G A S E NG I N E T H E O R Y

A ND D E S I G N

A . c . M E H RT EN S , M E . .

I NSTR UCTO R IN E G I EER I

M EC H A N I CA L N N N G
E G I EE I G SC H OO L
N N R N

M I C H I G A AG R I CULTURAL COLLEG E
N

F I RS T ED I T / 0 1V

F IR S T TH O US A N D

N EW YORK
'

JOH N W I LEY S ONS

LO N DO N : C HAP M AN H A LL L I M ITE D ,

1 909
BY A . . R
C M EH TENS
 CO N T E N T S

C HA PT E R

I . G E N ERAL P R I N CI P LE S O F O P ERAT I O N
II . H I STO RI CAL
III A PP LI CAT I O N S O F TH E G A S E N G I N E
H EAT —T H ERM OD Y N AM I C S
.

IV .

V . C O M B U ST I O N
VI . F UE LS
VII . L AW S O F G AS E S . .

VIII . GAS -E N G I N E E FF I C IE N C Y
.

IX . E X P LO S I V E M I X T URE S
X . M I X I N G VALV E S AN D CAR B U R E T ER S
XI .
’

G O V ERN I N G
XII . I G N IT I ON .

XIII . C O O LI N G
. .

XIV . E X H AU ST .

XV : S ELE CT I O N O F T Y P E
XVI . D E T ER M IN AT I O N O F TH E P RI N C I PAL D I M E N S I O N S
XVII . F O R C E S A CT I N G IN TH E GAS E N G I N E
XVIII . D E S I G N A N D D I M EN S I O N S O F PART S
X IX . G A S E N G I N E M AN I P ULAT I O N
-

XX . T E ST I N G
XX I . D ES IG N S

T AB L ES

PH Y S I CAL P R O P ER T IE S O F M AT ERIALS
P E T R O LEU M D I ST ILLAT E S
P R O P ERT IE S O F F UEL G AS E S .

V O LU M E S A N D S P E C I F I C H EAT S O F G AS E S
E FF I C I E N C IE S AT D IF F ERE N T A LT I T U D E S
ST RE N G TH O F M AT ERIALS
H EAT A N D P O W ER U N I T S a

V O LUM E P RE SS URE AN D T E M P ERAT URE C UR V E S

,

111

7 1 3 77 2
 P R E L I M IN AR Y

IT has been the aim of the au th o r to prepare a b o o k for

all who are interested in gas engines— students draughts~ ,

men engineers as well as t h e men who operate gas engines

f
, ,

o any kind and wish to become better acquainted with

,

the theory and the wh y of many things .

The book should be of special interest to the technical

student and was in fact first prepared for the engineering
, , ,

classes at the M ichigan Agricultural C ollege sinc e no suit

,

able text— book could be found .

The reading matter throughout has been arranged care

-

fully and with a definite obj ect in view The large number
f
.

o figures illustrating the text have been made as simp l e

as possible I t has also been the aim of the author to make
.

the treatment c lea r and c oncise and for this reason every
,

paragraph should be studied— not merely read over .

I t is hoped that this book will enable every earnest s tu

dent to acquire a foundation upon which he may eventually
build a broad and comprehensive knowledge o the subj ect f
f
.

Acknowledgment is due Professor L L Appleyard o r

. .

his kindly criticism and assistance in reading the proofs .

 G AS ENG INE T H EO -

AND DE S IG N
C HA P TER I

G EN E RA L P R I N C I P LES OF OP E R AT I ON
1 . THE H E AT E N G I N E may be defin ed as a machine which
convert s heat into mechanical energy The heat sets the
f
.

engine in motion and the engine by virt ue o this motion , ,

can drive machinery to which it is connected The t w o

f
.

principal classes o heat engine are the S team Engine and

the Gas Engine .

2 TH E GA S E N G I N E or internal combustion engine is

.
,
-
,

a machine in w hich the fuel is burned directly in the engine

cylinder Eve ry internal —
. combustion engine is a gas e n
gine no matter wheth er the fuel applied is a gas o r a li quid
, ,

since in the act of burning a liquid fuel is first converted

, ,

into a gas .

3 A G EN E R A L C LA S S I F I C AT I O N of gas engines is as
.

follows :
(a ) According to the fuel : Ga s engines O perating o n fuel
f
,

in the form o gas ; oil engines engines operating o n fuel ,

in the form of oils heavier than g aso le n G —such as kerosene ,

fuel oil crude o il ; gasolene engines engines operating on

, ,

gasolene ; alcohol engines engines operating o n alcohol ,

.

( b ) According to the R P M ( revolutions per minute ) : .

H igh S peed for example an automobile engine running at

, ,
 G AS- ENG I N E THE ORY AN D D ES IGN

R PM. . .
slow speed a stati o nary engine run ning at
,

10 0 R P M
. . .

The piston speed in feet per minute may be the same

fo r bo th a high speed and a slo w s peed engine
-
This can - .

readily be s c c n b y assuming that the automobile engine

‘

”
mentioned above has a 4
stroke and the stationary e n
gine a 4 8 stroke ”
.

(0) According to the strokes

required to complete a workingt

cycle : Two-stroke cycle ; four

FIG 1 . .

stroke cycle .

Gas engines can also be classified according to the me

c h a ni c a l construction as single cylinder mu l tiple -
cylinder -
, ,

horizontal vertical etc , ,

.

