194. Q.--To what extent can expansion be carried beneficially by means of lap upon the valve?
A.--To about one-third of the stroke; that is, the valve may be made with so much lap, that the steam will be cut off when two thirds of the stroke have been performed, leaving the residue to be accomplished by the agency of the expanding steam; but if more lap be put on than answers to this amount of expansion, a very distorted action of the valve will be produced, which may impair the efficiency of the engine. If a further amount of expansion than this is wanted, it may be accomplished by wire drawing the steam, or by so contracting the steam passage that the pressure within the cylinder must decline when the speed of the piston is accelerated, as it is about the middle of the stroke.
195. Q.--Will you explain how this result ensues?
A.--If the valve be so made as to shut off the steam by the time two thirds of the stroke have been performed, and the steam be at the same time throttled in the steam pipe, the full pressure of the steam within the cylinder cannot be maintained except near the beginning of the stroke where the piston travels slowly; for, as the speed of the piston increases, the pressure necessarily subsides, until the piston approaches the other end of the cylinder, where the pressure would rise again but that the operation of the lap on the valve by this time has had the effect of closing the communication between the cylinder and steam pipe, so as to prevent more steam from entering. By throttling the steam, therefore, in the manner here indicated, the amount of expansion due to the lap may be doubled, so that an engine with lap enough upon the valve to cut off the steam at two-thirds of the stroke, may, by the aid of wire drawing, be virtually rendered capable of cutting off the steam at one-third of the stroke.
196. Q.--Is this the usual way of cutting off the steam?
A.--No; the usual way of cutting off the steam is by means of a separate valve, termed an expansion valve; but such a device appears to be hardly necessary in ordinary engines. In the Cornish engines, where the steam is cut off in some cases at one-twelfth of the stroke, a separate valve for the admission of steam, other than that which permits its escape, is of course indispensable; but in common rotative engines, which may realize expansive efficacy by throttling, a separate expansion valve does not appear to be required.
197. Q.--That is, where much expansion is required, an expansion valve is a proper appendage, but where not much is required, a separate expansion valve may be dispensed with?
A.--Precisely so. The wire drawing of the steam causes a loss of part of its power, and the result will not be quite so advantageous by throttling as by cutting off. But for moderate amounts of expansion it will suffice, provided there be lap upon the slide valve.
198. Q.--Will you explain the structure or configuration of expansion apparatus of the usual construction?
