polders, the Haarlemmermeerpolder.
Have a look on the site.

Nemt