A colorized automobile engine

Energy Portal

The internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the burning of a fuel occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. This exothermic reaction of a fuel with an oxidizer creates gases of high temperature and pressure, which are permitted to expand. The defining feature of an internal combustion engine is that useful work is performed by the expanding hot gases acting directly to cause movement, for example by acting on pistons, rotors, or even by pressing on and moving the entire engine itself. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 597 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Internal combustion engine ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 597 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Internal combustion engine ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... In engineering and thermodynamics, a heat engine performs the conversion of heat energy to mechanical work by exploiting the temperature gradient between a hot source and a cold sink. Heat is transferred to the sink from the source, and in this process some of the heat is converted into work. ... Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames. ... Exothermic means to release energy in the form of heat. ... Fuel is any material that is capable of releasing energy when its chemical or physical structure is changed or converted. ... An oxidizing agent is a substance that oxidizes another substance in electrochemistry or redox chemical reactions in general. ... In thermodynamics, temperature is the physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold —something that is hotter has the greater temperature. ... The use of water pressure - the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. ... An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ...

This contrasts with external combustion engines such as steam engines which use the combustion process to heat a separate working fluid, typically water or steam, which then in turn does work, for example by pressing on a steam actuated piston. An external combustion engine is an engine which burns its fuel to heat a separate working fluid which then in turn performs work. ... A steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ...

The term Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is almost always used to refer specifically to reciprocating engines, Wankel engines and similar designs in which combustion is intermittent. However, continuous combustion engines, such as Jet engines, most rockets and many gas turbines are also internal combustion engines. Components of a typical, four stroke cycle, DOHC piston engine. ... First Wankel Engine NSU KKM 57P Autovision und Forum, Germany Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program The traditional definition of a rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving fluid from within a rocket engine. ... This machine has a single-stage radial compressor and turbine, a recuperator, and foil bearings. ...

Image File history File links animated scheme of a four stroke internal combustion engine, Otto principle Source: self-made: UtzOnBike (3D-model & animation: Autodesk Inventor) File links The following pages link to this file: Four-stroke cycle ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... In engineering and thermodynamics, a heat engine performs the conversion of heat energy to mechanical work by exploiting the temperature gradient between a hot source and a cold sink. Heat is transferred to the sink from the source, and in this process some of the heat is converted into work. ... The Atkinson cycle engine is a type of Internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. ... The Brayton cycle is a cyclic process generally associated with the gas turbine. ... A heat engine is an engine that uses heat to produce mechanical work by carrying a working substance through a cyclic process. ... In a combined cycle power plant, or combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, a gas turbine generator generates electricity and the waste heat from the gas turbine is used to make steam to generate additional electricity via a steam turbine, this last step enhances the efficiency of electricity generation. ... The Crower six-stroke engine is a concept under development by Bruce Crower, known for the invention and manufacture of many devices now used in automotive acceleration racing (see National Hot Rod Association and drag racing). ... The Diesel cycle is the combustion process of a type of internal combustion engine, in which the burning of the fuel is triggered by the heat generated in first compressing air in the piston cavity, into which is then injected the fuel - as opposed to it being ignited by a... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... The Kalina cycle is a thermodynamic cycle for converting thermal energy to mechanical power which utilizes working fluid comprised of at least two different components and a ratio between those components is varied in different parts of the system to increase thermodynamical reversibility and therefore increase overall thermodynamic efficiency. ... The Lenoir cycle is an idealised thermodynamic cycle for the pulse jet engine. ... In engineering, the Miller cycle is a combustion process used in a type of four-stroke internal combustion engine. ... Dual Combustion Cycle(Also known as limited pressure cycle or mixed cycle) is a combination of Otto Cycle and Diesel Cycle, in a way , that heat is added partly at constant volume and partly at constant pressure. ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... The Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... A Stirling engine and generator set with 55 kW electrical output, for combined heat and power applications. ...

History

The first internal combustion engines did not have compression, but ran on what air/fuel mixture could be sucked or blown in during the first part of the intake stroke. The most significant distinction between modern internal combustion engines and the early designs is the use of compression and in particular of in-cylinder compression. Physical compression is the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress, resulting in reduction of volume. ...

• 1509: Leonardo da Vinci described a compression-less engine. (His description may not imply that the idea was original with him or that it was actually built.) ^{[citation needed]}
• 1673: Christiaan Huygens described a compression-less engine. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1780's: Alessandro Volta built a toy electric pistol ([1]) in which an electric spark exploded a mixture of air and hydrogen, firing a cork from the end of the gun. ^{[citation needed]}
  

  

  Demonstration of the internal combustion indirect or suction principle. This may not meet the definition of an engine, because the process does not repeat.

Early internal-combustion engines were used to power farm equipment similar to these models.

• 17th century: English inventor Sir Samuel Morland used gunpowder to drive water pumps. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1794: Robert Street built a compression-less engine whose principle of operation would dominate for nearly a century. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1806: Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built an internal combustion engine powered by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1823: Samuel Brown patented the first internal combustion engine to be applied industrially. It was compression-less and based on what Hardenberg calls the "Leonardo cycle," which, as this name implies, was already out of date at that time. Just as today, early major funding, in an area where standards had not yet been established, went to the best showmen sooner than to the best workers. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1824: French physicist Sadi Carnot established the thermodynamic theory of idealized heat engines. This scientifically established the need for compression to increase the difference between the upper and lower working temperatures, but it is not clear that engine designers were aware of this before compression was already commonly used. It may have misled designers who tried to emulate the Carnot cycle in ways that were not useful. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1826 April 1: The American Samuel Morey received a patent for a compression-less "Gas Or Vapor Engine". ^{[citation needed]}
• 1838: a patent was granted to William Barnet (English). This was the first recorded suggestion of in-cylinder compression. He apparently did not realize its advantages, but his cycle would have been a great advance if developed enough. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1854: The Italians Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci patented the first working efficient internal combustion engine in London (pt. Num. 1072) but did not get into production with it. It was similar in concept to the successful Otto Langen indirect engine, but not so well worked out in detail. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1860: Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir (1822 - 1900) produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine closely similar in appearance to a horizontal double-acting steam beam engine, with cylinders, pistons, connecting rods, and flywheel in which the gas essentially took the place of the steam. This was the first internal combustion engine to be produced in numbers. His first engine with compression shocked itself apart. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1862: Nikolaus Otto designed an indirect-acting free-piston compression-less engine whose greater efficiency won the support of Langen and then most of the market, which at that time, was mostly for small stationary engines fueled by lighting gas.
• 1870: In Vienna Siegfried Marcus put the first mobile gasoline engine on a handcart. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1876: Nikolaus Otto working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach developed a practical four-stroke cycle (Otto cycle) engine. The German courts, however, did not hold his patent to cover all in-cylinder compression engines or even the four stroke cycle, and after this decision in-cylinder compression became universal. ^{[citation needed]}
  