4 A CY CL E is a complete succession of events or chain

f
.
,

o events The following paragraphs will make clear the

.

term cycle as applied in this chapter

“
.

5. G EN E R A L P R I N C I P L E S O F O P E R AT I O N — In Fig 1 we . .

have a cylinder C a piston P which can readily be pushed ,

ba ck and forth but fits s o closely to the cylinder that air

,

cann ot leak past The space A is

f
.

fil led with a mixtur e o air and

fuel gas or air and the vapor o
,
f
some liquid fuel such as gasolene ,
.

This mixture is at atmospheric

pressure and when ignited the r e
FIG 2
s u lt ing combustion raises the tem
. .

p e r a t u r e and consequently the pressure in A causing the

, ,

mixture t o expand and push the piston o ut to the position

indicated by the dotted lines o r until the pressure again ,

drops to atmosphe r ic
f
.

No w it h as be en found that if the mixture o air and

,

fuel is fi rst compressed by moving the piston in as sh o w n ,

 GENE R A L PRIN C IP L ES OF OPERA T ION 3

in Fig 2 and then ignited the piston will be driven out

.
, ,

with much greater force than before and more work i s

f
gotten out o the same amount o fuel All gas engines f .

to— day work on the compression principle The matters .

of com pression ignition combustion etc will be c o ns id

, , ,
.
,

ered more fully later on .

6 TH E Tw o S T R O K E CY CL E — T he next four figures il l u s

.
- f

trate the operation of the two— cycle engine Fig 3 shows . .

the piston P ready to start

o n its down stroke The .

combustion chamber S is
filled with a compressed
mixture o air and c o m f
b u st ib l e which has been
compressed by the preced
ing up stroke o the pis f
ton This mixture is now
.

ignited ( usually by means

f an electric spark ) and
f
o

the expansion o the burn

ing gases drives the piston
down As P nears the end
f
.

o its down stroke it u n

covers the exhaust port E
through whi ch the burnt
FIG 3
gases flow from the c y lin
. .

der A little later the inlet port 1 leading from th e

.
,

crank cham ber to the cylinder is uncovered by P The , .

crank cham ber 0 is air tight and in moving down P covers

-
,

up the air inlet port A and compresses the combustible

-

charge in C When I is uncovered by P this compressed

.

charge flows from C into the cylinder partly filling it with ,

a fresh combusti ble charge and helping to expel some of

'

the remaining burnt gases The baffle plate B deflects the .

 GAS-E NGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIG N

incom ing charge as shown by the arrows preventing it

, ,

from passing directly across the cylinder and out through

the exhaust port .

Fig 4 shows the piston ready to start o n its up stroke

.
.

I n moving up P covers A E and I and compresses the

, ,

charge in the cyl inder .

As soon as A is uncovered
the motion o P sucks a f
charge of a ir and c o m b u s
ti ble into C and this is
again compressed o n the
next down stroke The .

air and combustible must

be thoroughly mixed b e
fore passing into C When .

P again reaches the p Os i

tion sho w n in Fig 3 it has .

completed a working cycle

in two strokes or one rev,

o l ut io n I gnition n o w o c
.

curs and the foregoing

operations are repeated
FIG 4
.

The piston is kept in m o

. .

tion during the time it receives no work n impulse by

f
means of a heavy l y wheel -

f
.

The ci rcle in Fig 5 represents the travel o the crank pin

.
-

D shows what takes place abo ve the piston and approx

f f
,

ima te ly what part o a revolution is required o r t h e

various operations .

Fig 6 S hows what takes place in the crank cham be r

.

d uring one revolution .

I n large t w o -cycle g as engines the preliminary compres

f
sion o ai r and fuel takes pl ace in separa t e pumps i nstead
f
o in a closed crank cham ber .
 G E NERA L PRIN C IP L ES OF OPERA T ION 5

The space W is filled with water which circ u l ates through

the j acket and absorbs and carries away surplus heat s o
as to prevent the cylinder from overheating since the tem ,

FIG . 5 . FIG . 6 .

of combustion is very high The water is u sua lly

p e r a tu r e
f
.

circulated by means o a pump

f
.

A two-cycle engine o the type ill ustrated can r un in

either direction
f
.

The direction o rotation is indicated by the arrows

7 THE F O U R—
.

. S T R O K E CY CLE — T h e
next six figures illustrate the operation
of the four cycle engine F i g 7 shows
-
. .

the piston ready to start o n its down

stroke The air inlet valve V is O pen
.
-
,
’
the exhaus t valve V is closed ; as the
piston moves down it draws a charge o f
air and combustible into the cylin der .

F i g 8 shows P ready to start o n

.

its up stroke B oth valves are closed

.

and the charge in S is compressed as

P moves up .

F i g 9 shows P ready to start o n its

.

sec on d down stroke B oth valve s ar e

. F IG 7 . .
6 G AS -ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

closed the compressed charge is ignited and the resul ting

, ,

expansion d n ves P down

'

F i g 10 shows P ready to start o n its second up stroke

.
.

V is closed V is open and as P moves up it drives the

’
, ,

burnt gases from the cylinder .

O ne working cycle h as now been completed in four piston

strokes or two revoluti o ns and this cycle is repeated in
, ,

definitely until the engine stops running .

