Mechanics: The Science of MachineryBond, A. Russell (Alexander Russell)
History
Mechanics: The Science of Machinery
Bond, A. Russell (Alexander Russell)
Machinery; Mechanical engineering; Mechanics
The waste of energy is clearly evident in the exhaust pipe of an
internal combustion engine. The gases after doing their work on the
piston rush out with such velocity as to produce a sharp explosive
sound. The noise of the exhaust is highly objectionable in automobiles
and must be overcome, but instead of utilizing the boisterous energy of
the escaping gases and getting a little more useful work out of them,
means are provided for hushing their noise. This is done by passing
them through a series of baffles which reduces the pressure of the
gases before they are discharged into the atmosphere. By letting the
gases expand gradually instead of bursting suddenly into the atmosphere
the noise of the discharge is reduced. However, this must not be done
at the expense of the engine power. Unless the gases pass quickly
through the muffler they will choke and retard the exhaust and make
the engine do useless work in driving them through. Even the best of
mufflers will use up nearly 5 per cent of the engine power. The energy
that escapes at the exhaust is not the only loss. All the heat that
radiates from the engine represents just so much wasted energy. In
our water and air-cooled systems we deliberately abstract heat from
the burning gases and throw it away. If we had materials that would
stand the intense heat of burning gases and enable us to conserve all
the heat developed in the cylinder we could use our fuels much more
economically.
Many attempts have been made to utilize the wasted heat of internal
combustion engines, but they have not met with any considerable degree
of success, with the exception of the invention of William Joseph
Still. This engine, which was the result of many years of patient work,
was first made public in a paper read before the Royal Society of Arts
in London, May 26, 1919, and when it was shown that the new engine had
developed an efficiency of 38 to 41 per cent it was realized that here
was a remarkable advance over any other machine for turning heat into
power.
COMBINED STEAM AND OIL ENGINE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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