  

  Karl Benz
• 1879: Karl Benz, working independently, was granted a patent for his internal combustion engine, a reliable two-stroke gas engine, based on Nikolaus Otto's design of the four-stroke engine. Later Benz designed and built his own four-stroke engine that was used in his automobiles, which became the first automobiles in production. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1882: James Atkinson invented the Atkinson cycle engine. Atkinson’s engine had one power phase per revolution together with different intake and expansion volumes making it more efficient than the Otto cycle. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1891 - Herbert Akroyd-Stuart builds his oil engine leasing rights to Hornsby of England to build engines. They build the first cold start, compression ignition engines. In 1892 they install the first ones in a water pumping station. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1892: Rudolf Diesel develops his Carnot heat engine type motor burning powdered coal dust. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1893 February 23: Rudolf Diesel received a patent for the diesel engine. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1896: Karl Benz invented the boxer engine, also known as the horizontally opposed engine, in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre at the same time, thus balancing each other in momentum. ^{[citation needed]}
• 1900: Rudolf Diesel demonstrated the diesel engine in the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair) using peanut oil (see biodiesel). ^{[citation needed]}
• 1900: Wilhelm Maybach designed an engine built at Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft—following the specifications of Emil Jellinek—who required the engine to be named Daimler-Mercedes after his daughter. In 1902 automobiles with that engine were put into production by DMG. ^{[citation needed]}

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was a talented Italian Renaissance Roman Catholic[1] polymath: architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, scientist, mathematician, musician, and painter. ... Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens (pronounced in English (IPA): ; in Dutch: )(April 14, 1629–July 8, 1695), was a Dutch mathematician and physicist; born in The Hague as the son of Constantijn Huygens. ... Volta redirects here. ... Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) Air redirects here. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Image File history File links Suction_engine. ... Image File history File links Suction_engine. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1918x2500, 1073 KB) Summary Models of early gasoline-powered internal combustion engines being used to run farm equipment. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1918x2500, 1073 KB) Summary Models of early gasoline-powered internal combustion engines being used to run farm equipment. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Samuel Morland Sir Samuel Morland (1625 – 30 December 1695) was a notable English academic, diplomat, spy, inventor and mathematician of the 17th century, a polymath credited with early developments in relation to computing, hydraulics and steam power. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder, whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance that burns very rapidly, releasing gases that act as a propellant in firearms. ... François Isaac de Rivaz (Paris, December 19, 1752 – Sion, July 30, 1828) was a Swiss inventor. ... Samuel Brown is an English engineer who developed an internal combustion engine. ... Sadi Carnot Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (June 1, 1796 - August 24, 1832) was a French mathematician and engineer who gave the first successful theoretical account of heat engines, the Carnot cycle, and laid the foundations of the second law of thermodynamics. ... Thermodynamics (Greek: thermos = heat and dynamic = change) is the physics of energy, heat, work, entropy and the spontaneity of processes. ... A Carnot heat engine is a hypothetical engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle. ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... Samuel Morey (October 23, 1762 - April 17, 1843), American inventor, invented the internal combustion engine and was a pioneer in steamships who accumulated a total of 20 patents. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and... Father Eugenio Barsanti (born Pietrasanta, October 12th 1821; died Searing, Belgium, April 19th 1864), also named Nicolò, was the Italian inventor of the Internal combustion engine. ... Felice Matteucci (born Lucca, february 12th 1808 - died Capannori, september 13th 1887) was an italian hydraulic engineer co-inventor with Eugenio Barsanti of the internal combustion engine. ... Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir (1822-1900) was born in Mussy-la-Ville, Belgium, in 1822. ... In physical chemistry, and in engineering, steam refers to vaporized water. ... A beam engine is a design of stationary steam engine. ... Look up cylinder in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... piston + connecting rod Components of a typical, four stroke cycle, DOHC piston engine. ... piston + connecting rod In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or con rod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. ... Spoked flywheel Simple flywheel in motion. ... Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - January 28, 1891) was the German inventor of the internal-combustion engine. ... Langen is the name of several places in Germany and Austria. ... Siegfried Marcus 1831-1898 Siegfried Samuel Marcus (born in Malchin, Mecklenburg, Germany, on 1831-09-18, died in Vienna on 1898-07-01) was a German – Austrian inventor and automobile pioneer of Jewish ancestry. ... Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - January 28, 1891) was the German inventor of the internal-combustion engine. ... Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler ( March 17, 1834, Schorndorf; March 6, 1900, Cannstatt, Stuttgart) was an engineer, industrial designer and industrialist from Germany. ... Wilhelm Maybach Wilhelm Maybach (born February 9, 1846, in Heilbronn; died December 29, 1929, in Stuttgart) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Karl Benz Karl Friedrich Benz (November 25, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the petrol-powered automobile. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and... The two-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine differs from the more common four-stroke cycle by having only two strokes (linear movements of the piston) instead of four, although the same four operations (intake, compression, power, exhaust) still occur. ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... James Atkinson is the name of: James Atkinson (software developer), founder of the phpBB project. ... The Atkinson cycle engine is a type of Internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. ... There are several places called Hornsby in the world. ... Rudolf Diesel (1858–1913) Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (March 18, 1858 – September 30, 1913) was a German inventor, famous for the invention of the Diesel engine. ... A Carnot heat engine is a hypothetical engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... A Diesel engine built by MAN AG in 1906 Rudolf Diesels 1893 patent on his engine design The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited solely by the high temperature created by compression... Karl Benz Karl Friedrich Benz (November 25, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the petrol-powered automobile. ... Diagram of the opposing pistons in a boxer engine A flat engine or boxer engine or horizontally opposed engine is a type of engine where the pistons lie horizontally opposed, with pairs of cylinders on the left and the right, as opposed to most modern engines where all pistons are... An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ... piston + connecting rod Components of a typical, four stroke cycle, DOHC piston engine. ... The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a worlds fair held in Paris, France, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. ... A Worlds Fair is any of various large expositions held since the mid-19th century. ... Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources. ... Wilhelm Maybach Wilhelm Maybach (born February 9, 1846, in Heilbronn; died December 29, 1929, in Stuttgart) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. ... Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (also known as DMG or Daimler Motor Company) was a German automobile manufacturer operating from 1890 to 1926. ... Emil Jellinek (sometimes referred to as Jellinek-Mercedes, Emil) was consul general of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Nice, (born in Leipzig, 1853, died in Geneva, 1918), one of the first to be interested in automobiles in Austria. ...

