Variousscientists andengineers contributed to the development ofinternal combustion engines. Following the first commercialsteam engine (a type of external combustion engine) byThomas Savery in 1698, various efforts were made during the 18th century to develop equivalent internal combustion engines. In 1791, the English inventorJohn Barber patented agas turbine. In 1794, Thomas Mead patented a gas engine. Also in 1794, Robert Street patented an internal-combustion engine, which was also the first to use liquid fuel (petroleum) and built an engine around that time. In 1798,John Stevens designed the first American internal combustion engine. In 1807, French engineersNicéphore andClaude Niépce ran a prototype internal combustion engine, using controlled dust explosions, thePyréolophore. This engine powered a boat on the river in France. The same year, the Swiss engineerFrançois Isaac de Rivaz built and patented a hydrogen and oxygen-powered internal-combustion engine. Fitted to a crude four-wheeled wagon,François Isaac de Rivaz first drove it 100 metres in 1813, thus making history as the first car-like vehicle known to have been powered by an internal-combustion engine.
Samuel Brown patented the first internal combustion engine to be applied industrially in the United States in 1823. Brown also demonstrated a boat using his engine on the Thames in 1827, and an engine-driven carriage in 1828. FatherEugenio Barsanti, an Italian engineer, together withFelice Matteucci of Florence invented the first real internal combustion engine in 1853. Their patent request was granted in London on June 12, 1854, and published in London's Morning Journal under the title "Specification of Eugene Barsanti and Felix Matteucci, Obtaining Motive Power by the Explosion of Gasses". In 1860, BelgianJean Joseph Etienne Lenoir produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine. In 1864,Nicolaus Otto patented the first commercially successful gas engine.
George Brayton invented the first commercial liquid-fueled internal combustion engine in 1872. In 1876,Nicolaus Otto, working withGottlieb Daimler andWilhelm Maybach, patented the compressed charge, four-stroke cycle engine. In 1879,Karl Benz patented a reliabletwo-stroke gas engine. In 1892,Rudolf Diesel developed the first compressed charge, compression ignition engine. In 1954 German engineerFelix Wankel patented a "pistonless" engine using an eccentric rotary design.
Types of farm equipment typically powered by early engines (scale models)
Before 100 AD: Thefire piston is invented inSoutheast Asia, and its use is concentrated inAustronesia. This device and the aforementioned Diesel's experiences with pneumatic pumps, inspired theDiesel engine, which also usescompression ignition (as opposed tospark ignition).[1][2]
Sometime between the 10th and 13th centuries (dating uncertain): Thefire arrow, agunpowder-fuelled form ofrocket engine, is invented in China.[3]
1745 : Abbot Agostino Ruffo of Verona testing a pump for leaks noticed that, after pressurization the wood plug had been scorched. Later he made an apparatus to further study timber ignition by pumps.[4]
1780s: An "electric pistol", which used an electric spark to ignite hydrogen gas in an enclosed vessel, is invented by Italian chemistAlessandro Volta.[5] This is possibly the first example of aspark-ignition heat engine.
1791: The principle for agas turbine engine is described in the patentA Method for Rising Inflammable Air for the Purposes of Producing Motion and Facilitating Metallurgical Operations by British inventorJohn Barber.
1794: Areciprocating piston engine is built by Robert Street. This engine was fuelled by gas vapours, used the piston'sintake stroke to draw in outside air, and the air/fuel mixture was ignited by an external flame.[6] Another gas engine was also patented in 1794 by Thomas Mead.[7]
1807: One of the first known working internal combustion engines – called thePyréolophore – is built by French inventorsClaude Niépce andNicéphore Niépce. This single prototype engine used a series of controlleddust explosions and was used to power a boat upstream in the riverSaône in France.
1807: The hydrogen-fuelledDe Rivaz engine is built by Swiss engineerFrançois Isaac de Rivaz and fitted to a wheeled carriage, possibly creating the first known automobile.[9] This prototype engine used spark-ignition (as per the 1780s Alessandro Volta design above).
1823: The concept of a gas vacuum engine is patented by British engineerSamuel Brown. One of Brown's engines was used to pump water at a canal in London from 1830 to 1836.
1826: A patent for the principle of a "gas or vapor engine" is granted to American inventorSamuel Morey.[10] The patent includes the first known design for acarburetor.
