Comments by "David Elliott" (@davidelliott5843) on "Steam Boilers in the 1900's - The Unusual Case of the Car and Ship" video.

  1. Water to steam has a 1000 to 1 expansion ratio. However, the specific heat capacity of water means that steam power can never be as efficient as internal combustion. A phenomenal amount of heat is used to simply turn water to steam. Even more heat has to be added to make a useful power source and that heat of evaporation is lost to the condenser. The practical efficiency limit is around 35%. Diesels can get to over 50% - a significant benefit in fuel consumption with far less technical complication.
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  2. Railways tried oil fired steam engines but cost and high fuel consumption killed the idea. Diesels did the job at far less cost and used far less fuel. Ships have more space so steam hung on for longer but its today's ships are almost entirely diesel powered.
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