Applications

Internal combustion engines are most commonly used for mobile propulsion systems. In mobile scenarios internal combustion is advantageous, since it can provide high power to weight ratios together with excellent fuel energy-density. These engines have appeared in almost all automobiles, motorbikes, many boats, and in a wide variety of aircraft and locomotives. Where very high power is required, such as jet aircraft, helicopters and large ships, they appear mostly in the form of gas turbines. They are also used for electric generators and by industry. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A motorcycle (or motorbike) is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. ... A boat is a structure designed to float on, and provide transport over water. ... Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... A locomotive (from Latin loco motivus) is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train, and has no payload capacity of its own; its sole purpose is to move the train along the tracks. ... Jet aircraft with condensation trail Jet aircraft are aircraft with jet engines. ... The Bell 206 of Canadian Helicopters Robinson Helicopter Company (USA) R44, a four seat development of the R22 A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, Helicopters are classified as rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from conventional fixed-wing aircraft. ... The worlds first commercial, oil-free gas turbine is manufactured by Capstone. ... Generator redirects here. ...

Internal combustion mechanics

The potato cannon uses basic principles behind any reciprocating internal combustion engine: If a tiny amount of high-energy fuel (like gasoline) is put into a small, enclosed space and ignited, an incredible amount of energy is released in the form of expanding gas. That energy can be used to propel a potato 500 feet. In this case, the energy is translated into potato motion. It can also be used for more interesting purposes. For example, a cycle can be created that allows one to set off explosions like this hundreds of times per minute, and if that energy can be harnessed in a useful way, it is the same as the core of a car engine!

Almost all cars currently use what is called a four-stroke combustion cycle to convert gasoline into motion. The four-stroke approach is also known as the Otto cycle, in honor of Nikolaus Otto, who patented it in 1876. The four strokes are:

1. Intake stroke
2. Compression stroke
3. Combustion stroke
4. Exhaust stroke

Operation

All internal combustion engines depend on the exothermic chemical process of combustion: the reaction of a fuel, typically with air, although other oxidisers such as nitrous oxide may be employed. Also see stoichiometry. Exothermic means to release energy in the form of heat. ... Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames. ... Fuel is any material that is capable of releasing energy when its chemical or physical structure is changed or converted. ... R-phrases S-phrases Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... [[Media:[[Media: == Stoichiometry (sometimes called reaction stoichiometry to distinguish it from composition stoichiometry) is the calculation of quantitative (measurable) relationships of the reactants and products in chemical reactions (chemical equations). ...

The most common fuels in use today are made up of hydrocarbons and are derived from petroleum. These include the fuels known as diesel, gasoline and liquified petroleum gas. Most internal combustion engines designed for gasoline can run on natural gas or liquified petroleum gases without modifications except for the fuel delivery components. Liquid and gaseous biofuels, such as Ethanol can also be used. Some can run on Hydrogen; however, this can be dangerous. Hydrogen burns with a colorless flame, and modifications to the cylinder block, cylinder head, and head gasket are required to seal in the flame front. Experimentation at Southwest Research Institute showed that without such modifications flame leaks from the exhaust manifolds were common. Since the flame was colorless, it was not visible to the naked eye. An invisible flame is more dangerous than a visible flame, since one cannot take into account what cannot be seen, and operator injury was regarded as a definite danger. However BMW has recently designed a 12-cylinder Hydrogen powered car, and the company has stated that it plans to market the vehicle. Hydrocarbons are refined at oil refineries and processed at chemical plants In chemistry, a hydrocarbon is any chemical compound that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Diesel or diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel. ... Gasoline, also called petrol, is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzenes to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... 45 kg LPG cylinders Liquified petroleum gas (also called liquefied petroleum gas, liquid petroleum gas, LPG, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to... Natural gas is commonly referred to as gas. ... Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass — recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. ... Information on pump, California. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is an independent, nonprofit applied research and development organization. ...

All internal combustion engines must have a means of ignition to promote combustion. Most engines use either an electrical or a compression heating ignition system. Electrical ignition systems generally rely on a lead-acid battery and an induction coil to provide a high voltage electrical spark to ignite the air-fuel mix in the engine's cylinders. This battery can be recharged during operation using an alternator driven by the engine. Compression heating ignition systems, such as diesel engines and HCCI engines, rely on the heat created in the air by compression in the engine's cylinders to ignite the fuel. The ignition system of an internal-combustion engine is an important part of the overall engine system that provides for the timely burning of the fuel mixture within the engine. ... This article or section should include material from Spark gap A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed aerosol gasoline by means of an electric spark. ... The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by the high temperature of a compressed gas, rather than a separate source of energy (such as a spark plug). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... An induction coil (archaically known as a Ruhmkorff coil) is a type of disruptive discharge coil. ... Early 20th century Alternator made in Budapest, Hungary, in the power generating hall of a hydroelectric station. ... A Diesel engine built by MAN AG in 1906 Rudolf Diesels 1893 patent on his engine design The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited solely by the high temperature created by compression... Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, or HCCI, is a form of internal combustion in which well mixed fuel and oxidizer (typically air) are compressed to the point of auto-ignition. ...

Once successfully ignited and burnt, the combustion products, hot gases, have more available energy than the original compressed fuel/air mixture (which had higher chemical energy). The available energy is manifested as high temperature and pressure which can be translated into work by the engine. In a reciprocating engine, the high pressure product gases inside the cylinders drive the engine's pistons. A gas is one of the five main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma and Bose-Einstein Condensate) and, that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ... In chemistry, a chemical bond is the force which holds together atoms in molecules or crystals. ... In thermodynamics, temperature is the physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold —something that is hotter has the greater temperature. ... The use of water pressure - the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. ... Mechanical work is a force applied through a distance, defined mathmatically as the line integral of a scalar product of force and displacement vectors. ...

Once the available energy has been removed the remaining hot gases are vented (often by opening a valve or exposing the exhaust outlet) and this allows the piston to return to its previous position (Top Dead Center - TDC). The piston can then proceed to the next phase of its cycle, which varies between engines. Any heat not translated into work is a waste product and is removed from the engine either by an air or liquid cooling system. Exhaust gas is gas which occurs as a result of combustion of fuel such as gasoline/petrol, diesel or coal. ... A poppet valve is a valve consisting of a hole, usually round or oval, and a tapered plug, usually a disk shape on the end of a shaft also called a valve stem. ... In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is defined as energy in transit. ...