FIG . 8 . F IG . 9 .
F IG . 10 .

Figs 11 and 12 show approximately during what peri ods

f
.

o the crank -pin travel these O perations take place .

The four cycle engine will run in one direction only with
-

the V alve gearing arran ged in the ordinary manner .

7a R ES UME — T he student h as learned from the fore

going that : I n the two—
.

cycle engine there is o ne power

f
impul se o r every revolution o the crank-pin ; in the four f
cycle engin e there is o ne power impulse o r every two f
revolutions of the crank -pin ; the o pe ration O f the gas engine
consists o : f
 G ENERA L PRIN C IP L ES OF OPERA T ION

f
( a ) C ausing a charge o air and combustible to flow into
the engine cylinder ;
(b ) C ompressing this ch arge ;
(c ) I gniting the compressed charge and driving the piston
f f
o ut by means o the expansion o the highly heated gases ;

(d) D ischarging the burnt gases from the cylinder .

F IG . 11 . FIG . 12 .

Also , a g as engine must be provided with means

fo r mixing the air and com bustible before the charge passes

into the cylinder ;

That means must be provi ded for igniting the c o mb u s
f
tible charge at the end o the compression stroke ;
That the cylinder wall must be water cooled to prevent
-

overheating
That a fly— wheel must be provided to keep the engine
running during the idle strokes and furnish the necessary
power for compressing the combustible charge .

I n the four cycle engine the valves are opened and closed
-

at the proper time by springs and e a rn s operated by gearing

driven from the crank shaft -
.
 C HA PT ER I I

H I S TO R I C A L

8 . Very
little is known of early attempts to produce a
heat engine and it is doubtful if such machines were ever
,

constructed in ancient times S everal nations attained a

.

high degree of civilization many centuries ago and now ,

and then the investigator comes across a toy set in m otion

by steam or h o t air but there seems to be n o record o a
,
f
machine powerful enough to do work I n 1774 James Watt .
,

in England completed the first commercially successful

,

steam engine This was applied to the driving of machin

.

ery pumping etc After a while locomotives were devel

, ,
.

oped and the steam engine was applied to navigation .

I t early occurred to investigators that if fuel could be

burned dire ctly in the engine cylinder a great deal of the
heat loss which occurs in the roundabout way o applying
,
f
heat in the steam engine could be avoided The simplicity
f
, .

and economy o a fi r st class gas engine as compared to

-

the steam power plant bears out the correctness O f these

-

early ideas Th e first successful type of internal combustion

.
-

f
engine w as the gas engine proper i e one using gas as fuel
f f
, ,
.

The manufactu r e o gas from coal o r illuminating purposes

had become fairly well established by the middle of the
nineteenth century I n 1804 the Lyceum Theatre in
.
,

London w as illum inated by g as and in 18 10 the first public

, ,

g as lighting
-
plant was installe d I n 18 23 g as -lighting was
.

introduced into N ew York C ity As time went o n improve

f
.

ments in the manner o manufacturing g as from coal cu l ,

8
 H IST ORI C A L 9

m in at ing in the gas-producer of to-day were made I n ,

.

18 59 petroleum was discovered in the U nited S tates in

great quantities and conditions became ripe for the devel
f
,

o me n t o the internal -combustion engine since suitable

p ,

fuels ( g as and oil ) were now at hand The great advance .

made in America in refin ing mineral oil stirred up R ussia

f
,

the next largest producer o petroleum in the world and ,

American and R ussian O ils were soon carried to all parts

f
o the globe All the various attempts to produce gas e n
.

gines O f which we have a record will not be give n here but

f
,

only some o the most important investigators mentioned .

0 T HE L E N O I R CY CL E — In 186 0 some work was done o n

.

the gas engine by Lenoir in France I n the Lenoir engine .

air and gas were drawn into the cylinder during a part
f the suction stroke the inlet valve w as then closed and
f
o ,

t h e mixture fired the resulting expansion o the burning

,

gases dri ving the piston out during the remainder O f the
stroke D uring the return stroke the cylinder w as cleared
.

of the burnt gas es This was a non-c o mp res sion engine

. .

10 T HE B R A Y TO N CY CL E — In 18 73 B rayton in America
.
, ,

brought o u t an engine in which combustion too k place

with o u t a r ise in p re ss u re Air and g as were compressed by
.

means of a pump into a reservoir which comm u nicated with

the engine cylinder D uring about o n e—
. half of the o u t
stroke of the piston the charge w as allowed to flow into the
engine cylinder from the reservoi r and then it w as i gn ited
,
.

Wire netting prevented the fl am e from going back int o the

reservoir At about half stroke the reservoir w as cut o and f
f
f
.

the stroke completed by the expansive working o the g as .

1 1 TH E B E A U D E R O C H A S CY CL E — Th e c omp ression c yc le
.
,

on which the present day engines O perate was fi rst su g

-
,

gested by B eau de R ochas in France in 186 2 I n 18 77

f
,
.
, ,

after many years o hard work D r N A O tto in Germany ,

. . .
, ,

brou g ht o u t the firs t co mmerciall y successful gas en g ine

10 GAS ENGIN E
- T HEORY AND DESIGN

O perating on the B eau de R ochas cycle This engine was .

