It seems too obvious to be a solution, but why did we give up on steam power? I believe nuclear power plants essentially work by generating steam, could this model be used in a car? Does steam not provide enough force to move the water and its container?
In: Engineering
Basically all engines are heat engines. They convert heat from a fuel into motion somehow. ‘Steam engines’ do this by boiling off steam, and they are *external combustion* engines. This makes them naturally very bulky, but potentially more efficient.
Petrol and diesel engines are *internal* combustion engines. This allows them to produce far more power, but typically at a somewhat lower efficiency. In these, the burning fuel expands instead of steam.
Latest Answers