While many claims of groundbreaking new technologies are made each year, once every so often, a new invention is discovered that truly revolutionizes the world. The combustion engine has been one of these true marvels of engineering.
In this article we will go over the origins of the internal combustion engine, exploring the first models, as well as covering some of the most crucial advancements in the more than 350 year old history of one of the world’s most important innovations. Enjoy!
About the Internal Combustion Engine
As David Goodnight of Austin, TX explains, today most of us consider the most obvious example of this invention to be the engines in traditional cars running on petrol or diesel. However, the combustion engine has many other purposes than serving as the driving force in our private and public transportation.
In short, the combustion engine is a machine that transforms chemical energy to mechanical energy, typically by heating up gasoline or diesel, in order to create an internal combustion, that then moves a set of pistons (or in smaller engines, a single piston), which then drives a set of cylinders that can be used to power gears, wheels, pumps and other machinery.
The Invention of the Combustion Engine
While cars were not invented until the late 19th century, the internal combustion engine is far older than that. In fact, In the late 17th century, a Dutch inventor by the name of C Huygens managed to manufacture an atmospheric engine, although it ultimately failed to work as intended due to the limited energy produced from the charge of gunpowder.
Throughout the next couple of centuries, many different people from across the world tried constructing an improved model of the combustion engine, most of them failing. In fact, it was not until 1860, that a french inventor by the name of J. Lenoir managed to develop the first actually usable combustion engine.
This version was powered by gas, and was a copy of an existing design of a steam powered engine, and featured an electric spark plug system. While the engine was not economically viable, it was still built in numbers, and used in various scenarios.
The Development of the Four-Stroke Engine
Fast forward 7 years to 1867, where two german inventors, by the name of N.A. Otto and E. Langen managed to develop an internal combustion engine. It was a four-stroke engine, which means it completed a cycle of intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust strokes, before going back to the initial cycle of intake and starting over in rapid succession.
This engine proved to be economically viable, as well as fairly practical considering the time it was built in, allowing the engine to be used in various applications, although at this point, mainly stationary ones, such as for powering machines and generators.
The Development of the Diesel Engine
According to David Goodnight of Austin, Texas, one of the next major milestones in the history of the combustion engine came along when Rudolf Diesel published his theory of the diesel engine, which operated with the so-called diesel cycle.
Contrary to the previous designs that relied on spark ignition engine, the diesel engine that he designed instead used compression to ignite the fuel directly. This allowed for better fuel efficiency, and was also a better choice for many different applications where the previous designs were not as well suited.
Final thoughts
Since the days of these pioneering scientists and inventors, there have been made numerous other important developments to the design of the combustion engine. For instance, the addition of superchargers and turbochargers greatly improved certain aspects such as a higher power output due to the increased air intake.
And the transition from carburetors to electronic fuel injection systems, in the latter half of the 20th century, improved fuel efficiency, emissions control, and overall engine performance with few to no drawbacks, further improving the designs, resulting in engines that are more powerful, efficient, and environmentally friendly than ever before.