'

a great improvement u po n t h e attempts of his predecessors ,

and the development of the gas engine from no w on was

rapid This cycle ( see Tw o
. and Four C ycle in the “
-

preceding chapter ) is often called the Otto C ycle “

.
”

12 I n 1880 D ugald C lerk in England brought o u t the

.
, ,

fir st successful two-cycle engine operating o n the B eau

“ ”

de R ochas cycle .

Engines working o n fuels other t h an g as now followed .

1 3 I n 1884 D aimler in Germany brought o u t a light

.
, ,

weight high— speed oil engine I n 189 5 he introduced a

perfected light—
.
,

weight high speed gasolene engine suitable

,
-

for automobiles and motor boats This engine w as quickly

-
.

adopted by the European manufacturers especially in

f
,

France and gave a great impetus to the development o

,

automobiling and motor-boating— in fact made the pres ,

ent development of these industries possi ble The im .

p r o v e me nts made in carbureter design and electric ignition

were also important factors in this connection .

14 TH E D I E S E L C YC L E —Another great step in the

.

development of the g as engine was made in 189 7 when ,

R udolf D iesel a German engineer brought out an internal

, ,

combustion engine which surpassed all previous heat

f
engines in the matter o fuel economy chiefly by means
f
,

o very high compression .

The D iesel cycle is really the ordinary compression cycle

f
,

but di e rs from it in the manner o handling the fuel A .

charge of air alone is compressed to 500 or 6 00 lbs per .

s quare inch The fuel ( o il ) is inj ected at the end of the

f
.

compression stroke by means o air compressed to about

800 l b s in a small two-stage compressor
. The fuel is in .

j e c te d from the time the piston has passed the dead centre
until it h as completed about o ne— tenth of the expansion
stroke s o that there is a gradual com bustion and the c o m ,
 C HA PTER III

A PP L I C AT I O N S O F T H E G AS ENG N E I

15 f
brief review o the principal applications and o
A f
f
.

some o the large gas-power installations in this country

may prove interesting .

I n 18 9 6 the Westinghouse M achine C ompany put o n the

market a ve rt ical m u ltipc y lin de r gas engine suitable o r f
driving generators and general power work U p to the .

present time this company has installed gas engines a ggr e

gating about H— P . .

The D e La Vergne M achine C ompany has installed at

the Lackawanna S teel C ompany s plant two— cycle K oe r t ing ’

g as engines operating on blast furnace gas and aggregating

-

H -P This company has also installed at the B ald

.

win Locomotive Works o il engines operating o n cheap fuel ,

oils agg regating

,
H P .
-
.

The Allis-C halmers C ompany h as under construction at

f
the time o writing the following large units : 25
K W units direc t-connected to generators ( about
. .

H . 12 -H P
blowers ; 9
.
-
K W units con
. . .

ne c ted to generators

f
.

A num ber o the above units are for the I ndiana S teel
Co mpany which will install in its plant at Gary I ndiana
, , ,

g as engines aggregating over H P Ga s power will .

-
.

b used for driving generato rs and the electric current will

e

be used for driving rolling— mill and other machinery Gas .

power will also be used for operating the blowers .

The S an M ateo P ower C ompany at its M artin S tation , ,

12
14 G AS -E NG I N E T HE O R Y AN D DES I G N

Calif rni a
o , h in o perati o n three gas po w er units driving
as
-

generat o rs and tw o m o re units will be installed These

,
.

engines were built by t h e S now S team Pump Works ,

o perate o n gas made from c rude o il by the Lowe pr o cess ,

and have a maximum cap acity of about H P each .

-
. .

B e s ides the foregoing there are of course a great num

f f
, ,

b e r o smaller installations o gas engines driving generators ,

pumps mill and factory machinery etc For small station

, ,
.

my power purposes the gas engine has the field to itsel f .

No t s o many years ago there we r e practically n o auto

mobiles in the U nited S tates According to statistics that
.

have be en compiled the total value of pleasure autom obiles

which have be en produced in the U nited S tates in 19 07
w as The capital invested that year in the
industry was and the num ber o empl oyees f
I t is es timated that the number of employees in
factories tu r ning out automobile accessories was
and t h e capital invested There were
sales offices and garages which employed persons
and t h e capital invested in these garages was
O ver automobiles have been registered in New York
State and of these about
,
are in Ne w York C it y .

The motor cycle industry is rapidly growing The fastes t

-
.

mile ever made by man viz in 26} seconds was done o n

,
.
, 1
,

a racing motor cycle -

.

I n this country t h e number of business and pleasure boats

pro pelled by gasolene and oil engines has been placed a t
and these are increasing at the rate o a year f
f
.

The value o t h e marine gas engine has been recognized by

several gove r nments and the use o motor boats o r general
,
f -
f
go vernment and naval service is constantly increasing .

The I mperial R ussian M arine has in service ten torpedo

b o a ts e a c h pro pelled by ga olene me te r s o 600H P These
,
s f .
-
.

t o rpedo boats are capable of a speed of 21 knots

16 G AS - EN G IN E T H EO RY AN D DESIGN

miles ) an hour S eve ral governments have in operation

.

ga s olene pr o p e lle ( l submarine boats

- .

I n 19 05 t h e Gregory a mot o r boat 9 1 feet long and ,

-

equipped w ith tw o 300 H P S tandard engines crossed the .

-
.
,

Atlantic—t h e first gas power boat to perform this feat -

—
.

