Gasoline engine

“ The gas and gasoline engines (they are exactly the same except that one generates the gas it needs from gasoline, while the other takes common illuminating gas, the use of gas or gasoline being interchangeable on the same engine by readjustment of some of the parts) are operated on a principle entirely different from steam. While they are arranged very much as a steam engine, the power is given by an explosion of gas mixed with air in the cylinder. ”

“ How the Diesel Engine Works.—The Diesel engine works on the same general principle as the gasoline engine—that is, by the explosion of a fuel mixture in the cylinders—but it is different from the gasoline engine in the way in which the fuel is admitted into the cylinder and fired. ”

“ Most boys understand, at least generally, how an automobile or motor-boat engine works. Scientists call gasoline engines "internal combustion motors," and that means that the force is gathered from the explosion of the gasoline vapour in the cylinder. Enough gasoline to supply fuel to run an aeroplane motor for as much as eight or nine hours can be carried in the tank. From the tank a small pipe carries the gasoline to a device called the carbureter. ”

“ With the increase in weight for the same-sized engine designed to use alcohol instead of gasoline, comes an increase in maximum horsepower of a little over thirty-five per cent (35%) , so that its weight per horsepower need not be greater than that of the gasoline engine, and probably will be less.
The work was taken up to investigate the characteristic action of fuels used in internal combustion engines with a detailed study of the action of each fuel (gasoline and alcohol) as governed by the many variable conditions of engine manipulation, design and equipment. ”

“ The Ford Engine Gasoline when mixed with air and compressed is highly explosive. An explosion is a violent expansion caused by instantaneous combustion of confined gases. In the gasoline engine the mixture is drawn into a cylinder, where it is compressed by an advancing piston and then exploded by an electric spark, which sends the piston downward, and through the connecting rod imparts a rotary motion to the crankshaft. ”

“ This brings about the necessity for injecting the fuel in a well-atomized condition at the time that combustion is desired and the quantities of fuel injected at this time control the amount of heat generated; that is, an infinitesimally small quantity of fuel will be burned just as efficiently in the Diesel engine as a full charge of fuel, whereas in the gasoline engine the mixture ratio must be kept reasonably constant and, if the supply of fuel is to be cut down for throttling purposes, the supply of air must be correspondingly reduced. ”

“ To keep a gasoline engine in working order so as to get the best service from it and make it last as long as possible, you should give it the best of care.
An engine of this kind needs just as much oiling and cleaning as a steam engine. All bearings must be lubricated and kept free from dirt, great care must be taken that the piston and cylinder are well lubricated. In addition, the engineer must see that the valves all work perfectly tight, and when they leak in any way they must be taken out and cleaned. ”

“ It is this requirement in a gasoline engine that necessitates an accurate and sensitive fuel-and-air metering device known as the carburetor.
The fact that the air supply of a Diesel engine is compressed and its temperature raised to such a high degree permits the use of liquid fuels with a high ignition temperature. These fuels correspond more nearly to the crude petroleum oil as it issues from the wells and this fact accounts for the much lower cost of Diesel fuel as compared to the highly refined gasoline needed for aircraft engines. ”

“ Lubricating oil for gasoline engines is made to stand high heat, but if heated [Pg 31] beyond its limit it will burn, and then, besides the loss of its property of lubrication, a deposit of carbon, hard or gummy, will form, fouling the combustion space or piston rings, and interfering with the operation of the engine. Overheating is prevented either by circulating water through channels surrounding the combustion space, or by directing a blast of air against it. ”

“ The gasoline engines that were used in these tests are representative of the standard American stationary-engine types, rating at 10 to 15 horsepower, at speeds of from 250 to 300 revolutions per minute, while the alcohol engines were of similar construction and identical in size with the gasoline engines. ”