1833: A patent for a double-acting gasLemuel Wellman Wright, UKpatent no. 6525, table-type gas engine. Double-acting gas engine, first record of water-jacketed cylinder.[11]
1838: A patent for the principle of a double-acting gas engine is granted to British inventorWilliam Barnett. This is the first known design to propose in-cylinder compression and the use of awater jacket for cooling.[12]
1853–1857: A patent for the principle of the free-pistonBarsanti–Matteucci engine is granted to Italian mathematicianEugenio Barsanti and engineerFelice Matteucci. The design was intended to provide power by the vacuum in the combustion chamber pulling the piston downwards, following the explosion of a gas fuel within the combustion chamber.[13][14]
1860: Belgian-French[15] engineerJean Joseph Etienne Lenoir invented an atmospheric (non-compression) gas engine, using a layout similar to a horizontaldouble acting steam engine.[16] The design's patent was titledMoteur à air dilaté par combustion des gaz. Allegedly, in 1860, several of these engines were built and used commercially in Paris.[17]: p15 By 1867, about 280 units of the Lenoir engine had been built.Friedrich Sass considers the Lenoir engine to be the first functional internal combustion engine.[17]: p11
1861: The principle for thefour-stroke engine is described by French engineerAlphonse Beau de Rochas in the essay titledNouvelles recherches sur les conditions pratiques de l'utilisation de la chaleur et en général de la force motrice. Avec application au chemin de fer et à la navigation. De Rochas applied for a patent, however it was declared invalid two years later.[17]: p56-58
1862: A prototype four-stroke engine, created from a modified Lenoir engine, is built by German engineersNicolaus Otto and Michael Zons. The engine was only able to run for a few minutes before it self-destructed.[17]: p23 [18]
1864: The first commercially successful internal combustion engine – a gas-fuelled atmospheric engine – is produced by German engineersEugen Langen andNicolaus Otto.[17]: p29-31 The engine won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1867[21] and was patented in 1868.[17]: p31 Fuel consumption of this engine was less than half that of the Lenoir and Hugon engines.[17]: p34-35
1865: TheHugon engine – an improved version of the Lenoir engine with flame ignition, better fuel economy[22] and water injection into the cylinders for cooling – is introduced by French engineer Pierre Hugon. This engine was produced commercially for applications such as printing presses and patent offices.
1872: The first commercial liquid-fuelled engine, theBrayton's Ready Motor was patented by American engineer George Brayton. This engine used constant pressure combustion and began commercial production in 1876.[17]: p413-414
1876: The first functionalOtto cycle engine – called theOtto Silent Engine – is built by Nicholas Otto, Franz Rings and Herman Schumm at the German companyDeutz-AG-Gasmotorenfabrik. The engine compressed the air/fuel mixture before combustion, unlike the other atmospheric engines of the time. The engine was a single-cylinder unit that displaced 6.1 dm3, and was rated 3 PS (2,206 W) at 180/min, with a fuel consumption of 0.95 m3/PSh (1.29 m3/kWh).[17]: p43-44 Wilhelm Maybach later improved the engine by changing the connecting rod and piston design from trunk tocrosshead, so it could be put into series production.[17]: p45
1876: Otto applied for a patent on a stratified charge engine that would use the four-stroke principle. The patent was granted in 1876 inElsass–Lothringen, and transformed into a German Realm Patent in 1877 (DRP 532, 4 August 1877).[17]: p51-52
1885: TheBenz Patent-Motorwagen – often considered to be the first automobile[27] – is built. It was powered by a 0.55 kW (0.74 hp) single-cylinder four-stroke engine.[28]
1888: Thede Laval nozzle – used in various rocket engines and jet engines – is invented by Swedish engineerGustaf de Laval.
1888: Arotary engine (not to be confused with a pistonlessWankel engine) is patented by French inventor Félix Millet. This five-cylinder engine was installed in the rear wheel of a bicycle for use in the 1894–1895Millet motorcycle.
1889: The first aluminium engine block is created.[34]
1891: TheHornsby–Akroyd oil engine – often considered a predecessor to the diesel engine – begins production. The engine was designed by English inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart.
1897: The firstflat engine is built by Carl Benz. The configuration used later became known as aboxer engine, due to the pistons "punching" back and forth simultaneously.[35]
1904 The firstV12 engine is built by Putney Motor Works in London for use in racing boats. The engine is known as the "Craig-Dörwald" engine after Putney's founding partners.[38]
1926: Theoretical improvements in the efficiency ofjet engines are proposed in the research paperAerodynamic Theory of Turbine Design by English engineerAlan Arnold Griffith. Among the suggestions are the design for aturboprop and changing the turbine blades from a flat profile into anairfoil.
1942: The first operationaljet engine-powered airplane – the GermanMesserschmitt Me 262 fighter-bomber airplane – completes its first flight.
1949: The first airplane powered by aramjet engine – theLeduc 0.10 – completes a test flight. The ramjet engine was designed by French engineerRené Leduc.
1952: The first gasolinefuel injection system for a production passenger car – a mechanical injection system produced byRobert Bosch GmbH – is used in the GermanGoliath GP700 small sedan.
1957: The first working prototype of the pistonlessWankel engine (sometimes called arotary engine) is built by German engineerFelix Wankel.
1957: First usage of electronic fuel injection (EFI) in a production passenger car, using the AmericanBendix Electrojector system.
