Cool running heat engines

Newcomen invented the atmospheric steam engine in 1712. This employed steam at one atmosphere pressure and a temperature of around 100 ° C. In the following century, by the time of “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations” in 1851, materials technology had advanced sufficiently for engineers to build far more efficient steam engines. These operated at several atmospheres of pressure and temperatures well above 100 ° C. It was only later, however, in the second half of the nineteenth century, that the science of thermodynamics reached maturity and engineers were able to further improve on steam engine design by using science instead of experience. The fact that thermodynamics only emerged long after powerful steam engines were being employed to help us conquer nature and build empires has left us with several questionable legacies: (i) we have learned to live with several terms and concepts that do not make thermodynamic sense, but have been tolerated because they do not seem to do any harm either; (ii) there is a common belief that we human beings should use technology to overcome nature, rather than forming a partnership with it; (iii) cool running heat engines that recycle energy can be found in nature but humanity has chosen to move in the opposite direction, building ever hotter and higher pressure heat engines in order to increase their power. In this paper we discuss some of the accepted terms and concepts that do not make thermodynamic sense, and then use this fresh insight to propose a new class of cool running heat engines for generating electricity. Based on these insights, the author has filed patent applications describing clean cool running heat engines. However, mindful of the climate emergency facing our planet, these patents have been allowed to lapse. This means that university researchers, commercial enterprises and others are free to develop them as open source technology, without seeking the author’s permission or paying him royalties.