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1957 – Rambler Rebel announced Electrojector electronic fuel injection option, however no production models were offered with the option. 1964 – Ion engine invented. [21] 1966 – RD-0410 nuclear thermal rocket engine was ground-tested. 1960s – alternators replace generators on automobile engines. [22]
Internal combustion engines date back to between the 10th and 13th centuries, when the first rocket engines were invented in China. Following the first commercial steam engine (a type of external combustion engine) by Thomas Savery in 1698, various efforts were made during the 18th century to develop equivalent internal combustion engines.
1862 (): The Allen steam engine (later called Porter-Allen) is exhibited at the London Exhibition. It is precision engineered and balanced allowing it to operate at from three to five times the speed of other stationary engines. The short stroke and high speed minimize condensation in the cylinder, significantly improving efficiency.
Over 100 Newcomen engines were installed around England by 1735, and it is estimated that as many as 2,000 were in operation by 1800 (including Watt versions). John Smeaton made numerous improvements to the Newcomen engine, notably the seals, and by improving these was able to almost triple their efficiency. He also preferred to use wheels ...
The word engine derives from Old French engin, from the Latin ingenium –the root of the word ingenious. Pre-industrial weapons of war, such as catapults, trebuchets and battering rams, were called siege engines, and knowledge of how to construct them was often treated as a military secret. The word gin, as in cotton gin, is short for engine.
The so-called Otto engines were developed in Germany during the last quarter of the 19th century. The fuel for these early engines was a relatively volatile hydrocarbon obtained from coal gas . With a boiling point near 85 °C (185 °F) ( n -octane boils at 125.62 °C (258.12 °F) [ 1 ] ), it was well-suited for early carburetors (evaporators).
A straight-three engine (also called an inline-triple or inline-three) [1] [2] [3] is a three-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Less common than straight-four engine , straight-three engines have nonetheless been used in various motorcycles, cars and agricultural machinery.
The first experimental vehicles were built in the 18th and 19th century, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick had developed the use of high-pressure steam, around 1800, that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. The first half of the 19th century saw great progress in steam vehicle design, and by the 1850s it was viable ...