Detailed history of the internal combustion engine
The development of the internal combustion engine has a long history of more than 150 years. The internal combustion engine is a landmark invention in the automobile industry and human history. From cars and motorcycles on the road to planes in the sky and ships at sea, the internal combustion engine is at the heart of nearly every vehicle. This engine is the successor of the old steam engine or external combustion engine. However, this engine is undoubtedly much more efficient than its predecessor.
The fundamental difference between a steam engine and an internal combustion engine is that in an internal combustion engine, fuel is burned internally by repeated ignition, producing gases that push a piston. In a steam engine, fuel is burned externally, and the heat generated vaporizes a working fluid (such as water), which further expands and acts on the engine to produce motion and usable work. The development of internal combustion engines has a long history of more than 150 years. Several great ideas have contributed to the development of internal combustion engines to today's level.
Inventions before 1860
1860 is a benchmark year in the history of the internal combustion engine because it was in this year that étienne Lenoir developed the first commercially successful of internal combustion engines. Before that happened, however, several promising attempts were made by many engineers and scientists.
About 50 years before Lenoir, French engineers Niceper and Claude Nipsey built an internal combustion engine that was fueled by moss, coal dust, and resin. mixture. They named it the "Pyréolophore" and the engine was patented by Napoleon Bonaparte. Shortly after this engine, Francois Issac De Rivaz invented a hydrogen-oxygen-powered internal combustion engine that used an electric spark as the ignition device. Rivaz went further and mounted his engine on a horse-drawn carriage, which became the world's first internal combustion engine car.
A few years later, in 1823, Samuel Brown patented the first internal combustion engine that could be used industrially. It was also called a "gas vacuum engine" and worked using atmospheric pressure. He demonstrated its efficiency in driving carriages and ships, and in 1930 the engine successfully pumped water upstream from England's Croydon Canal.
These inventions piqued the interest of several innovators, and over the next few years, some unique developments occurred. In 1826, Samuel Morey of the United States developed an uncompressed gas or steam engine with a carburetor. In 1833, the British Lemuel Wellman Wright once again invented a desktop double-acting gas engine with a water-jacketed cylinder. William Barnett's engine, developed in 1838, is considered the first to use cylinder compression.
1860 and Beyond: From Two-Stroke to Four-Stroke Engines
A number of other developments occurred over the next few years, but in 1860, Jan-Joseph E. Jean-Josef Etienne Lenoir has had his big break. He invented a gas-fired internal combustion engine, considered the first functional internal combustion engine.
In 1863, Lenoir installed this engine on a car and named it "Hippomobile". He drove the car nine kilometers from Paris to Joinville le Pont and back again. He used a turpentine derivative as fuel and, as a result, it was the first automobile to have a liquid-fueled internal combustion engine. However, Lenoir's Hippomobile couldn't meet the demand for speed. Its two-stroke engine could only produce 100 rpm, with an average speed of 6 kilometers per hour.
Although Lenoir's engine was not very successful in the automotive industry, many were impressed by its reduction in size and weight. Afterwards, German engineer Nicolaus August Otto took on the task of making this engine more efficient.
He began to explore the potential of ethanol as a fuel and installed four-stroke engines to increase engine efficiency.
After twelve years of rigorous experiments and many failures, in 1872 Otto succeeded in developing a powerful four-stroke based on the principles of Alphonse Beau de Rochas engine, and established the principles of air intake, compression, combustion and exhaust. To date, all internal combustion engines in cars and motorcycles work on the principle described by Otto.
The 1880s: Engines Become Ideal for Vehicles
Otto's engine and its development were undoubtedly more powerful than Lenoir's, however, its weight became an automotive concern problem. They work fine from the factory, but are not the best fit for the vehicle. Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach subsequently took on the task of optimizing the engine. , the pair began conducting their own experiments in 1881 to develop small, fast engines capable of powering land and water vehicles.
Their first success came in 1883, when they developed a gasoline-gas engine with hot-pipe ignition that produced 1 horsepower at 650 rpm. It is small and relatively light, making it ideal for use in vehicles. The two further improved their abilities, thus developing the precursor to the motorcycle, which they named the "Retiwagen".
In 1886, they installed an engine called the "Grandfather Clock" on a wagon, and in 1889, they created the first fully self-propelled car with a 1.5-horsepower electric motor. By 1900, Daimler and Maybach had increased the power of the car's engine to 35 horsepower, with a top speed of 90 kilometers per hour.
These groundbreaking inventions were followed by the founding of many automobile companies that played an important role in them. As the world endured two devastating wars, performance requirements for automobiles changed radically. This greatly promoted the invention and development of land, water and air engines. After that, people's views on cars changed and people started buying more cars, resulting in several innovations that made the internal combustion engine what it is today.