At the present time there are several motor boats that can
do close t o 30 miles an hour .

The gas engine in connection with the gas producer

,
-
,

w ill doubtless be extensively applied to navigation in the

n ear future S everal b e ginnings have already been made
.

in this directi o n both here and abroad A gas producer .

-

occupies about o n fou r th of the space of a water tube

e - —
b o iler and th e coal con s umption is about one third There
,
-
.

is consequen tly a great saving in coal space boiler space

f
, ,

and cost o running I n one instance the cost of carr y ing

f
.

freight by a gas boat w a s only one fi th of that of tran s port -

ing it by rail .

The O il engine is being applied more and more to general

p O It a b l e contracti n g and agricultural work
f
.
, ,

The o il traction — engine is used o r plowing threshing ,

pumping and hauling the produce of the farm to the market

,

over considerable dista nces With power driven machinery .

-

a few men can take care of a thou s and acres of wheat land .

1 5a Gasolene motor cars are being used by several rail

f
-
.

r o ads fo r short run tra fi c The U nion P acific has 9 of these

-
.

c a rs in operation at the present time and is building 22 more

f
,
.

One o t h e cars is 55 feet long has a seating capacity of 75 , ,

is equipped with a 200 H P 6-cylinder gasolene engine and .

-
.
,

can easily make 6 5 miles an hour The car can be started

f
.

a n d s te pp e d quicker than an electric car The cost o oper

f
.

a t ion is below that o either steam or electric po w er .

Ga olene engines weighing about two and a half pounds

s

per H P have been constructed for flying machine and

.
-
.
-

Ia c mg purp o ses .
A PP L I C A T IONS OF T HE GAS ENGINE 17
18 GAS -ENG IN E T HEORY AN D D ES IG N
20 GAS—
ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

mobile engine averages 10lbs per H P A 50 H -P engine -

f
. . . .

o the type firs t mentioned would weigh lbs while .

,

the automobile engine would weigh 500 lb s

f
.

A word might here be said about the cost o O peration .

This depends largely upon local conditions which determine

f
the kind and cost o the fuel to be used The author has .

in mind an instance where some o il engines consumed two

f f
thirds o a pint o crude O il per H P hour The o il w as
f f
-
. . .

supplied at a net cost o 2 cents per gallon The c ost o

f
.

fuel per H P hour w as therefore o ne —

.
-
. sixth o a cent .

I n conclusion it might b e mentioned that there are at

f
,

the present time over 300 builders o gas engines in this

country .

F i g 13 shows an arrangement which is now the standard

.

for the large Allis— C h alm ers gas engines The engine illus .

t r at e d is a four cycle d o u b le a c ting twin tandem machine

- r

driving a K W generator The maximum rating of

. . .

the engine o n producer gas is H P running at 83 .

-
.
,

R PM
. . The floor space occupied is 69 ft by 35 ft The
. . .

cylinder dimensions are 4 4 X 54 stroke The diameter of ” ”

.

—
the crank shaft is and the crank pin The lengt h
f
-

o the main bearing is The flywheel is 23 ft in diam .

eter and the weight varies according to conditions The

f
, .

weight o the main frame is 90 tons .

Figs 1 5 1 6 and 1 7 show clearly the constructive details

.
, ,

of the Warren heavy duty tandem gas engine built by the -

S truthers Wells Co
f
.

Fig 18 is a photographic reproduction o a 90-H P ver

. .
-
.

tical engine and 100-H -P producer built by this company

f
. . .

The general over— all dimensions o the engine are : H eight ,

length width The producer occupies a

floor space about 9 square and the highest point is 14 ’
,
’

from the ground .

S ome tests o n Warren engines are given under Testing .

 C HA PTER IV

H E AT . T H E R M OD Y N A M I CS

16 .
H eat may be defined as a f o rm o f
energy w hich

enables us to d o w o rk .

1 7 T H E O RY O F HEA T — T he sensation of heat is supposed

f
-

t o be caused b y the rapid vibration o the molecules of

a body The hotter a body the more rapid these vibrations
.
,

and the colder the body the less rapid the vibrations .

18 . E X PA N S I O N — T he terms heat and expansion “ “

are practically synonymous That heat will expand the .

things that are heated is one of the most patent facts in

our every day life When we b e a t one end of an I ron bar
-
.

to a red or white heat the hot end is larger than the col d
f
, , ,

one and the di ference in size is plainly visible Wh en .

w ater is heated it expands When air is heated it expands .

and o ccupies more space than before weighing less of

f
, ,

course than the same bulk o cold air We here have

,
.

examples of a solid a liquid and a gas expanding through

, ,

heating and this increase in volume due to heating is taken

,

advantage of in the heat engine to convert heat energy into

.

mechanical energy— it is the fundamental principle of the

w o rking O all heat engines f .

1 9 T E M P E R AT U R E — W he n o ne bod y is a t a higher tem

.

p e r a tu r e than another i e w hen it is w armer heat tends

,
. .
, ,

t o fl o w from the warm body to the cold one until both are
at the same temperature When hot w ater , for example is .
,

poured into a vessel containing cold water an interchange

of heat takes place the hot w ater loses some of its heat
,

22
 HEA T T HER M ODYNAM I C S
.
23

and the cold water absorbs it and this interchange goes ,

o n un til a ll the water is at the same temperature We find

f
.

this tendency toward an equilibrium o heat o n every hand ,

it is un iversal and it i s of the greatest importance in the

,

working O f the heat engine Those materials that feel cold.

to the touch like metals s imply conduct the heat away

, ,

more rapidly than other materials Temperature is an

f f f
.

indication o the in te nsity and not o the a mou n t o heat .

