A stationary engine is an

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

whose framework does not move. They are used to drive immobile equipment, such as pumps, generators,

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

or factory machinery, or cable cars. The term usually refers to large immobile

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fea ...

s, principally stationary steam engines and, to some extent, stationary

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...

s. Other large immobile power sources, such as steam turbines,

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

s, and large

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate for ...

s, are categorized separately. Stationary engines were once widespread in the era when each factory or mill generated its own power, and power transmission was mechanical (via

line shaft A line shaft is a power-driven rotating shaft for power transmission that was used extensively from the Industrial Revolution until the early 20th century. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to e ...

s, belts,

gear train A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...

s, and clutches). Applications for stationary engines have declined since

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

has become widespread; most industrial uses today draw electricity from an electrical grid and distribute it to various individual electric motors instead. Engines that operate in one place, but can be moved to another place for later operation, are called portable engines. Although stationary engines and portable engines are both " stationary" (not moving) while running, preferred usage (for clarity's sake) reserves the term "stationary engine" to the permanently immobile type, and "portable engine" to the mobile type.

Types of stationary engine

* Stationary steam engine *

Hit and miss engine A hit-and-miss engine or Hit 'N' Miss is a type of stationary internal combustion engine that is controlled by a governor to only fire at a set speed. They are usually 4-stroke but 2-stroke versions were made. It was conceived in the late 19th c ...

Hot bulb engine Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand ** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

* Hot tube engine

Applications

Lead, tin, and copper mines

Cotton, woollen, and worsted mills

Flour mills and corn grinders

A flat belt could be used to connect an engine to a flour mill or corn grinder. These machines are popular at old engine shows. Corn grinders would take corn off of the cob, and grind up corn into animal feed. flour mills make flour. Buch mill reuse allowed

Electricity generation

Before

mains electricity Mains electricity or utility power, power grid, domestic power, and wall power, or in some parts of Canada as hydro, is a general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power that is delivered to h ...

and the formation of nationwide power grids, stationary engines were widely used for small-scale electricity generation. While large

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s in cities used steam turbines or high-speed reciprocating steam engines, in rural areas petrol/gasoline, paraffin/kerosene, and fuel oil-powered internal combustion engines were cheaper to buy, install, and operate, since they could be started and stopped quickly to meet demand, left running unattended for long periods of time, and did not require a large dedicated engineering staff to operate and maintain. Due to their simplicity and economy,

hot bulb engine Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand ** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

s were popular for high-power applications until the

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

took their place from the 1920s. Smaller units were generally powered by spark-ignition engines, which were cheaper to buy and required less space to install. Most engines of the late-19th and early-20th centuries ran at speeds too low to drive a

dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gor ...

directly. As with other equipment, the generator was driven off the engine's flywheel by a broad flat belt. The pulley on the generator was much smaller than the flywheel, providing the required 'gearing up' effect. Later spark-ignition engines developed from the 1920s could be directly coupled. Up to the 1930s most rural houses in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and North America needed their own generating equipment if electric light was fitted. Engines would often be installed in a dedicated "engine house", which was usually an outbuilding separate from the main house to reduce the interference from the engine noise. The engine house would contain the engine, the generator, the necessary

switchgear In an electric power system, a switchgear is composed of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switchgear is used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to be ...

and

fuses Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protec ...

, as well as the engine's fuel supply and usually a dedicated workshop space with equipment to service and repair the engine. Wealthy households could afford to employ a dedicated engineer to maintain the equipment, but as the demand for electricity spread to smaller homes, manufacturers produced engines that required less maintenance and that did not need specialist training to operate. Such generator sets were also used in industrial complexes and public buildings – anywhere where electricity was required but mains electricity was not available. Most countries in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

completed large-scale rural electrification in the years following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, making individual generating plants obsolete for front-line use. However, even in countries with a reliable mains supply, many buildings are still fitted with modern

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression-ig ...

s for emergency use, such as

hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

and

pumping stations Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, ...

. This network of generators often forms a crucial part of the national electricity system's strategy for coping with periods of high demand.

Pumping stations

The development of water supply and sewage removal systems required the provision of many

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure system ...

s. In these, some form of stationary engine (steam-powered for earlier installations) is used to drive one or more pumps, although

s are more conventionally used nowadays.

Canals

For

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

s, a distinct area of application concerned the powering of

boat lift A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock. It may be vertically moving, like the Anderton boat lift in England, rotational, like ...

s and

inclined planes An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

. Where possible these would be arranged to utilise water and gravity in a balanced system, but in some cases additional power input was required from a stationary engine for the system to work. The vast majority of these were constructed (and in many cases, demolished again) before steam engines were supplanted by internal combustion alternatives.