Parts

An illustration of several key components in a typical four-stroke engine

The parts of an engine vary depending on the engine's type. For a four-stroke engine, key parts of the engine include the crankshaft (purple), one or more camshafts (red and blue) and valves. For a two-stroke engine, there may simply be an exhaust outlet and fuel inlet instead of a valve system. In both types of engines, there are one or more cylinders (grey and green) and for each cylinder there is a spark plug (darker-grey), a piston (yellow) and a crank (purple). A single sweep of the cylinder by the piston in an upward or downward motion is known as a stroke and the downward stroke that occurs directly after the air-fuel mix in the cylinder is ignited is known as a power stroke. Image File history File links Four_stroke_cycle_compression. ... Image File history File links Four_stroke_cycle_compression. ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... Crankshaft, pistons, and flywheel Continental engine marine crankshafts, 1942 For the comic strip about an old, curmudgeonly bus driver, see Crankshaft (comic strip). ... Double overhead cams control the opening and closing of a cylinders valves The camshaft is an apparatus used in piston engines to operate poppet valves. ... A poppet valve is a valve consisting of a hole, usually round or oval, and a tapered plug, usually a disk shape on the end of a shaft also called a valve stem. ... The two-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine differs from the more common four-stroke cycle by having only two strokes (linear movements of the piston) instead of four, although the same four operations (intake, compression, power, exhaust) still occur. ... This article or section should include material from Spark gap A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed aerosol gasoline by means of an electric spark. ... piston + connecting rod Components of a typical, four stroke cycle, DOHC piston engine. ... A crank is a bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. ...

A Wankel engine has a triangular rotor that orbits in an epitrochoidal (figure 8 shape) chamber around an eccentric shaft. The four phases of operation (intake, compression, power, exhaust) take place in separate locations, instead of one single location as in a reciprocating engine. First Wankel Engine NSU KKM 57P Autovision und Forum, Germany Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. ... An epitrochoid is a roulette traced by a point attached to a circle of radius b rolling around the outside of a fixed circle of radius a, where the point is a distance h from the center of the exterior circle. ...

A Bourke Engine uses a pair of pistons integrated to a Scotch Yoke that transmits reciprocating force through a specially designed bearing assembly to turn a crank mechanism. Intake, compression, power, and exhaust all occur in each stroke of this yoke. The Bourke engine was designed by Russell Bourke in the late 1930s, who endeavored to improve upon the Otto cycle engine. ... The Scotch Yoke is a mechanism for converting the horizontal motion of a slider into rotational motion or vice-versa. ...

Classification

There is a wide range of internal combustion engines corresponding to their many varied applications. Likewise there is a wide range of ways to classify internal-combustion engines, some of which are listed below.

Although the terms sometimes cause confusion, there is no real difference between an "engine" and a "motor." At one time, the word "engine" (from Latin, via Old French, ingenium, "ability") meant any piece of machinery. A "motor" (from Latin motor, "mover") is any machine that produces mechanical power. Traditionally, electric motors are not referred to as "engines," but combustion engines are often referred to as "motors." (An electric engine refers to locomotive operated by electricity). Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Old French is a term sometimes used to refer to the langue doïl, the continuum of varieties of Romance language spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland during the period roughly from 1000 to 1300 A.D... A machine is any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... In physics, power (symbol: P) is the rate at which work is performed. ... Rotating magnetic field as a sum of magnetic vectors from 3 phase coils. ... Modern three-phase AC locomotive (DBAG Class 152) A GG1 An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electric motors which draws current from an overhead wire (overhead lines), a third rail, or an on-board storage device such as a battery or a flywheel energy storage system. ... A locomotive (from Latin loco motivus) is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train, and has no payload capacity of its own; its sole purpose is to move the train along the tracks. ...

Principles of operation

A 1906 gasoline engine

Reciprocating: Download high resolution version (702x1230, 482 KB)Single cylinder, 1906 Lyons engine ad from May 1906 issue of Gleanings in Bee Culture. ... Download high resolution version (702x1230, 482 KB)Single cylinder, 1906 Lyons engine ad from May 1906 issue of Gleanings in Bee Culture. ... Components of a typical, four stroke cycle, DOHC piston engine. ...

• Crude oil engine
• Two-stroke cycle
• Four-stroke cycle
• Hot bulb engine
• Poppet valves
• Sleeve valve
• Atkinson cycle

• Proposed
  • Bourke engine
• Improvements
• Controlled Combustion Engine

Rotary: The two-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine differs from the more common four-stroke cycle by having only two strokes (linear movements of the piston) instead of four, although the same four operations (intake, compression, power, exhaust) still occur. ... The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... The hot bulb engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high temperature and pressure of a compressed gas, rather than by a separate source of ignition, such as a... A poppet valve is a valve consisting of a hole, usually round or oval, and a tapered plug, usually a disk shape on the end of a shaft also called a valve stem. ... The sleeve valve is a type of valve for piston engines that has a number of advantages over the more common poppet valve, used in most engines, as well as disadvantages that have precluded its widespread adoption to date. ... The Atkinson cycle engine is a type of Internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. ... The Bourke engine was designed by Russell Bourke in the late 1930s, who endeavored to improve upon the Otto cycle engine. ... Controlled Combustion Engine (CCE) is a type of internal combustion engine designed by Brad Howell-Smith in 1995. ... A rotary engine is an internal combustion engine that does not use pistons in the way a reciprocating engine does, but instead uses one or more rotors, sometimes called rotary pistons. ...

• Demonstrated:
  • Wankel engine
• Proposed:
  • Orbital engine
  • Quasiturbine
  • Rotary Atkinson cycle engine
  • Toroidal engine

Continuous combustion: First Wankel Engine NSU KKM 57P Autovision und Forum, Germany Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. ... An orbital engine is a type of internal combustion engine, featuring rotary rather than reciprocating motion of its internal parts. ... The two Quasiturbine mechanisms, with and without carriages {chariots) The Quasiturbine or Qurbine engine is a proposed pistonless rotary engine using a four-sided rhomboid rotor whose sides are hinged at the vertices. ... The Atkinson cycle engine is a type of Internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. ... The Toroidal engine design is a form of internal combustion engine that features pistons that rotate within a toroidal space. ...

• Gas turbine
• Jet engine
• Rocket engine

This machine has a single-stage radial compressor and turbine, a recuperator, and foil bearings. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... A cold (un-ignited) rocket engine test at NASA A rocket engine is a reaction engine that can be used for spacecraft propulsion as well as terrestrial uses, such as missiles. ...

