20201 Arthur Rd. Big Rapids, Michigan 49307
In early engine development there were numerous scientists and
engineers that contributed theories and knowledge of importance
that was utilized by engineers of later date. With the limited
background of information we have on the development of early
engines it seems amazing that so few engineers accomplished so much
in such a short period of time. The names of Otto and Langen, Mietz
and Weiss, Daimler and Benz are readily recognized, but what
information did they have to work with, and ultimately achieve
success in their efforts?
The information submitted here may enlighten the problem to some
extent, but admittedly is not complete for all those who
contributed so much. The dates presented here may be in slight
conflict with others encountered, depending on the source of
information.
In 1824, Sadi Carnot, a French engineer, suggested fundamental
ideas for an internal combustion engine. He proposed four valuable
ideas.
1. Self-ignition of fuel in highly compressed air.
2. Compression of air before ignition.
3. A means of cooling the engine cylinder.
4. Utilization of exhaust heat.
In 1833, John Ericsson, a Swedish-American inventor, designed
his first engine to run on hot air. It operated on the principle
that air drawn into a hot cylinder expanded and pushed a piston up.
The horsepower developed would run a popcorn popper! In 1839,
Ericsson came to the United States. By 1860 he had an engine that
developed 11/4 HP at 45 RPM. It was used to
pump water. Ericsson designed and built the ‘Monitor’ for
the U.S. Navy in 1861-1862.
In 1859 crude petroleum was first produced by Edwin Drake at
Titusville, PA. This was the derivative for gasoline, kerosene,
fuel oil and asphalt. At this time gasoline was considered
extremely dangerous.
In 1860 Lene Etienne Lenoir of Luxembourg was an advanced
engineer of his time. He patented a one-cylinder two-cycle engine
designed to run on gas. The term ‘gas’ as used on these
early engines was not gasoline, it was a gas vapor sometimes called
illuminating gas, coal gas, benzine or naphtha. However,
Lenoir’s engine was not commercially accepted because of its
heavy weight and inefficiency. Lenoir also contributed to the
development of the induction spark coil.
In 1862 a French scientist, Beau De Rochas, stated the principle
that in order for an internal combustion engine to operate it
should comprise four strokes of the piston. These four strokes were
to be:
1. An intake stroke (fuel and air)
2. A compression stroke
3. The combustion or power stroke
4. An exhaust stroke of the burned gases
This principle of operation is in use today in modern piston
engines. In 1864 Siegfried Marcus, an Austrian, built a Lenoir type
of engine that used gasoline as fuel. In 1867 Dr. N.A. Otto and
Eugen Langen of Germany, experimented with a bulky-free piston
engine. In this engine an explosion pushed the piston up, cooling
of the gases caused a partial vacuum. This pulled the piston down.
The connecting rod had a rack and pinion design that was connected
to the crankshaft and flywheel. By means of a clutch, only the down
stroke acted on the crankshaft.
In 1876 Otto built the ‘Otto Silent’ gas engine which
worked on the four-stroke cycle principle proposed by Beau De
Rochas in 1862. It used flame ignition and had a thermal efficiency
of 16%. This achievement became known as the ‘Otto Cycle’
principle of operation. This engine was exhibited at the Paris
Exposition in 1878. Otto and Langen obtained patents in the United
States for both two-cycle and four-cycle engines in 1876.
In 1874 Bickerton was instrumental in developing the benefits of
combustion chamber design. He produced an engine with a combustion
chamber of peculiar design. Fresh gases entered a sort of
pre-combustion chamber connected to the main area by a narrow neck.
This invention made it possible to produce an oil-type engine of
marked increase in efficiency.
In 1876 George Brayton, a New Englander, built an engine for a
street car. This was a two-cycle, with three power cylinders and
three additional cylinders to compress the petroleum vapor mixture.
Brayton exhibited his ‘Ready Motor’ at the Philadelphia
Centennial Exposition in 1876.
In 1878 Dugald Clerk, an Englishman, was issued a patent on an
engine that operated on the two-stroke cycle principle. This engine
actually used two cylinders; one was the power cylinder, and
another connected cylinder was the charging cylinder. The engine
used a port opening on the cylinder to exhaust the burned gases.