Cable haulage railways

Industrial railways in quarries and mines made use of

cable railway Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a he ...

s based on the

inclined plane An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

idea, and certain early passenger railways in the UK were planned with lengths of cable-haulage to overcome severe gradients. For the first proper railway, the Liverpool and Manchester of 1830, it was not clear whether locomotive traction would work, and the railway was designed with steep 1 in 100 gradients concentrated on either side of Rainhill, just in case. Had cable haulage been necessary, then inconvenient and time-consuming shunting would obviously have been required to attach and detach the cables. The Rainhill gradients proved not to be a problem, and in the event, locomotive traction was determined to be a new technology with great potential for further development. The steeper 1 in 50 grades from Liverpool down to the docks were operated by cable traction for several decades until locomotives improved. Cable haulage continued to be used where gradients were even steeper. Cable haulage did prove viable where the gradients were exceptionally steep, such as the 1 in 8 gradients of the Cromford and High Peak Railway opened in 1830. Cable railways generally have two tracks with loaded wagons on one track partially balanced by empty wagons on the other, to minimise fuel costs for the stationary engine. Various kinds of

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...

were developed to overcome the lack of friction of conventional locomotives on steep gradients. These early installations of stationary engines would all have been steam-powered initially.

Some manufacturers of stationary engines

* Associated Manufactures Company USA * Blackstone & Co UK c.1882 - 1936 *

Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facili ...

USA * Charter Gas Engine Company c.1883-1920s * Cushman *

Deere & Company Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

/ John Deere USA * Electro-Motive USA * Emerson-Brantingham USA *

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

USA * Fuller and Johnson * Hercules Gas Engine Company 1912-1930s * Hercules Motors Corporation 1915-1967, 1976- * Richard Hornsby & Sons UK *

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

USA * Jacobson Machine Manufacturing Company *

Kohler Company Kohler Co., founded in 1873 by John Michael Kohler, is an American manufacturing company based in Kohler, Wisconsin. Kohler is best known for its plumbing products, but the company also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and ...

USA * Lister Petter UK ** R A Lister and Company UK ** Petters Limited UK * Malkotsis Greece * National Gas Engine Company UK * New Holland Machine Company USA * Olds Gasoline Engine Works (Pliny Olds, sons Wallace and Ransom) (1890s-1910) * Otto Gas Engine Works * Palmer Brothers * Rider-Ericsson Engine Company *

Russell & Company Russell & Company () was the largest American trading house of the mid-19th century in China. The firm specialised in trading tea, silk and opium and was eventually involved in the shipping trade. Foundation In 1818, Samuel Russell was approached ...

USA * Stover Manufacturing and Engine Company * Van Duzen Gas and Gasoline Engine Company c.1891-1898 *

Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company was the first company to manufacture and sell gasoline powered farm tractors. Based in Waterloo, Iowa, the company was created by John Froelich and a group of Iowa businessmen in 1893, and was originally named ...

USA *

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technolo ...

* Witte Engine Works

Preserved stationary engines

Many steam rallies, like the

Great Dorset Steam Fair The Great Dorset Steam Fair (abbreviated GDSF, and since 2010 also known as The National Heritage Show) is an annual show featuring steam-powered vehicles and machinery. It now covers and runs for five days. This used to be from the Wednesday ...

, include an exhibit section for internal combustion stationary engines for which purpose the definition is usually extended to include any engine which was not intended primarily for the propulsion of a vehicle. Thus many are in fact portable engines, either from new or having been converted by mounting on a wheeled trolley for ease of transport and may also include such things as marine or airborne auxiliary power units and engines removed from equipment such as motor mowers. These engines have been restored by private individuals and often are exhibited in operation, powering water pumps, electric generators, hand tools, and the like. In the UK there are few museums where visitors can see stationary engines in operation. Many museums have one or more engines but only a few specialise in the internal combustion stationary engines. Among these are the

Internal Fire Museum of Power The Internal Fire Museum of Power is a museum of internal combustion engines in West Wales. The museum's collection is mostly of larger stationary diesel engines, as used for generating sets and pumping stations. The museum is located at Tan-y-gr ...

, in Wales, and the Anson Engine Museum in Cheshire. The Amberley Working Museum in West Sussex also has a number of engines, as does Kew Bridge Steam Museum in London.