Engine cycle

Two-stroke

Engines based on the two-stroke cycle use two strokes (one up, one down) for every power stroke. Since there are no dedicated intake or exhaust strokes, alternative methods must be used to scavenge the cylinders. The most common method in spark-ignition two-strokes is to use the downward motion of the piston to pressurize fresh charge in the crankcase, which is then blown through the cylinder through ports in the cylinder walls. Spark-ignition two-strokes are small and light (for their power output), and mechanically very simple. Common applications include snowmobiles, lawnmowers, weed-whackers, chain saws, jet skis, mopeds, outboard motors and some motorcycles. Unfortunately, they are also generally louder, less efficient, and far more polluting than their four-stroke counterparts, and they do not scale well to larger sizes. Interestingly, the largest compression-ignition engines are two-strokes, and are used in some locomotives and large ships. These engines use forced induction to scavenge the cylinders. The two-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine differs from the more common four-stroke cycle by having only two strokes (linear movements of the piston) instead of four, although the same four operations (intake, compression, power, exhaust) still occur. ... Harvestman eating the tail of a five-lined skink The word scavenger, in zoology, refers to animals that consume already dead organic life-forms. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Internal combustion engine. ... Crankshaft Continental engine marine crankshafts, 1942 Crankshaft is also the name of a comic strip about an old, curmudgeonly bus driver. ... A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park, note the snowdust in the air (NPS Photo) A 1997 Arctic Cat ZR 580 Snowmobile A snowmobile (or snow scooter, often referred to by enthusiasts as a sled and in the Canadian north and Alaska as a snowmachine) is a land vehicle propelled... A lawn mower (often spelled as one word—lawnmower) is a machine (electric or mechnical) used to cut grass to an even length. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Alternative meaning: Chainsaw (computer program) A chainsaw (also spelled chain saw) is a portable mechanical, motorized saw. ... Jet ski is the brand name of Kawasaki Heavy Industries personal water craft. ... A picture of several mopeds from a ride sponsored by the Moped Army. ... Bolinders two cylinder Trim outboard engine. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Forced induction is a term used to describe internal combustion engines that are not naturally aspirated. ...

Four-stroke

Engines based on the four-stroke cycle or Otto cycle have one power stroke for every four strokes (up-down-up-down) and are used in cars, larger boats and many light aircraft. They are generally quieter, more efficient and larger than their two-stroke counterparts. There are a number of variations of these cycles, most notably the Atkinson and Miller cycles. Most truck and automotive Diesel engines use a four-stroke cycle, but with a compression heating ignition system. This variation is called the diesel cycle. The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... A boat is a structure designed to float on, and provide transport over water. ... Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... The Atkinson cycle engine is a type of Internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. ... In engineering, the Miller cycle is a combustion process used in a type of four-stroke internal combustion engine. ... The Diesel cycle is the combustion process of a type of internal combustion engine, in which the burning of the fuel is triggered by the heat generated in first compressing air in the piston cavity, into which is then injected the fuel - as opposed to it being ignited by a...

Bourke Engine

In this engine, two diametrically opposed cylinders are linked to the crank by the crank pin that goes through the common scottish yoke. The cylinders and pistons are so constructed that there are, as in the usual two stroke cycle, two power strokes per revolution. However, unlike the common two stroke engine, the burnt gases and the incoming fresh air do not mix in the cylinders, contributing to a cleaner, more efficient operation. The scotch yoke mechanism also has low side thrust and thus greatly reduces friction between pistons and cylinder walls. The Bourke cycle's combustion phase more closely approximates constant volume combustion than either four stroke or two stroke cycles do. It also uses less moving parts, hence needs to overcome less friction than the other two reciprocating types have to. In addition, its greater expansion ratio also means more of the heat from its combustion phase is utilized than is used by either four stroke or two stroke cycles. It has been suggested that Coefficient of friction be merged into this article or section. ...

Controlled Combustion Engine

These are also cylinder based engines may be either single or two stroke but use, instead of a crankshaft and piston rods, two gear connected, counter rotating concentric cams to convert reciprocating motion into rotary movement. These cams practically cancel out sideward forces that would otherwise be exerted on the cylinders by the pistons, greatly improving mechanical efficiency. The profiles of the cam lobes(which are always odd and at least three in number) determine the piston travel versus the torque delivered. In this engine, there are two cylinders that are 180 degrees apart for each pair of counter rotating cams. For single stroke versions, there are the same number of cycles per cylinder pair as there are lobes on each cam, twice as much for two stroke units.

Wankel

The Wankel engine operates with the same separation of phases as the four-stroke engine (but with no piston strokes, would more properly be called a four-phase engine), since the phases occur in separate locations in the engine; however like a two-stroke piston engine, it provides one power 'stroke' per revolution per rotor, giving it similar space and weight efficiency. First Wankel Engine NSU KKM 57P Autovision und Forum, Germany Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. ...

Gas turbine

With gas turbine cycles (notably Jet engines), rather than use the same piston to compress and then expand the gases, instead separate compressors and gas turbines are employed; giving continuous power. Essentially, the intake gas (air normally) is compressed, and then combusted with a fuel, which greatly raises the temperature and volume. The larger volume of hot gas from the combustion chamber is then fed through the gas turbine which is then easily able to power the compressor. A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ...

Disused methods

In some old non-compressing internal combustion engines: In the first part of the piston downstroke a fuel/air mixture was sucked or blown in. In the rest of the piston downstroke the inlet valve closed and the fuel/air mixture fired. In the piston upstroke the exhaust valve was open. This was an attempt at imitating the way a piston steam engine works. A steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ...

Fuel and oxidizer types

Fuels used include petroleum spirit (North American term: gasoline, British term: petrol), liquified petroleum gas, vapourized petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, hydrogen, diesel fuel, jet fuel, landfill gas, biodiesel, biobutanol, peanut oil and other vegoils, bioethanol, biomethanol (methyl or wood alcohol) and other biofuels. Even fluidised metal powders and explosives have seen some use. Engines that use gases for fuel are called gas engines and those that use liquid hydrocarbons are called oil engines. However, gasoline engines are unfortunately also often colloquially referred to as 'gas engines'. North American English is a collective term used for the varieties of the English language that are spoken in the United States and Canada. ... Gasoline, also called petrol, is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzenes to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... 45 kg LPG cylinders Liquified petroleum gas (also called liquefied petroleum gas, liquid petroleum gas, LPG, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to... A CNG propelled autorickshaw on the streets of New Delhi, Delhi. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... This article is about the fuel. ... Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in jet-engined aircraft. ... Natural gas rig Natural gas (commonly refered to as gas in many countries) is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources. ... Butanol (butyl alcohol) is a higher alcohol with a 4 carbon atom structure and a general formula of C4H10O. There are 4 different isomeric structures for butanol (refer to box). ... An organic oil derived from peanuts, noted to have the slight odor and taste of its parent nut. ... A vegetable oil or vegoil is an oil extracted from oilseeds or another plant source. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid that is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol. ... Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass — recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. ...