1983:Isuzu builds aceramic engine that runs on diesel and consumes half the fuel of other comparable engines of the time. Ceramic was used as the material in the cylinders of the engine.[56][57]
1998: From 1998 to 2000, theMcLarenFormula One team usedMercedes-Benz engines with beryllium-aluminium-alloy pistons.[65] The use of beryllium engine components was banned following a protest byScuderia Ferrari.[66] At one point the material was also used in cylinder liners.[67]
2004: The firstscramjet-powered airplane – theNASA X-43 prototype – completes a test flight.
2006: Mercedes-Benz adopts the use of twin-wire arc spraying to produce highly smooth cylinder liners.[68]
2006: TheBMW Hydrogen 7 is offered with a hydrogen internal combustion engine[69]
2008:BMW N63 was the first production Hot vee turbocharged engine, used in the US-madeBMW X6 since 2008.[70]
2008: Ford publishes the use of a Plasma Transferred Wire Arc process for making highly smooth cylinder liners, used in mass production in 2015.[71][72]
2011: Mitsubishi develops a gas turbine with a combustion temperature of 1600°C.[73]
2013: General Electric starts development of theGE9X with a compression ratio of 61:1.[74]
2014:Liquidpiston shows a prototype of an engine with a design similar to an inverted Wankel engine: The combustion chamber is triangular while the rotor is oval.[75]
2017:Achates Power shows a maximum brake thermal efficiency of 55 percent in a reciprocating engine.[80]
2020:Maserati introduces pre-chamber ignition in its commercially availableNettuno engine.[81][82]
2021: During theCOP26 conference, 24 countries committed to all new cars sold beingzero emission vehicles (effectively banning the production of petrol-powered or diesel-powered cars) by the year 2040.
2022: The Avadi MA-250 engine features a design in which the piston and connecting rods rotate during engine operation.[83]
Govi, Gilberto (1876)"Sull'invenzione dell'Accendi-fuoco Pneumatico" [On the invention of pneumatic fire lighters],Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 2nd series,3 (2) : 41–44. (in Italian)
^Spies, Albert (1892–95).Modern gas and oil engines. New York, The Cassier's magazine company – via Internet Archive.in 1794, Thomas Mead and Robert Street both obtained patents in England for gas or vapor engines, Mead proposing to raise the piston in his engine cylinder by the ignition of a gaseous, explosive mixture and to utilize for the down-stroke both the weight of the piston and the partial vacuum formed underneath it.
^Dugald Clerk, "Gas and Oil Engines", Longman Green & Co, (7th Edition) 1897, pp. 3–5.
^Dugald Clerk, "Gas and Oil Engines", Longman Green & Co, 1897.
^"The Historical Documents".Barsanti e Matteucci. Fondazione Barsanti & Matteucci. 2009. Archived fromthe original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved1 November 2013.
^Ricci, G.; et al. (2012). "The First Internal Combustion Engine". In Starr, Fred; et al. (eds.).The Piston Engine Revolution. London: Newcomen Society. pp. 23–44.ISBN978-0-904685-15-2.
^Taylor, Michael J.H. (1983).Milestones of Flight. Jane's.ISBN9780710602589.
^abcdefghijklmFriedrich Sass:Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaus von 1860 bis 1918, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1962,ISBN978-3-662-11843-6
^Hendrickson III, Kenneth E. (2014).The Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in World History, Volume 3. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 236.ISBN978-0810888883.
^Bakken, Lars E.; Jordal, Kristin; Syverud, Elisabet; Veer, Timot (2004)."Centenary of the First Gas Turbine to Give Net Power Output: A Tribute to Ægidius Elling" (Technical report). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. pp. 83–88.doi:10.1115/GT2004-53211.
^Smithsonian Institution (2018)."Gnome Omega No. 1 Rotary Engine".National Air and Space Museum. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Archived fromthe original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved17 August 2018.
^Lindh, Björn-Eric (1992).Scania fordonshistoria 1891–1991 (in Swedish). Streiffert.ISBN978-91-7886-074-6. (Translated title:Vehicle history ofScania 1891–1991)
^Olsson, Christer (1987).Volvo – Lastbilarna igår och idag (in Swedish). Förlagshuset Norden.ISBN978-91-86442-76-7. (Translated title:Volvo trucks yesterday and today)
^Alegi, Gregory (15 January 2014). "Secondo's Slow Burner, Campini Caproni and the C.C.2".The Aviation Historian. No. 6. United Kingdom. p. 76.ISSN2051-1930.
^Bobzin, K.; Ernst, F.; Richardt, K.; Schlaefer, T.; Verpoort, C.; Flores, G. (2008).Thermal spraying of cylinder bores with the Plasma Transferred Wire Arc process (Technical report). Vol. 202. Surface and Coatings Technology. pp. 4438–4443.doi:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2008.04.023.ISSN0257-8972.
