The Internal Combustion engines development

The Internal Combustion engines development

 Many types of engines have been tested over the years. However, none has beaten the simplicity, low running costs and fuel availability of the internal combustion engine. The engine has revolutionised the worlds infrastructure and laid a base for the development of many new inventions that are a big part of modern life. You could call it one of the most important inventions ever made.

The will to travel, to see new things and to have something that other people didn't is what led to engineers designing and testing car engines. From the beginning of the 1800s many different ideas and designs for engines have been tested. None of these ideas have been more effective than the Internal Combustion engine. How has this engine developed and what has led to its success? I have chosen to write about the internal combustion engine as it has had such a huge impact on modern day infrastructure. Our world would look very different without the cars that we have today.

An Internal Combustion engine is an engine that burns fuel inside the cylinders, the opposite to a steam engine which burns fuel outside of the cylinders and the gases that are formed travel into the the cylinder. It is the most common engine used in modern day vehicles and the original design remains nearly unchanged. The Combustion engine has given us many new possibilities, it has allowed us to travel and see parts of the world that would of been much harder for us to see otherwise. It has made everyday life much easier and has also given us contact with the rest of the world through the ability to travel and transport goods. There are however also negatives with the Combustion engine, the two biggest problems are the fuel supplies and the exhaust fumes. Methods have developed however to minimise the effects, a new combustion engine that can run on environmentaly friendly fuels such as ethanol and biogas has been developed and will probably become the new standard engine in a few years time.

The first Internal Combustion engine consisted of one vertical cylinder with a sliding piston. An explosion created with a small charge of gunpowder inside the cylinder drove the piston upwards and it was driven down again due to the pressure change inside the cylinder. The power was transferred to the engine through the downward movement of the piston as it pulled down a pulley that was connected to a platform. This engine was never developed further as no way was found to deliver an even and continuous way of making an explosion in a controllable way.

All modern Internal Combustion engines work in nearly the same way. A mixture of fuel(petrol) and air is released into a cylinder. This piston is driven upwards compressing the mixture as it reaches the top of the cylinder. A spark plug releases and electric spark igniting the compressed fuel. This releases hot gases that push the piston downwards. The gases are released as the piston moves downwards through the exhausts valve. New air and fuel is then released into the cylinder and the process starts again. The pistons are connected to a crankshaft which rotates, moving the pistons up and down. The crankshafts rotation speed is determined by the engines rpm. The intake of air and fuel and the release of exhausts is controlled by valves which operate on a timer which is adapted according to the engines rpm. In most car engines a four stroke combustion engine is used. This means that the combustion cycle is performed in four steps. On the first stroke the piston moves downwards taking in fuel and air. On the second stroke the piston moves upwards compressing and igniting the fuel. On the third stroke the piston is forced downwards by the exhausts created by the ignition. On the fourth stroke the piston moves upwards forcing the exhausts out of the cylinder.

 The first combustion engine was built for the Model T Ford which was the worlds first mass produced car. The engine was petrol based due to the large supply of oil in the US and it being easy to transport. When the engine was designed it was designed for simplicity, meaning it needed to be easy to put together, maintain and replace parts when needed. Through the years no big changes have been made to the engine as it is an effective design that works well and no better solutions have been found. Some parts of the engine have been changed in order for the engine to keep up with other technology but the base design remains the same. Electric engines require large batteries that take lots of space and they require regular charging. Steam engines require fuel to start the combustion process which would mean petrol or diesel being used anyway. Steam engines are also very heavy and would make cars very heavy.

The catalyst has had a large contribution towards the engines success. During the 1900s many large cities suffered from problems with smog due to the exhaust fumes of the engine. This led to the adding of a catalyst to all cars. A catalyst contains two chemicals that remove the particles that cause the smog from the exhaust fumes. After the catalyst was added it meant that the engine could be used anywhere, this led to the spread of cars with petrol engines all over the world.

Today's infrastructure has been designed for cars using the Internal combustion engine (petrol engine). Petrol stations, towns and industries positioning have all been adapted to suit the modern car. The world market is controlled by oil prices due to the need of oil for petrol. Had the engine not been mass produced travel would not have been possible in the way it is today. The engine has given us many possibilities, with cars we can travel nearly anywhere, see things that may of otherwise only be possible to see on photos. Even though the engine releases exhausts that negatively effect the environment I don't believe that the combustion engine will ever be completely replaced by a more environmental...