“ Gasoline is comparatively constant in quality, and can be used with equal efficiency in any gasoline engine of the better grade. There are many makes of high-grade gasoline engines, tests on any of which may be taken as representative of the performance and action of gasoline in an internal-combustion engine, if the conditions under which the tests were made are clearly stated and are similar.
Kerosene varies widely in quality, and requires special devices for its use, but is a little cheaper than gasoline. ”

“ The gasoline engine was a marvel of lightness, power, endurance and smoothness of running. It weighed, without accessories, 125 pounds, and developed 52.4 horse power in actual test at a speed of 930 revolutions a minute. With all accessories, including radiator, cooling water, pump, tanks, carburetor, spark coil and batteries, it weighed 200 pounds, or scarcely five pounds per horse power—a great achievement for that time. It could run many hours continuously under full load, consuming about one pound of gasoline per horse power per hour. ”

“ Shielding was unnecessary because the diesel had no electrical ignition system. Carburetor icing was an impossibility because there was no carburetor.
Any excess lubricating oil in a diesel engine’s cylinder is consumed cleanly to produce power. By contrast, such oil in a gasoline engine’s cylinder is only partly burned. As a result carbon deposits form that eventually cause malfunctioning of the spark plugs, valves, and combustion chambers. This advantage accrued to the diesel because it utilized an excess of air, and in addition its cylinder walls were hotter. ”

“ Unlike the ordinary gasoline engine in which an increase of speed increases the output in an almost direct proportion, the output of the Diesel engine decreases when the speed rises 167beyond a certain limit due to imperfect combustion at speeds much over 350 revolutions per minute. ”

“ A wide range of fuels may be used in an internal-combustion engine. They may be either gaseous, liquid, or even solid. In stationary engines hydrogen, coal gas, natural gas, blast-furnace gas, and [156] producer gas are employed to advantage. Volatile fuels, such as alcohol, bensol, gasoline, and kerosene, are turned into a mist or vapor and then burned as a gas. In engines of the Diesel type any liquid fuel ranging down to thick crude oils may be employed, and in one type of engine, which, however, has not proved commercially practicable, coal dust is burned in the cylinder. ”

“ Since the diesel utilized its heat of combustion more efficiently than the gasoline engine, its cooling fin area could be reduced by 35 percent. This permitted better streamlining. Having less cooling fin area, it warmed up more rapidly than a gasoline engine. ”

“ When the fuel inlet valve opens, the heavy fuel is forced into the cylinder by means of compressed air which presses on the fuel in the supply tank. The instant the fuel strikes the hot air in the cylinder it ignites and burns, and as it burns it expands just as the gases of burning powder in a cartridge expand. This forces the piston down and makes the power stroke as shown in B, Fig. 32.
Here, then, is another great advantage of the Diesel engine over the ordinary gasoline engine: it does not need an electric spark or any other kind of flame to fire it. ”

“ To all intents and purposes the operation of a gas or gasoline engine is the same as that of a steam engine with the care of the boiler eliminated. The care of the engine itself is practically the same, though the bearings are relatively larger in a gasoline or gas engine and do not require adjustment so often. Some manufacturers will tell you that a gas engine requires no attention at all. ”

“ The automobile, in turn, has been the means of adapting gasoline to propulsion of railway trains, as this form of power is found especially useful on short lines where the traffic is light. Several railroads are now building gasoline motor cars of considerable size. ... "The gasoline engine as now made is an adaptation of the steam engine, employing the gas produced by gasoline as a means of energy. Contrary to the general understanding, the gas or gasoline engine is but a high-pressure caloric motor. ”

“ Without electricity, there would be no gasoline engine, because gasoline itself cannot cause the engine to operate. It is only when the electrical spark explodes or "ignites" the mixture of gasoline and air which has been drawn into the engine cylinders that the engine develops power. Thus an electrical ignition system has always been an essential part of every gasoline automobile. ”

