The First Internal Combustion Engine

The first successful internal combustion was designed and built by a Belgian engineer,  Jean Joseph Lenoir, and patented in 1860.  It operated on coal gas, and was basically a two stroke engine. However the stoke did not compress the gas, so it was not very efficient.  Even so, it produced more power for its weight than steam engines of the day, and some 500 engines were produced before it was surpassed in technology by the internal combustion engine of Otto. Lenoir put one of his engines in a three wheeled vehicle, which completed a 50 mile road trip at about 3 km/hr.

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[Vasilij]

“Ecomotors. - I want a pollution-free engine”. – During the World War II, for some American aircrafts they used the engines with cylinders that, along with fuel, were injected a minor portion of water. Coming in contact with burning fuel and white-hot surfaces of the piston and the cylinder, the water boiled, and the expanding steam helped the actuation gases to jog the piston and do the useful work. The water, transforming into the steam when boiling or evaporating, expanded in volume by 1700 times (under atmospheric pressure), which considerably increased the power, torque and efficiency factor of the engines. It provided not only for fuel economy and increase of power for 10-15%, but also for facilitation of the cooling system because the cylinders were cooled with water rather internally than externally. Because of their complexity, the engines with water-injection into the cylinders were not used on a large scale. The contemporary science and technology, especially electronics, achieved impressive progress, and now that the oil prices are constantly increasing, it’s high time to return to these undeservingly forgotten, but very potential engines. The electronics should control the precise dose of the injected water and its pre-warming from external walls of the cylinder in order to make the water’s temperature, before the injection, as much as possible approach the steam point which inevitably rises in the compressed gas medium. The electronics also can control the warming up of the fuel and air entering the cylinders. The more effective direct water-cooling of the scorching, intensively rubbing piston rings, the piston and the cylinder, extends the operations of the engine. Injected water and steam make it possible to create the required form and speed of the flame expansion, and thus, to prevent the explosive effects (detonation) and, without any harm for the engines, to increase the pressure of the fuel mixture and use the cheaper low-octane gasoline. The water injected into the cylinder will low down the temperature of the burning gases and thus constraint the content of toxic nitrates forming out of atmospheric nitrogen at high temperature. As it’s widely known, the air consists of about 79% of that nitrogen, and of only 21% of oxygen necessary for the fuel burning. For example, a hardly smouldering kindling treated into the test-tube with clear oxygen instantly flares up. Thus, it is necessary to increase the percentage composition of the oxygen in the air coming into the cylinder, or, respectively, decrease the presence of the nitrogen, which does not only sustain the combustion, but like sand and water, which are used for putting out the fires, opposes it. In order to disengage oxygen, or at least nitrogen, the modern industry uses the cumbrous cascades of evaporators and condensers, characterized by considerable energy consumption but low efficiency. Effectiveness and endurance of membrane molecular filters are not sufficient either. It is easier to increase the content of oxygen in the air mass by means of a swiftly spinning centrifugal machine, where the comparatively heavy elements of oxygen (molecular mass – 32) will push out the lighter elements of nitrogen (molecular mass – 28). Obviously, it is impossible to get the pure oxygen in such a way. But if, in the air coming into the cylinder, we reduce the nitrogen content by two – from 79% to 40%, the oxygen content will increase by almost three times – from 21% to 60%, and the energy released under burning conditions, will increase by 5-7 times! In such intensive burning conditions the fuel will be fully combusted. Obligatory for all automobiles neutralizer, which robs the engine of its power in order to burn down the toxic odds of unburned fuel, carbon soot, carbon oxide, and in case of low quality fuel, hydrogen sulphide, will become unnecessary. By reducing the nitrogen in the air coming into the cylinders, we will decrease the quantity of nitrogen oxide discharge, which otherwise causes acid rains, harmful not only for every living organism on the Earth, but also for landmarks, various buildings, constructions, and even for the paint coating of the automobiles. It is possible to separate the oxygen and nitrogen elements by their different intensity of magnetization by means of the preliminary ionization. The air, fuel, injected water and, then, the combustion materials could be magnetized at high temperatures and ionized at low ones. By means of circumjacent inductance coils protected by heat-resistant ceramics, it is possible to create the required form of the fuel mixture – densely bunch it in the center, regularly distribute it about the whole cylinder, or relocate it to the cylinder’s walls – and the speed of its inflammation. Increasing that we could augment the power, and reducing it – prevent detonation. It would not be amiss to make use of that energy as the speed of the flame spread in case of explosion, compared to that of controlled (restricted) burning, is by 5-20 times and more higher, depending on the compression ratio and other conditions. Due to the excessive air pressure it is possible, without power reduction, to considerably reduce the quantity of the fuel flowing into the cylinder. Certainly, the engine stability should be relevant to the tension imposed, and the control algorithm for the “explosion-motor” should be thought up. At that, in order to lessen the unwanted consequences from the working gas impacts, it is better to make the upper part of the piston or its junction with the piston rod – the wrist, slightly springy. The pistons and cylinders, exposed to strong emanation of the flame, could be manufactured not only of iron or lighter aluminum and magnesium, but also of ceramics, and still better of single-crystalline silicon or germanium, which in the sun batteries produce energy. That energy, through the electric motor, could help the pistons to turn the crankshaft. And what if the semiconducting silicon in photovoltaic arrays could be replaced by tetravalent crystallized carbon - heatproof and the most solid artificial diamond, which could be used for production of the pistons and cylinders, or just their surfaces? Sometimes, on submarines, in the outer space, and deep under the ground, at high-power stations and domiciliary, they already use the ecofriendly Stirling engines. There, in the absolutely enclosed space, and preferably under high pressure (200-500 atmospheres), the helium, heated up from the furnace with external warming up system, expands and on the other side of the cylinder, in the special refrigerator, it is cooled down, which is relatively “constricted”. The resulting pressure differential, above the piston and below it, pushes the piston component and then the other cylinders or the stored energy of the revolving fly take over. It could be turbines instead of pistons as well. “Stirling” can work on any fuel: solid, liquid, gaseous, from sun energy, atomic reactor, and from any source of heat, not even connected with burning Let us consider the power, coefficient of efficiency, the highest maximum turning torque on the low rpm (due to which “Stirling” can surpass overstrains, and at that, unlike other engines, does not fail, and allows to do without a gear-box). It is efficient, undemanding of the fuel and lubricants, unpretentious and simple to maintain, multi-applicable and noiseless. It is characterized by quick start in winter season, durability, not large unit weight and compactness, profitable prime cost, reliability and many other. Having fantastic properties, for some reason, “Stirling” engines still go unnoticed by manufacturers of stock cars. For the sake of ecology it is necessary to develop and integrate not only hybrid and hydrogen automobile power units. Bezukladnikov Vasilij Alexandrovich. Poste restante 347913, The City of Taganrog, Rostov region, Russia. E-mail: [email protected] http://vasilijbezukladnikov.narod.ru

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It’s great that more people are focusing on making better environmental choices. Plus technology is making it more economical now, and that’s what people really notice. Wind energy, solar power, hybrids and zap EV’s, our choices are good. There are now electric cars being sold everyday, you just plug it into a regular power outlet. When people test drive them they say it’s far more fun to drive an EV.