The immediate precursor of piston combustion engines is the steam engine of Polzunov and Watt. The crank-rod and gas distribution mechanisms are borrowed from it. For the first time the steam engine on self-propelled machinery was used in the middle of the XIX century on a tracked tractor made by a serf farmer of Voronezh province Shamshurenkov, but because of its size and inconvenience of use, it was not popular.
The first piston internal combustion engine was built by French inventor Lenoir in 1860. It was a two-stroke engine with a slide valve timing system, which was powered by a luminous gas with electric spark ignition. The fresh charge was injected within about 1/3 of the piston stroke from the VMT. Then, in the same cycle, the fuel was burned and the process of expansion was going on. When the piston moved from the NFT, the cylinder was cleared of exhaust gases. The main drawback of such an engine is the lack of a compression process. Because of this, the filling was small, and combustion was immensely large. Therefore, both the maximum pressure Pz and the temperature Tz were low. The best models of these engines had Pz not exceeded 0.4 MPa. Despite their low power, high fuel consumption and low reliability, the Lenoir engines were more acceptable than steam engines and were used extensively in stationary applications. For self-propelled machines, they were too heavy.
The first gas engine with forced ignition, operating on a four-stroke cycle, was built in 1862 by the German inventor from Cologne, Nicolas Otto (1832-1891). The first engines had a maximum power of about 2 hp at a speed of 150 rpm. The weight of one engine was about 2 tons. Nevertheless, the fuel efficiency of the Otto engine was significantly better than that of the Lenoir engine, let alone the steam engine.
In the process of development of the design and manufacturing technology by the middle of the 80s of the XIX century, it was possible to reduce the mass of combustion engines and increase their power many times. This made it possible to use such engines on self-propelled machinery. In 1885, independently of each other, German engineers Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler produced self-propelled machines (cars) with Otto engines for the first time.
In Germany, with the support of the government in the 90s of the XIX century, under the direction of engineer Rudolf Diesel, work was carried out to create a self-igniting engine. Initially, it was supposed that the engine should work on coal powder. However, the use of powdered coal led to coking of the injectors. Therefore, the final version of the Diesel engine in 1897 was a two-stroke kerosene engine with self-ignition from compressed air.
In parallel with the German and French engineers in Tsarist Russia, intensive work was also carried out to create an internal combustion engine. In 1885, the captain of the Baltic Fleet I.S. Kostovich made an engine of Otto design with an output of 80 hp and weight of 240 kg. In 1899 at the St. Petersburg Nobel plant engineer Trinclair G.V. and mechanic Mamin Y.V. for the first time created a four-stroke engine with self-ignition, working on crude oil, which was one of the most economical engines of the time.
At the beginning of the XX century with the use of light small-size combustion engines, the main layout of the "classic" self-propelled machine was finally formed. At the same time, the main technical solutions of mechanisms were determined. This contributed to mass production of any self-propelled machinery, the total annual output of which at the end of XX century exceeded 60 million pieces. The total circulation of only four-stroke internal combustion engines amounted to more than 1 billion. The total capacity of self-propelled machine engines far exceeds the capacity of all power plants of the Earth.
Both the two-stroke and four-stroke cycles have not changed over the years due to their high perfection. However, engine designs, production processes, power, economic and environmental performance have improved significantly and continue to improve.
Classification of internal combustion engines:
- An internal combustion engine is an engine in which the chemical energy of a fuel is converted into the thermal energy of combustible gases directly inside the engine, e.g. in a cylinder. The pressure of these gases causes the moving parts of the engine to move: piston, connecting rod, crankshaft, flywheel and others.
- Existing internal combustion engines operate in one of the three cycles, which have their specific features:
- The cycle of gasoline and gas engines with compression of the combustible mixture, its ignition from an external source and rapid combustion when the piston is located about m. t., i.e. with combustion at almost constant volume.
- A compressor diesel cycle with air compression, compressor spraying of fuel, its ignition from the heat of compressed air and slow combustion when the piston is moving, i.e. at almost constant pressure.
- A cycle of uncompressed diesel engines. In this cycle, some of the fuel is burned at almost constant volume and the rest at almost constant pressure, so this cycle is often referred to as mixed.