Types of Automobile Engine

1. External combustion (E.C.) Engine

It is an engine in which combustion of fuel take place outside of the engine. In this

type of engine heat, which is generated by burning of fuel is use to convert the water or

other low boiling temperature fluid into steam. This high pressure steam used to rotate

a turbine. In this engine we can use all solid, liquid and gases fuel. These engines are

generally used in driving locomotive, ships, generation of electric power etc.

Advantages of E.C. engine-

In these engines starting torque is generally high.

Because of external combustion we can use cheaper fuels as well as solid fuel.

They are more flexible compare to internal combustion engines.

2. Internal Combustion (I.C.) Engine

It is an engine in which combustion of fuel take place inside the engine. When the

fuel burns inside the engine cylinder, it generates a high temperature and pressure.

This high pressure force is exerted on the piston (A device which free to moves inside

the cylinder and transmit the pressure force to crank by use of connecting rod), which

used to rotate the wheels of vehicle. In these engines we can use only gases and high

volatile fuel like petrol, diesel. These engines are generally used in automobile

industries, generation of electric power etc.

Advantages of I.C. engine-

It has overall high efficiency over E.C. engine.

These engines are compact and required less space.

Initial cost of I.C. engine is lower than E.C. engine.

This engine easily starts in cold because of it uses high volatile fuel.

Types of I.C. Engine

I.C. engine is widely used in automobile industries so it is also known as automobile

engine. An automobile engine may be classified in many manners. Today I am going to

tell you some important classification of an automobile engine.

According to number of stroke:

1. Two stroke engine

In a two stroke engine a piston moves one time up and down inside the cylinder and

complete one crankshaft revolution during single time of fuel burn. This type of engine

has high torque compare to four stroke engine. These are generally used in scooters,

pumping sets etc.

2. Four stroke engine

In a four stroke engine piston moves two times up and down inside the cylinder and

complete two crankshaft revolutions during single time of fuel burn. This type of

engines has high average compare to two stroke engine. These are generally used in

bikes, cars, truck etc.

According to design of engine:

1. Reciprocating engine (piston engine)

In reciprocating engine the pressure force generate by combustion of fuel exerted

on the piston (A device which free to move in reciprocation inside the cylinder). So the

piston starts reciprocating motion (too and fro motion). This reciprocating motion

converts into rotary motion by use of crank shaft. So the crank shaft starts to rotate

and rotate the wheels of vehicle. These are generally used in all automobile.

2. Rotary engine (Wankel engine)

In rotary engine there is a rotor which frees to rotate. The pressure force generate

by burning of fuel is exerted on this rotor so the rotor rotate and starts to rotate the

wheels of vehicle. This engine is developed by Wankel in 1957. This engine is not used

in automobile in present days.

According to fuel used:

1. Diesel engine

These engines use diesel as the fuel. These are used in trucks, buses, cars etc.

2. Petrol engine

These engines use petrol as the fuel. These are used in bikes, sport cars, luxury cars

etc.

3. Gas engine

These engines use CNG and LPG as the fuel. These are used in some light motor

vehicles.

4. Electric engine

It is eco-friendly engine. It doesn?t use any fuel to burn. It uses electric energy to

rotate wheel.

According to method of ignition:

1. Compression ignition engine

In these types of engines, there is no extra equipment to burn the fuel. In these

engines burning of fuel starts due to temperature rise during compression of air. So it

is known as compression ignition engine.

2. Spark ignition engine

In these types of engines, ignition of fuel start by the spark, generate inside the

cylinder by some extra equipment. So it is known as spark ignition engine.

History of Automobile Engineering

The automobile has a long history. The French engineer Nicolas Joseph Cugnot built the first

self-propelled vehicle (Paris, 1789), a heavy, three-wheeled, steam-driven carriage with a boiler

that projected in front; its speed was c.3 mph (5 kph). In 1801 the British engineer Richard

Trevithick also built a three-wheeled, steam-driven car; the engine drove the rear wheels.

Development of the automobile was retarded for decades by over-regulation: speed was limited

to 4 mph (6.4 kph) and until 1896 a person was required to walk in front of a self-propelled

vehicle, carrying a red flag by day and a red lantern by night. The Stanley brothers of

Massachusetts, the most well-known American manufacturers of steam-driven autos, produced

their Stanley Steamers from 1897 until after World War I.

The development of the automobile was accelerated by the introduction of the internal-

combustion engine. Probably the first vehicle of this type was the three-wheeled car built in

1885 by the engineer Karl Benz in Germany. Another German engineer, Gottlieb Daimler, built

an improved internal-combustion engine c.1885. The Panhard car, introduced in France by the

Daimler company in 1894, had many features of the modern car. In the United States, internal-

combustion cars of the horseless buggy type were manufactured in the 1890s by Charles

Duryea and J. Frank Duryea, Elwood Haynes, Henry Ford, Ransom E. Olds, and Alexander

Winton. Many of the early engines had only one cylinder, with a chain-and- sprocket drive on

wooden carriage wheels. The cars generally were open, accommodated two passengers, and

were steered by a lever.

The free growth of the automobile industry in the early 20th cent. was threatened by the

American inventor George Selden's patent, issued in 1895. Several early manufacturers

licensed by Selden formed an association in 1903 and took over the patent in 1907. Henry Ford,

the leader of a group of independent manufacturers who refused to acknowledge the patent,

was engaged in litigation with Selden and the association from 1903 until 1911, when the U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the patent, although valid, covered only the two-cycle engine;

most cars, including Ford's, used a four-cycle engine. The mass production of automobiles that

followed, and the later creation of highways linking cities to suburbs and region to region,

transformed American landscape and society.