A boiler may contain water at a temperature of and

f
the temperature o a blow pipe flame may be but the
f
-

amount o heat in the boiler may be several thousand

f
times that o the blow pipe flame Temperat u re depends
-
.

upon the rate of combustion and not upon the total

f
a mount o heat .

20 S O U R C E S O F H E A T —H eat is obtained in various

f
. .

ways— from the s un by the combustion o fuels by means

f
, ,

o the electric current fri ction percussion etc The heat

, , ,
.

used in the various heat engines is invariably obtained from

the combustion o a fuel f .

21 T R A N S F E R O F H E A T — H eat is transferred by c o n
.

duction radiation and convection

f
, , .

(a ) C onduc tion is the transfer o heat in a body from a

higher to a lower temperature When o n e en d o an iron f
f
.

bar is heated some o the heat is transferred along the bar

by conduction
f
.

( b ) Radia tion is the transfer o heat from a hot body

:

to a colder o n e across an intervening space The Su n .

heat ing the earth is an example of this The intervening .

medium may not necessarily become heated

f f
.

( c ) C onvec tion is the transfer o heat by the motion o

the heated matter Liquids and gases heated from below
.

are examples of this The hot currents of fluid rise and

.

wa r m the surrounding fluid the colder fluid sinks to the

f
,

bottom o the containing vessel and upon becoming ,

24 G AS - ENGINE T HEOR Y AN D DES IGN

heated rises to the to p When heated from above liquid s

.

and gases are very poor conductors and cannot heat by

c onvection
—
.

22.
R AD I AT I O N OF H A
E T T he intens ity of heat radiated
from any so urce varies as :
f
,

The temperature o the source ;

I nversely as the square o the distanc e from the
,
f
sour ce ;
C hanges as the inclination of rays to the surface
,

changes .

A polished surface will give out less heat and absorb ,

less heat than a non polished sur face

f
- .

I t is sometimes very important that the r adiation o heat

be prevented as much as possible as in the c ase of a steam ,

eng ine cylinder and the cylinder is then covered with

,

some material that is a poor conductor of heat Among .

the best materials in common use for this p u rpose are

m ineral wool and asbestos Air is a poor conductor o f
f
.

heat when it h as no chan ce to circulate and o r this reas on

f
,

a material o a woolly nature will constitute a good non

conductor pr o vided it w ill wit h stand the required tem
,

p e r at u r e
f
.

23 H E AT U N I T —A heat unit is the amoun t o heat

f f
. .

required to raise the temperat ure o a pound O water

This is termed a B ritish Thermal U nit o r B T U ,
. . .

24 M E C H A N I C A L E Q U I V A L E N T O F H E A T —
Joul e s e x pe r i ’
. .

ments ( 1843— 50) proved that heat and mechanical energy

are mutually convertible an d that there is a constant and
definite relation between the amoun t o work that can be f
done by a certain amoun t of heat and vice versa Joule ,
.

placed some paddles in a vessel fi lled with water in such a

manner that the fall ing o a weight revolved the paddles f
and the friction caused by the motion o the paddles raised f
f
the tem pe rat u re o the wate r From these an d later ex .
 HEA T T HER M ODYNA M I C S
. 25

p e r im e n ts the value o the B T U w a s f

established — which . . .

is n o w generally accepted as 778 foot pounds ( a foot -

pound is the work done in lifting vertically 1 pound 1 foot )

f
,

i e it requires 778 foot pounds o work to raise the tem

f f
-
,
. .

p e r a tu r e o 1 pound o water
25 S E N S I BL E AND I N S E N S I BL E H E A T —S ensible heat is
.

that which can be perceived by the senses I nsensible .

heat is that which cannot be perceived by the senses The

f
.

latent heat o water is an example of the latter

f
f f
.

26 S P E C I F I C H E A T —D i erent bodies have di ferent

f
.

capacities for storing heat S pecific heat is the amount o .

heat required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a

body 1 as compared with some standard The amoun t o
°
f
f
.

heat required to raise the temperature o 1 pound of water

1 from 32 F (the freezing—
° °
point o water ) is taken as the
. f
standard Fo r high temperatures the specific heats are
.

somewhat greater than the values given in Tables I

and IV
f
.

2 7 L AT —
T H E A T Latent heat is the extra amount o
f
.E N .

heat necessary to force the molecules o a body farther

apart and overcome the forces o cohesion in order to f
f
, ,

change the s ta te o the body .

28 L AT E N T H E AT O F F US I O N —T h i s is the extra amount

f
.

o heat necessary to convert a solid into a liquid .

29 L AT E N T H E AT O F VAPO R I Z AT I O N — T h i s is the extra

f
. .

amount o heat necessary to convert a liquid into a gas :

Water furnishes a good example of the three states of

matter solid liquid and gaseous and how latent heat
f
-
, , ,

a fects these states .

I ce melts at 32 and atmospheric pressure The mole

°

f
.

cules o the ice are held together by a ce r tain force and a

f
certain amount o h eat is necessary to overcome this force
( 14 2 B T U per poun d ) and convert the ice into water
f
. .