The main limitations on fuels are that the fuel must be easily transportable through the fuel system to the combustion chamber, and that the fuel release sufficient energy in the form of heat upon combustion to make use of the engine practical. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A combustion chamber is part of an engine in which fuel is burned. ... In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is defined as energy in transit. ... Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames. ...

The oxidiser is typically air, and has the advantage of not being stored within the vehicle, increasing the power-to-weight ratio. Air can, however, be compressed and carried aboard a vehicle. Some submarines are designed to carry pure oxygen or hydrogen peroxide to make them air-independent. Some race cars carry nitrous oxide as oxidizer. Other chemicals such as chlorine or fluorine have seen experimental use; but mostly are impractical. General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Atomic mass 15. ... Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a very pale blue liquid which appears clear in a dilute solution, slightly more viscous than water. ... R-phrases S-phrases Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...

Diesel engines are generally heavier, noisier and more powerful at lower speeds than gasoline engines. They are also more fuel-efficient in most circumstances and are used in heavy road vehicles, some automobiles (increasingly more so for their increased fuel efficiency over gasoline engines), ships, railway locomotives, and light aircraft. Gasoline engines are used in most other road vehicles including most cars, motorcycles and mopeds. Note that in Europe, sophisticated diesel-engined cars have become quite prevalent since the 1990s, representing around 40% of the market. Both gasoline and diesel engines produce significant emissions. There are also engines that run on hydrogen, methanol, ethanol, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and biodiesel. Paraffin and tractor vaporising oil (TVO) engines are no longer seen. A Diesel engine built by MAN AG in 1906 Rudolf Diesels 1893 patent on his engine design The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited solely by the high temperature created by compression... Gasoline engine (also referred to as petrol engine or Otto engine) invented at the end of the 19th century by German engineer Nikolaus Otto is a type of internal combustion engine which is often used for automobiles, aircraft, small mobile vehicles such as lawnmowers or motorcycles, and outboard motors for... A locomotive (from Latin loco motivus) is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train, and has no payload capacity of its own; its sole purpose is to move the train along the tracks. ... Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A picture of several mopeds from a ride sponsored by the Moped Army. ... World map showing Europe Political map (neighboring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hydrogen vehicle. ... Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat sweeter than ethanol (ethyl alcohol). ... This article is about the chemical compound. ... Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG or LP Gas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing fluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer. ... Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources. ... Paraffin is a common name for a group of high molecular weight alkane hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2, where n is greater than about 20, discovered by Carl Reichenbach. ... Tractor vaporising oil is an internal combustion engine fuel that was commonly used for tractors in the UK until diesel engines became commonplace TVO was withdrawn from sale by UK suppliers in 1974. ...

Some have theorized that in the future hydrogen might replace such fuels. Furthermore, with the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell technology, the use of internal combustion engines may be phased out. The advantage of hydrogen is that its combustion produces only water. This is unlike the combustion of fossil fuels, which produce carbon dioxide, a possible cause of global warming, as well as carbon monoxide, resulting from incomplete combustion. However, free hydrogen for fuel does not occur naturally, burning it liberates less energy than it takes to produce hydrogen in the first place by the simplest and most widespread method, electrolysis. Although there are multiple ways of producing free hydrogen, those require converting currently combustible molecules into hydrogen, so hydrogen does not solve any energy crisis, moreover, it only addresses the issue of portability and some pollution issues. The big disadvantage of hydrogen in many situations is its storage. Liquid hydrogen has extremely low density- 14 times lower than water and requires extensive insulation, whilst gaseous hydrogen requires very heavy tankage. Although hydrogen has a higher specific energy, the volumetric energetic storage is still roughly five times lower than petrol, even when liquified. (The 'Hydrogen on Demand' process, designed by Steven Amendola, creates hydrogen as it is needed, but this has other issues, such as the raw materials being relatively expensive.) Other fuels that are kinder on the environment include biofuels. These can give no net carbon dioxide gains. General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A fuel cell is an electrochemical device similar to a battery, but differing from the latter in that it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; i. ... Impact of a drop of water. ... Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ... Global mean surface temperatures 1856 to 2005 Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans in recent decades. ... Carbon monoxide, chemical formula CO, is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and highly toxic gas. ... It has been suggested that Electrolytic process be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Energy wars be merged into this article or section. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Biofuel is any fuel that derives from biomass _ recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. ...

One-cylinder gasoline engine (ca. 1910).

ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2063x2996, 1445 KB) Summary Early gasoline-powered internal combustion engine with one cylinder (c. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2063x2996, 1445 KB) Summary Early gasoline-powered internal combustion engine with one cylinder (c. ...

Cylinders

Internal combustion engines can contain any number of cylinders with numbers between one and twelve being common, though as many as 36 (Lycoming R-7755) have been used. Having more cylinders in an engine yields two potential benefits: First, the engine can have a larger displacement with smaller individual reciprocating masses (that is, the mass of each piston can be less) thus making a smoother running engine (since the engine tends to vibrate as a result of the pistons moving up and down). Second, with a greater displacement and more pistons, more fuel can be combusted and there can be more combustion events (that is, more power strokes) in a given period of time, meaning that such an engine can generate more torque than a similar engine with fewer cylinders. The down side to having more pistons is that, over all, the engine will tend to weigh more and tend to generate more internal friction as the greater number of pistons rub against the inside of their cylinders. This tends to decrease fuel efficiency and rob the engine of some of its power. For high performance gasoline engines using current materials and technology (such as the engines found in modern automobiles), there seems to be a break point around 10 or 12 cylinders, after which addition of cylinders becomes an overall detriment to performance and efficiency, although exceptions such as the W16 engine from Volkswagen exist. Lycoming XR-7755-3 at the Smithsonian Institute. ... A W16 is a 16-cylinder piston engine in a W configuration. ... Volkswagen (Ger. ...

• Most car engines have four to eight cylinders, with some high performance cars having ten, twelve, or even sixteen, and some very small cars and trucks having two or three. In previous years some quite large cars, such as the DKW and Saab 92, had two cylinder, two stroke engines.
• Radial aircraft engines, now obsolete, had from three to 28 cylinders, such as the Pratt & Whitney R-4360. A row contains an odd number of cylinders, so an even number indicates a two- or four-row engine. The largest of these was the Lycoming R-7755 with 36 cylinders (four rows of nine cylinders) but never entered production.
• Motor cycles commonly have from one to four cylinders, with a few high performance models having six (though some 'novelties' exist with 8, 10 and 12).
• Snowmobiles usually have two cylinders. Some larger (not necessarily high-performance, but also touring machines) have four.
• Small portable appliances such as chainsaws, generators and domestic lawn mowers most commonly have one cylinder, although two-cylinder chainsaws exist.

