Manual for submarine miningUnited States. War Department
History
Manual for submarine mining
United States. War Department
Submarine mines -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
APPENDIX NO. 2.
THE HORNSBY-AKROYD OIL ENGINE AND GENERATOR.
(See also Artillery Notes, No. 12.)
=The engine.=—This is a horizontal, single-acting, single-cylinder
kerosene engine, having a flyball governor and operating on a
four-stroke cycle. This cycle consists in turn of the explosion on the
first outstroke, the expulsion of the products of the explosion on the
following instroke, the intake into the cylinder of a mixture of air
and oil vapor on the following outstroke, and the compression of this
explosive mixture on the next instroke. This cycle therefore requires
two complete revolutions of the crank shaft for one complete set of
operations.
On one side of the cylinder near the closed end is a valve box
containing two valves, the air-inlet valve and the exhaust valve. The
air-inlet and the exhaust valves are actuated by separate levers, each
lever being moved by a cam mounted on a horizontal shaft, driven by
the crank shaft through worm gearing. This horizontal shaft makes but
one revolution while the crank shaft makes two; thus the air-inlet and
the exhaust valves are each opened once every two revolutions of the
flywheel.
At the back of the cylinder, in prolongation of its axis, is a
cast-iron box called the vaporizer, which is always open to the
cylinder. Before starting the engine this vaporizer must be heated by
an external lamp, so that it will vaporize the oil when it is first
pumped into it. After the engine has started running, the lamp is no
longer required, as the vaporizer is kept at a sufficient heat by the
internal explosions.
A small oil pump, worked by the air-valve lever, draws oil from the
oil tank under the engine and forces it into the vaporizer at the
proper time. The oil, on its way from the pump to the vaporizer, passes
through a valve box attached to the vaporizer; this valve box has two
valves in it, a horizontal one, kept closed by a spring which the oil
forces open as it goes into the vaporizer; the other, a vertical one,
also kept closed by a spring. Should the engine run too fast, the
governor opens this latter valve and allows some of the oil to flow
back to the oil tank through the waste pipe. This valve can also be
opened by turning the little regulating handle, which will stop the
supply of oil to the vaporizer and thus stop the engine.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR WORKING.
=Frosty weather.=—If there is danger of freezing, on shutting down
drain the water from the circulating pipes and cylinder jacket, and
valve box if water-jacketed; otherwise they may burst or crack.
=Caution.=—Before starting, see that the cocks which admit water to
the water jacket of the vaporizer valve box are open; that the cock on
the main water pipe from the bottom of the water tank is open; that
the water in the tank is above the upper circulating pipe; that the
drain cock is closed; and that the oil tank is filled with kerosene.
_Gasoline must not be used with this engine._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account