Can we use steam for Car-fuel?

Question

If steam can power a train, why can't we use it to power a Car?

Answer 1

Steam is not a fuel at all per se, but rather a medium for conducting energy from one place to another. You burn some sort of fuel, gasoline, coal or what have you to heat water in a boiler and the resulting steam is then channeled into a piston to push it.

It is not necessarily inefficient as one comment suggested, however. A steam engine can be reasonably efficient under some circumstances. It is very good, for example in delivering low end torque as it begins to generate torque at 0 rpm's, whereas a regular internal combustion engine has to be turning several hundred rpm's to generate a usable amount of torque. However, the key problem with steam engines in cars is that, unless you spend a fair amount of fuel all night when the vehicle is not in operation just to keep the boiler warm. morning start-up is very slow indeed. Imagine a cold winter morning where you have to go out and ignite the burners under the boiler and wait a half an hour or 45 minutes before you have enough steam pressure to get underway. Some folks have given some thought to super-insulating boilers to reduce overnight heat loss and make this more practical, but I have not seen any real breakthroughs in that regard to date.

Nevertheless, you may have heard of the Stanley Steamer, which was a steam driven car in the early 20th century. It was considered very powerful in its day, and dominated the Pike's Peak hill climb races for some little while.

Answer 2

because you have to heat the water and that takes a lot of fuel/ pressure to do. It wouldn't be efficient. There are some good applications of turbines built on thermal vents that can genrate a lot of electricity though. Really the only practical way for steam to be efficient is to capture heat that is already there. Generating the steam for a steam engine in a car just wouldn't be effective as a renewable energy source, because you're burning something to make it heat up (i.e. coal, etc used in trains)

Answer 3

It was the first method used to power cars. Gasoline was not mass produced and steam and alcohol were much used in the beginning. As oil companies began to mass produce gasoline it became the favored power source. Can it be done again, certainly! We have the technology, but until the oil companies determine that some other fuel will make them as much money, we will not have a choice.

Answer 4

the cost of building a steam engine for cars.
and the size would be huge.
and who is going to run behind it shoveling the coal into the furnace?

Answer 5

You could , that would require you to remove a standard engine and install a steam engine , but sure - it can be done!

Answer 6

because there is no compact steam engine powerful enough to drive a car....

Answer 7

NO!!! That was tried years ago and it didn't work.

Answer 8

cause were idiots