DKW Auto Union logotype Dampf-Kraft Wagen (German: steam-powered vehicle) or DKW is an historic car and motorcycle brand. ... Saab 92 Saab 92 is an automobile from Saab. ... Radial engine of a biplane. ... Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major (sectioned) The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was a large radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. It was the last of the Wasp family and the culmination of its makers piston engine technology, but the war was over before... Lycoming XR-7755-3 at the Smithsonian Institute. ... A motorcycle (or motorbike) is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. ... A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park, note the snowdust in the air (NPS Photo) A 1997 Arctic Cat ZR 580 Snowmobile A snowmobile (or snow scooter, often referred to by enthusiasts as a sled and in the Canadian north and Alaska as a snowmachine) is a land vehicle propelled... A chainsaw (also spelled chain saw) is a portable mechanical, motorized saw. ... A lawn mower, alternately spelled lawnmower, is a device which by means of one or more revolving blades is used to cut grass or other plants to an even length. ...

Ignition system

Main article: ignition system

Internal combustion engines can be classified by their ignition system. The point in the cycle at which the fuel/oxidiser mixture are ignited has a direct effect on the efficiency and output of the ICE. For a typical 4 stroke automobile engine, the burning mixture has to reach its maximum pressure when the crankshaft is 90 degrees after TDC. The speed of the flame front is directly affected by compression ratio, fuel mixture temperature and octane or cetane rating of the fuel. Modern ignition systems are designed to ignite the mixture at the right time to ensure the flame front doesn't contact the decending piston crown. If the flame front contacts the piston, pinking or knocking results. Leaner mixtures and lower mixture pressures burn more slowly requiring more advanced ignition timing. Today most engines use an electrical or compression heating system for ignition. However outside flame and hot-tube systems have been used historically. Nikola Tesla gained one of the first patents on the mechanical ignition system with U.S. Patent 609250, "Electrical Igniter for Gas Engines", on 16 August 1898. The ignition system of an internal-combustion engine is an important part of the overall engine system that provides for the timely burning of the fuel mixture within the engine. ... The ignition system of an internal-combustion engine is an important part of the overall engine system that provides for the timely burning of the fuel mixture within the engine. ... Crankshaft, pistons, and flywheel Continental engine marine crankshafts, 1942 For the comic strip about an old, curmudgeonly bus driver, see Crankshaft (comic strip). ... Look up top dead center in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The compression ratio is a single number that can be used to predict the performance of any engine (such as an internal-combustion engine or a Stirling Engine). ... For a fuel to oxidize, or burn, it must have a reagent or oxidizer with which it can react. ... R-phrases , , , , S-phrases , , , , , , , Flash point 13 °C Autoignition temperature 220 °C Explosive limits 1. ... Hexadecane, also called cetane, is an alkane hydrocarbon with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)14CH3. ... Pinking can be used to refer to the following: Engine knocking Phenolic yellowing, the discolouring of a white or pastel-coloured fabric due to phenols The use of pinking shears This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Knocking may refer to: Knocking, Austria, a city in Austria Knocking, a documentary about Jehovahs Witnesses Knocking may also call to mind: Engine knocking, or the sound accompanying automotive combustion malfunction This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Ignition timing in an internal combustion engine is the process of setting the time that a spark will occur in the combustion chamber (during the power stroke) relative to piston position and crankshaft angular velocity. ... This article or section should include material from Spark gap A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed aerosol gasoline by means of an electric spark. ... The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by the high temperature of a compressed gas, rather than a separate source of energy (such as a spark plug). ... A hot-tube ignitor was an early device that fit onto the cylinder head of an internal-combustion engine and ignites the compressed fuel/air mixture by means of a flame heating part of the tube red hot. ... Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)[1] was a world-renowned Serbian inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Fuel systems

Main article: Fuel injection

Often for simpler reciprocating engines a carburetor is used to supply fuel into the cylinder. However, exact control of the correct amount of fuel supplied to the engine is impossible. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Stromberg side-draft carburetor The carburetor, carburettor, or carburetter (see spelling differences), also called carb (in North America) or carbie (chiefly in Australia) for short, is a device that mixes air and fuel for an internal-combustion engine. ...

Larger gasoline engines such as used in cars have mostly moved to fuel injection systems (see Gasoline Direct Injection). Diesel engines always use fuel injection. Gasoline direct injection or GDI is a variant of fuel injection employed in modern four stroke petrol engines. ... A Diesel engine built by MAN AG in 1906 Rudolf Diesels 1893 patent on his engine design The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited solely by the high temperature created by compression...

LPG engines use a mix of fuel injection systems and closed loop carburetors. LPG might be an initialism or abbreviation for: Liquified petroleum gas Laboratoire de Planetologie, Grenoble, France Literary Press Group of Canada Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft (German, obsolete/historical) Long period grating This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that...

Other internal combustion engines like jet engines use burners, and rocket engines use various different ideas including impinging jets, gas/liquid shear, preburners and many other ideas. A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ...

Engine configuration

Internal combustion engines can be classified by their configuration which affects their physical size and smoothness (with smoother engines producing less vibration). Common configurations include the straight or inline configuration, the more compact V configuration and the wider but smoother flat or boxer configuration. Aircraft engines can also adopt a radial configuration which allows more effective cooling. More unusual configurations, such as "H", "U", "X", or "W" have also been used. Engine configuration is an engineering term for the layout of the major components of an internal combustion engine. ... Oscillation is the periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure as seen, for example, in a swinging pendulum. ... Usually found in 4 and 6 cylinder configurations, the straight engine (often designed as inline engine) is an internal-combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row, with no or only minimal offset. ... A V engine is a common configuration for an internal combustion engine in which the pistons are aligned so that, if viewed along the line of the crankshaft, they appear to be in a V. Usually, two opposing pistons share one crank on the crankshaft. ... A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with its pistons parallel to the ground. ... Radial engine of a biplane. ... An H engine (or H-block) is an engine configuration in which the cylinders are aligned so that if viewed from the front appear to be in a horizontal letter H. An H engine can be viewed as two flat engines, one atop the other. ... A U engine is a piston engine made up of two separate straight engine engines (complete with separate crankshafts) joined by gears. ... The W engine is an engine configuration in which the cylinder banks resemble the letter W in the same way a V engine resembles the letter V. There have been three entirely different implementations of this concept: one with three banks of cylinders, one with four and one with two...