The charging cylinder forced fuel mixture into the power cylinder
until compression pressure there exceeded charging cylinder
pressure. The mixture was exploded by an ignitor. The cycle is as
follows:
Stroke 1. (a) admission of fuel (b) compression. 2. (c)
combustion, (d) expansion of gases (power), (e) exhaust. The engine
was not perfected until 1881.
In 1885 Gottlieb Daimler, a German inventor, who worked with Dr.
N.A. Otto, constructed a working engine. Daimler’s contribution
was in the area of weight reduction and speed. His engine weight,
per unit of horsepower, was less than one hundred pounds compared
to one thousand of other engines. The engine speed increased to 800
RPM compared to 180 RPM of the original Otto engine. He used a hot
tube ignition system. Later Daimler patented a V-2 engine.
In 1885 Karl Benz, a German inventor, whose name is associated
with Mr. Daimler (a man he never met), constructed as a gas engine.
His engine was using an electric spark for ignition, and was a
four-stroke cycle engine. Mr. Benz also designed a float-type
carburetor, a differential gear and a transmission system. He also
started to build his engine in 1878. In 1885 he started the Benz
and Company of Mannheim. In 1894 the Benz factory was the largest
automobile factory in the world, producing 500 vehicles a year.
In 1888 Herbert Ackroyd Stuart improved the design of
Bickerton’s ideas of precombustion chamber design and was
granted a patent in 1890. His patent concerned the prevention of
preigni-tion of explosive charge by introducing the combustible
liquid, vapor or gas, at the end of the compression stroke. The
engine developed from this patent was known as Hornsby-Ackroyd. It
utilized a vaporizer and the hot bulb for ignition.
In 1882 Dr. Rudolf Diesel, a German engineer, was issued a
patent for an engine that would operate using the heat of
compression to ignite the fuel injected into the combustion
chamber. He originally attempted to obtain 1500 PSI, but this
failed. The third engine he built in 1895 was a success. It had a
compression pressure of 450 PSI. The fuel was injected by
compressed air.
The thermal efficiency of this engine was 24%. This was a great
improvement over Otto and Langen’ engine with a thermal
efficiency of 16%. Thermal efficiency is defined as the ratio of
work done in a unit of time, expressed in B.T.U., to the total heat
supplied in the same unit of time. In other words, an engine
depends on heat to perform useful work. How much of the heat is
utilized, and how much is wasted. Thermal efficiency indicates how
much of the heat is utilized, expressed in terms of percentage.
Steam engines had only a thermal efficiency of 3% to 10%. Modern
diesel engines may operate with a thermal efficiency of up to
40%.
In 1892 Ranny Olds, an American, and his father ‘Pliny’
started making ‘petroleum gas engines’ exploded by a spark
from a galvanic battery, as advertised at that time. Some records
indicate that Ranny Olds was a millionaire before Henry Ford
succeeded with his first Ford car in 1908, although Henry made his
first car in 1896.
In 1893 Carl Weiss, a German-born American, developed a
two-cycle engine that utilized Ackroyd Stuart’s ideas and Mr.
Day of England’s invention of an enclosed crankcase design.
This hot vaporizer oil engine sprayed a charge of fuel onto a hot
bulb. The engine went into production in 1894. At this time, Carl
Weiss and August Mietz formed the Mietz and Weiss Engine Co. Mr.
Weiss had many patents issued to him prior to this time. Mietz and
Weiss continued building engines until 1915.
In 1894 Jos. Reid Gas Engine Co. introduced the Clerk two-cycle
engine in America. The engine was widely used in the oil fields of
Pennsylvania and mid-continent America.
REFERENCE MATERIAL
Diesel Engineering Handbook, Diesel Publications, Inc., 1935.
Hughes Printing Co., East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
Diesel Engineering Handbook, 11th ed., Diesel Publications,
Inc., 1966. 80 Lincoln Avenue, Stamford, Connecticut.
World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 12, 1966. Field Enterprises
Educational Corporation.
Farm Gas Engines and Tractors, Fred Jones, M.S., 1963. McGraw
Hill Book Co. Inc.
American Gas Engines since 1872, C.H. Wendel, 1983. Crestline
Publishing Co., 1251 North Jefferson, Sarasota, Florida 33577
A History of Man’s Progress, Harold Warp, Pioneer Village
Publishers, 1978. Minden, Nebraska.
