The Internal Fire Museum of Power is a museum of

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 comb ...

s in

West Wales West Wales () is a region of Wales. It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...

. The museum's collection is mostly of larger stationary

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s, as used for generating sets and pumping stations. The museum is located at

Tan-y-groes Tan-y-groes (or Tanygroes) is a hamlet in the community of Penbryn, Ceredigion, Wales, which is east of Cardigan on the A487 trunk road. Tan-y-groes is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and the Member of Parliament is Ben ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, near Cardigan.

Exhibits

Most of the engines have been restored to working order. Several engines are in operation when the museum is open.

Diesel

The museum has the oldest working diesel engine in the UK, a 1912 Sulzer single cylinder air-blast injection

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

, an example of the original

Rudolf Diesel Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (, ; 18 March 1858 – 29 September 1913) was a German inventor and mechanical engineer who invented the Diesel engine, which burns Diesel fuel; both are named after him. Early life and education Diesel was born on 1 ...

design.

Steam

The museum houses over 200 tons of working engines in nine halls and in 2020 was in the process of creating a new steam hall to house a 1903, J & E Wood, 500 hp tandem compound along with an 1879, John Penn, twin cylinder oscillating paddle steamer (ex Empress) as well as a number of smaller engines including the only surviving Petter steam engine. In 2017, the museum's second

Engineering Heritage Award The Engineering Heritage Awards, formally known as the ''Engineering Heritage Hallmark Scheme'', were established by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in 1984 to identify and promote artefacts, locations, collections and landmarks ...

exhibit arrived. A 1901, 140 bhp three cylinder

Willans engine The Willans engine or central valve engine was a high-speed stationary steam engine used mainly for electricity generation around the start of the 20th century. Willans' engine was one of the best-known examples of the steeple compound engine. The ...

generating set had been used until 1957 at the Maples furniture shop in London. On retirement this had been placed on display at the original Willans factory in

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

Gas turbine

One of the museum's most unusual exhibits was a 'Pocket Power Station', powered by a

Bristol Proteus The Bristol Proteus was the Bristol Engine Company's first mass-produced gas turbine engine design, a turboprop that delivered just over 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). The Proteus was a reverse-flow gas turbine. Because the second turbine drov ...

gas turbine engine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

. The regional electricity board installed several 2.7MW, remote-operated, generation sets for peak load powered by the Proteus. Designed to run for ten years many were still in use forty years later. In 2010 this was recognised with an

References

External links