Th i s heat i s called th e l atent heat o fus i on and a pparentl y

26 G AS - ENGIN E T H EORY AN D DESIGN

disappears as the temperature o the resulting water will f

be and it is therefore insensible heat since it cannot be
perceived by the senses U pon freezing this heat is again
.

restored o r liberated When all the ice h as been melted

,
.
,

if the heating is continued th e temperature of the water ,

will rise until it reaches 212 ( 180 B T U are required to °

.

raise the temperature of o ne pound of water from 32 to °

when a large amount of heat (9 6 6 B T U per pound ) .

is necessary to conve r t the water into steam vi z a gas ,

.
,
.

The heat which here apparently disappears is the latent

heat of vaporization and the temperature of the steam does
,

n o t rise above at atmospheric pressure until all the ,

water has been converted into steam When the steam is .

condensed this latent heat is restored .

The latent heats vary with the pressure .

30 T H E R M O M ET R Y T il e thermometer is an instrument
f
-
. .

for measuring di ferences in temperature .

The Fahrenheit (abbreviated F ) thermometer is gener .

ally used in English speaking countries while the Centi

-
,

grade ( C ) thermometer is used in the countries which

.

have adopted the metri c system " .

O n the Fahrenheit thermometer the freezing point of t

-

water is taken at and the boiling point at the -

intervening space being divided into 180 equal parts o r

f
,

degrees Water is taken a s the standard for the sake o

f
.

convenience and at a pressure o o ne atmosphere at the

,

s e a level

f
.

O n the Ce ntigrade thermometer the freezing point o -

water is taken at 0 and the boiling— °

pOin t at
B elow are given examples of the method o converting f
Fahrenheit read ings into C entigrade and V ice versa :
—
,

Q Wh at temperature C corresponds to 1 52 F ?
°
.

—32) X g
. .

A. C .

e F a hrenhe i t sc a le i s used i n th i s b o o k
" Th
.
28 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AND DESIGN

energy a nd mechanical energy are mutually convertible

in a definite ratio viz : 1 heat unit ,
equals 778 .

foot pounds -
.

S ec o nd La w — The second law may be expressed alge

b r a ic a lly as follows :

Q I
_
Q2 T I _ TZ

Q1 T1

where Q , and T equal the quantity and absolute tem

I

p e r a tu r e of the heat received and Q and T 2 equal the , 2

quantity and absolute temperature of the heat rej ected .

The heat used in a heat engine is the difference between

the heat received and the heat rej ected and this divided
“

, ,

b y the heat received equals the thermodynamic efficiency

f
,

o the machine The thermal efficiency is therefore pro

.

f
p o rtional to the absolute temperatures and expresses t h e
e r c e nta ge o the h ea t u sed
p .

33a .
—
T A BL E I

P H Y S I C A L P R OP E R T I E S OF M AT E R I A LS
S olids

Sp i fi Sp i fi C f
S ilv
rr 00 T m p r
ur f
e 1 e e a

f
fim
ri l \V h
Cu bi
e ig t
Li n r T hoe
m l t e nt

G r vi t y n u
ec c ec c e a e O
M a te a
a H t ea
pe r
F t oo E m
c o
dx p a ns
F
ea
n
co e u s Io n
i F t iv t y °
.

Alu m inum
B ra ss .

Co pper
Ir o n , c a st
I no n w r o u g h t
,

L ea d
S teel so ft , .

S teel b a rd ,

Z inc . .
 H EA T T HER M ODYNAM I C S 29

Liqu ids

We i gh t Te m pe r a T e rn L t nt
utbi t ur tu r pr
ra a e

823
33 ag
10 S
y
1 le
pe r C c e e a o H e a t Va
3 1 e
F oo F IIS IO II Iz a ti o n p o r i z a t io n

° °
32 21 2 9 66 B . T . U .

1 73 372

33b . D ensity
speci fic weight weight of a unit vol u me .

Vapor is a gas be low the critical temperature i e it can ,

. .
,

be reduced to a liquid by press ure alone .

 C HA PTER V

C O M BU S T I O N

34 C H E M I S T RY O F C O M B US T I O N — An elementary knowl
f f
.

edge o chemistry is n e c e s s a iy for the understanding o the

process of combustion .

An element is a substance that cannot be separated into

anything else Example : I ron carbon oxygen
.
, ,
.

A c omp ou nd is a substance that can be separated into

el ements Example : Water can be separated into oxygen
.

and hydrogen .

An a to m is the smallest particle of matter that can e x ist .

A mo lec ule is the smallest quantity into which a mass of

matte r can be divided without changing its chemical nature .

Every molecule consists of two o r more atoms .

A me c ha nica l mixtu re is one in which substances are not

chemically combined Example : S alt water
f
. .

A p h ysica l c h a n ge is o n e in which the nature o the su b

stance is not changed Example : Water converted into
.

steam
f
.

A c h emic al c ha nge is o ne in which the nature o the s u b

stance is changed Example : The burning o a piece o coal
. f f .

Atomic weigh t is the weight of an atom of any element a s

c o mp a r e d w ith hydrogen the lightest known element
'

, .

C h emica l no menc la tu re —Abbreviations are used in chem

f
ist r y for the names o the various elements in writing the
f
,

reactions S ome o these are given in the following para

.

g raphs .