“ The modern gasoline engine, to my mind the most important contribution to civilization and culture in recent times, now pumps the water, saws and cuts the wood, runs the lighting plant, the washing machine, the milking machine, the cream separator, the churn, the sewing machine, the bread-mixer, the vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the coffee grinder, the ice cream freezer and even the egg-beater. ”

“ Accordingly, when the fuel is injected in a highly atomized condition at some time previous to the piston reaching the end of its stroke, the fuel burns as it comes in contact with the highly heated air, and the greatly increased pressures resulting from the tremendous increase in temperature brought about by this combustion, acting on the pistons, drive the engine, as in the case of the gasoline engine. ”

“ Just when this type of motor will be taken up by automobile designers is difficult to state. The Diesel type of engine has proved so wonderfully successful for large stationary power plants and for marine purposes, and its reliability is so absolute on all grades of fuel, that this motor may solve the failing-gasoline-supply problem. As yet, about 100 horsepower is the smallest unit that has been made in any quantities, but it was recently announced that this type would, in the very near future, be built for motor trucks and other commercial vehicles. ”

“ Thus the Diesel type of engine can be run in any weather on any grade of oil fuel, and as the carburetor and electrical ignition system are absolutely eliminated, two of the great sources of trouble of the automobile163 motor are absent—and this feature, alone, even more than the superior economy of operation, will appeal to the average motorist. ”

“ In both engine and turbine the real source of power is not the steam but the fuel, such as coal or oil, which converts the water into steam.
180. Gas Engines. Automobiles have been largely responsible for the gas engine. To carry coal for fuel and water for steam would be impracticable for most motor cars. Electricity is used in some cars, but the batteries are heavy, expensive, and short-lived, and are not always easily replaceable. For this reason gasoline is extensively used, and in the average automobile the source of power is the force generated by exploding gases. ”

“ If the engine takes a few explosions and stops, you will find the nozzle, or that some part of the fuel piping is clogged which will stop the engine. If the motor gradually slows down, and stops, with BLACK SMOKE issuing from the end of the exhaust pipe, or MISFIRES badly, the mixture is TOO RICH, and should be reduced by cutting down the gasoline supply by means of the needle valve adjusting screw. If it stops quickly, with a BACKFIRE, or explosion at the supply of gasoline should be INCREASED by adjusting the mouth of the carburetor, the mixture is TOO LEAN, and the needle valve. ”

“ Carburetors And Their Fuel Although gasoline is inflammable in its liquid state, its combustion is not sufficiently rapid to approach the explosive point necessary to render its energy available in the automobile engine cylinder. The proper proportion of gasoline vapor and air, however, forms a mixture that is highly inflammable and that will be entirely consumed in the engine cylinder under ordinary conditions within about one-twentieth of a second after the formation of the spark. ”

“ The tank of a gravity feed system is always provided with a small hole or vent, usually drilled through the filling cap, through which air may enter to replace the gasoline that is drawn off in the running of the engine. If this hole becomes plugged with dirt, the escape of the gasoline will reduce the pressure in the tank to such an extent that further flow will be prevented, and the engine will stop with all of the symptoms of a lack of gasoline. ”

“ There was no new principle involved in this idea, and the Otto cycle was still employed as before; but the use of the volatile oil—either a petroleum product or alcohol—made possible the compact portable engine with which everyone is nowadays familiar through its use in automobiles and motor boats. The oil commonly used is gasoline which is supplied to the cylinder through a so-called carburettor in which the vapors of gasoline are combined with ordinary air to make an explosive mixture. ”

“ An abrupt stop cannot be caused by anything but an interruption of the ignition circuit, for the cessation of the gasoline feed will bring the engine to a stop slowly, the gasoline in the float chamber and spray nozzle being sufficient to permit weakened explosions before the supply entirely fails. A slow stopping of the engine from causes other than those previously mentioned may be laid to defective gasoline feed, the emptying of the tank, the clogging of the supply pipe, float valve, or spray nozzle, or the closing of the supply cock from jolts and vibrations. ”