Multiple-crankshaft configurations do not necessarily need a cylinder head at all, but can instead have a piston at each end of the cylinder, called an opposed piston design. This design was used in the Junkers Jumo 205 diesel aircraft engine, using two crankshafts, one at either end of a single bank of cylinders, and most remarkably in the Napier Deltic diesel engines, which used three crankshafts to serve three banks of double-ended cylinders arranged in an equilateral triangle with the crankshafts at the corners. It was also used in single-bank locomotive engines, and continues to be used for marine engines, both for propulsion and for auxiliary generators. The Gnome Rotary engine, used in several early aircraft, had a stationary crankshaft and a bank of radially arranged cylinders rotating around it. This article is about existing engine designs. ... The Junkers Jumo 205 aircraft engine was the most famous of a series of diesel engines that were the first, and for more than half a century, the only successful diesel aircraft engines. ... Napier Deltic powered British Rail Class 55 Alycidon, at the National Railway Museum, York, UK The term Deltic (meaning in the form of the Greek letter Delta) is used to refer to both the opposed piston high speed diesel engine designed and produced by Napier & Son, and the locomotives produced... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Engine capacity

An engine's capacity is the displacement or swept volume by the pistons of the engine. It is generally measured in litres or cubic inches for larger engines and cubic centimetres (abbreviated to cc) for smaller engines. Engines with greater capacities are usually more powerful and provide greater torque at lower rpm but also consume more fuel. Engine displacement is defined as the total volume of air/fuel mixture an engine can draw in during one complete engine cycle; it is normally stated in cubic centimetres, litres or cubic inches. ... Engine displacement is defined as the total volume of air/fuel mixture an engine can draw in during one complete engine cycle; it is normally stated in cubic inches, cubic centimeters, or litres. ... The litre or liter (see spelling differences) is a unit of volume. ... A cubic centimetre (cm3) is an SI derived unit of volume, equal to the volume of a cube with side length of 1 centi metre. ...

Apart from designing an engine with more cylinders, there are two ways to increase an engine's capacity. The first is to lengthen the stroke and the second is to increase the piston's diameter (See also: Stroke ratio). In either case, it may be necessary to make further adjustments to the fuel intake of the engine to ensure optimal performance. Stroke ratio, bore/stroke ratio and stroke/bore ratio are terms that are used to describe the form of a piston engines cylinder when the piston is at the lowmost point. ...

An engine's quoted capacity can be more a matter of marketing than of engineering. The Morris Minor 1000, the Morris 1100, and the Austin-Healey Sprite Mark II were all fitted with a BMC A-Series engine of the same stroke and bore according to their specifications, and were from the same maker. However the engine capacities were quoted as 1000cc, 1100cc and 1098cc respectively in the sales literature and on the vehicle badges. Marketing is a social and managerial function associated selling of product with the interchange of material and to satisfy the customer. ... The revolutionary Morris Minor was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show on 20 September 1948, and attracted immediate attention. ... The Austin-Healey Sprite was a small open sports car designed by Donald Healey. ... Austin Motor Companys small straight-4 automobile engine, the A-Series, is one of the most common in the world. ...

Engine pollution

Generally internal combustion engines, particularly reciprocating internal combustion engines, produce moderately high pollution levels, due to incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fuel, leading to carbon monoxide and some soot along with oxides of nitrogen & sulfur and some unburnt hydrocarbons depending on the operating conditions and the fuel/air ratio. The primary causes of this are the need to operate near the stoichiometric ratio for petrol engines in order to achieve combustion (the fuel would burn more completely in excess air) and the "quench" of the flame by the relatively cool cylinder walls. Carbon monoxide, chemical formula CO, is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and highly toxic gas. ... Soot, also called lampblack, Pigment Black 7, carbon black or black carbon, is a dark powdery deposit of unburned fuel residues, usually composed mainly of amorphous carbon, that accumulates in chimneys, automobile mufflers and other surfaces exposed to smoke—especially from the combustion of carbon-rich organic fuels in the... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Atomic mass 32. ...

Diesel engines produce a wide range of pollutants including aerosols of many small particles (PM10) that are believed to penetrate deeply into human lungs. Engines running on liquified petroleum gas (LPG) are very low in emissions as LPG burns very clean and complete and does not contain sulphur or lead. http://visibleearth. ... 45 kg LPG cylinders Liquified petroleum gas (also called liquefied petroleum gas, liquid petroleum gas, LPG, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to... Automobile emissions control covers all the technologies that are employed to reduce the air pollution-causing emissions produced by automobiles. ...

• Many fuels contain sulfur leading to sulfur oxides (SOx) in the exhaust, promoting acid rain.
• The high temperature of combustion creates greater proportions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), demonstrated to be hazardous to both plant and animal health.
• Net carbon dioxide production is not a necessary feature of engines, but since most engines are run from fossil fuels this usually occurs. If engines are run from biomass, then no net carbon dioxide is produced as the growing plants absorb as much, or more carbon dioxide while growing.
• Hydrogen engines need only produce water, but when air is used as the oxidizer nitrogen oxides are also produced.

Pick one: sulfur monoxide sulfur dioxide sulfur trioxide This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The effects of acid rain in the Jizera Mountains of the Czech Republic Acid rain (or more accurately acid precipitation)[1] occurs when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are emitted into the atmosphere, undergo chemical transformations and are absorbed by water droplets in clouds. ... The term nitrogen oxide is a general term and can be used to refer to any of these oxides (oxygen compounds) of nitrogen, or to a mixture of them: Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) Dinitrogen monoxide (N2O) (Nitrous oxide) Dinitrogen trioxide (N2O3) Dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) Dinitrogen... Coal rail cars in Ashtabula, Ohio Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. ... Switchgrass, a hardy plant used in the biofuel industry in the United States In energy production and industry, biomass refers to living and recently living biological material which can be used as fuel pickle or for industrial production. ...

See also

• William Barnett - an early patentee (1838)
• Engine test stand - information about how to check an internal combustion engine
• Dynamometer

William Barnett was a British inventor who, in 1838, applied for a patent for an internal combustion engine design. ... A dynamometer, or dyno for short, is a device used to measure RPM and torque from which power produced by an engine or other rotating device can be calculated. ...

Bibliography

• Singer, Charles Joseph; Raper, Richard, A history of technology : The Internal Combustion Engine, edited by Charles Singer ... [et al.], Clarendon Press, 1954-1978. pp.157-176[2]
• Hardenberg, Horst O., The Middle Ages of the Internal combustion Engine, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), 1999

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:Internal combustion engine

• Animated Engines - explains a variety of types
• Intro To Car Engines - Cut-away images and a good overview of the internal combustion engine
• The Fuel and Engine Bible - A good resource for different engine types and fuels
• Engine Modifications - explains what modifications are available for a car engine
• Self Improvement Wednesday - ABC 702 Drive audio
• The role of spray technology and combustion engines
• Firing on Half Cylinders - from V8 to V4