Math Question

[Robert J. Harris]

Given  A. 600 PSI pressure from TDC to BDC
          B. Any piston diameter
          C. Any stroke
          D. any RPM you chose 
 
Whats the peak torque and HP possible?

Not a trick question, just use any numbers you chose.  600
PSI is the pressure of little old fashioned saturated steam at 
about 440 degrees f.   Raise the temp to 900 with super heat
and you get  1200 PSI.  These are commercial production 
steam plant values.  For extra credit, look up and plug in the
PSI values for the temperatures actually present at combustion.

Velocity does not matter - don't even think about it.  Consider 
the RPM limit to be whatever the physical destruction flyapart 
limit is of your engine. Steam will make 20,000 miles an hour 
plus because thats what shoves the shuttle into space. 

Still clueless? What is the result of burning pure liquid oxygen 
and pure liquid hydrogen with no nitrogen, carbon 
or other contaminants present?

After thinking about the numbers, you can begin to understand
the fascination with water fuel blends, injections, mixs, and 
what ever and why,from since the dawn of the Internal Combustion
engine, engineers and experimenters keep coming back to it and
not just as an anti-detontant.

And for practical applications about how much power is truly available
from a small piston, check out the last generation of railroad steam
engines.  A couple of smallish pistons (displacement compared to the 
multiple diesel engines that replaced them) moving slowly (thinks tens to
a couple hundred rpm max) drove 700,000 LB plus locomotives to speeds
over a hundred miles an hour dragging loads of up to 10,000 tons behind
them - depending on the speed.  It took 3 or 4 1500 HP diesels to replace
them and they still didn't quite make the power.  And by the way, the peak
steam pressure on road locomotives seldom exceeded 300 PSI!!!!!!

Remember the Reichstag

----------