Internal Combustion Engines :: essays research papers

infixed Combustion EnginesIntroduction upcountry Combustion Engine, a heat railway locomotive in which the fuel is burned (that is, united with oxygen ) within the confine space of the engine itself.This burning process releases large amounts of energy, which are transforminto work through the mechanism of the engine. This type of engine differentfrom the traveler engine, which process with an external fire engine thatfuel burned aside from the engine. The principal types of internal burnengine are reciprocating engine such(prenominal) as Otto-engine, and Diesel engines androtary engines, such as the Wankel engine and the Gas-turbine engine.In general, the internal fire engine has become the means ofpropulsion in the transportation field, with the exception of large shipsrequiring over 4,000 shaft horse force ( hp).In stationary applications, size of unit and local factor often come across the choice between the use of steam and diesel engine. Diesel powerplants have a disti nct economic advantage over steam engine when size of theplant is under closely 1,000 hp. However in that respect are many diesel engine plants muchlarge than this. Internal combustion engines are particularly appropriate forseasonal industries, because of the small secondary losses with these enginesduring the shutdown period.HistoryThe first experimental internal combustion engine was made by a Dutchastronomer, Christian Huygens, who, in 1680, applied a principle advanced byJean de Hautefeuille in 1678 for drawing water. This principle was based on thefact that the explosion of a small amount of gunpowder in a closed sleeping accommodationprovided with escape valves would create a vacuum when the gases of combustioncooled. Huygens, using a cylinder containing a piston, was able to move it inthis manner by the external atmospheric pressure.The first commercially practical internal combustion engine was built bya French engineer, ( Jean Joseph ) Etienne Lenoir, about 1859-1860. I t usedilluminating gas as fuel. Two years later, Alphonse chap de Rochas enunciatedthe principles of the four-stroke cycle, but Nickolaus August Otto built thefirst successful engine ( 1876 ) operating(a) on this principle.Reciprocating EngineComponents of EnginesThe essential parts of Otto-cycle and diesel engines are the same. Thecombustion chamber consists of a cylinder, usually fixed, which is closed at one fetch up and in which a close-fitting piston slides. The in-and-out motion of thepiston varies the multitude of the chamber between the inner face of the piston andthe closed stop of the cylinder. The outer face of the piston is attached to acrankshaft by a connecting rod. The crankshaft transforms the reciprocatingmotion of the piston into rotary motion.