C h emica l a c tion is most energetic between di ss imilar

30
 C O M BU S T ION 31

substances and takes place under certain conditions only .

I t is very di fficult to bring about chemical action by

f
mechanical means as it is e fective at insensible distances
,

only and for this reason the agents usually employed are
,

solvents and heat C hemi cal combination always takes

.

place in certain definite proportions ; for example when ,

hydrogen and oxygen are brought together and chemical

action is started by heating 2 atoms o hydrogen will unite
,
f
with 1 atom of oxygen (written forming
water and the elements will not combine with each other
,

in any other proportion .

35 C O MBUS T I O N may be defined as the chemical com

f
.

bination o one or more elements with oxygen taking place ,

with suffi c ient rapidity to be accompanied by heat and

light
f
.

L et us examine this matter o chemic a l action and com

.

b u st io n more closely I n order to burn a substanc e —

. let
us t ake a piece of coal for example— it must be heated to
a ce r tain temperature before it will ignite This temperature
f
.

of ignition varies with dif erent substances When the .

coal is first heated gases are formed on the outside ( where

the heat acts first ) and these gases combining with the
f
,

oxygen o the air undergo the chemical transformation

f
f
,
“ ”
called combustion The heat now given o by the part
.

of the coal that is burning will heat the rest of the coal to
the temperature required for ignition and thus the com ,

b u s tio n goes o n until all the coal has been consumed In .

place of a piece of coal we now have a ce rt ain bulk of very

hot gas and a little ash I n burning nothing is destroyed
.
,

combustion is simply a chemical change in which the

burning elements enter into new combinations which we
n o w have in the form o f
hot gases These gases and the .

ash weigh j ust as much as t he coal and air consumed did ,

nothing has b een lost but the heat stored in the coal h as
,
32 GAS-ENG INE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

been liberated Air is a mechan ical mi xt ur e o oxygen an d f

f
.

nitrogen the proportion being about o ne part o the former

,

to three pa r ts of the latter by weight O xy gen a s m en.

,

tio ne d before possesses the prope rty of entering into

,

chemical combination with man y substances afte r they

have be en heated to a sufficiently hi gh temperature and ,

it is for this reason that air is necessary for combustion

since it furnishes the required oxygen This changing o . f
a fuel fir st into gas by raising its temperature and then
, ,

burning the g as takes place n o matter whether the fuel

,

is a sol id o r a liquid .

When carbon is burned completely it burns to a g as

f
called carbon dioxide E ach atom o carbon combines with
f
.

two atoms o oxygen and the reaction is written a s follows :

,

c + ze = c o ,

I f the carbon is in combination with another element ,

the preliminary heating weakens the force which holds it

in combination and the C and O pu l l together as a magnet
and a piece of iron pull together B ecause heating weakens
.

the force holding the elements together it is necessary to

heat most fuels before they will burn To separate the .

C and 0 after combustion requires j ust as much heat as

w a s li berated during the combustion S ince the sun s heat
.
’

in the first place brought about the chemical changes by

which fuels were formed the sun is the source o the energy
,
f
stored in the fuels .

36 A F LA M E is a current of hot g a s carrying with it

.

solid particles at such a temperatur e as to glow and give

o u t heat and light .

37 I G N I T I O N is the first step in combustion i e it is

f
. .
,
.
,

the beginning o the chemical combination .

38 S M O KE is a current of burnt gases carr ying with it

f
.

particles o u nburnt carbo n .

 C O M BU S T ION 33

39 . An E X P LO S I ON is extremely rapid combustion .

4 0 S P O N TA N E O US C O MB U S T I O N occurs when a body a b

.

sor b s oxygen s o rapidly that the chemical combination

raises the temperature sufficiently so that it will burst into
a flame
f
.

4 1 C O M P LE TE C O MBUS T I O N o a fuel element is its com

.

bination with that amount of oxygen which produces the

most stable compound Example : C burning to C02
. .

D urin g complete combustion no flame is visible

f
.

4 2 I N C O M P LE T E C O MBU S T I O N o a fuel element is its

.

combination with oxygen in such proportions as to form

an unstable compound Exam ple : C burning to C O
. .

4 3 A F U E L is a substance containing elements which

.

will combine with O xygen under proper conditions and in

s o doing produce heat .A fue l may be a solid a liquid , ,

o r a gas

f
.

44 C A L O R I F I C PO W E R —The complete combustion o a

f
.

unit weight o any fuel element produces a definite quan

f
tity o heat This is called its calorific power and is ex
.

pressed in heat units .

4 5 AS H is incombustible matter contained in a fuel

. .

4 6 S P E E D O F C O M BUS T I O N — T h i s depends upon a n u m

f
. .

ber o conditions and therefore varies greatly I t depends .

upon
(a ) The temperature before ignition increasing with this
,

temperature
f
(b ) The elements o which the fuel is composed som e ,

elements burning faster than others ;

f
(c) P r e portion o dilu e nts e t c de c r e as ing as an excess O f
,
.
,

air is provided ;
(d) The more intimately the gases and oxygen are mixed
the quicker the com bustion ;
(e) The greater the compression the quicker the c o m
b u stio n .

a
34 G AS - ENG INE T HEORY AND DESIGN

47 . C O M P O S I T I O N O F AIR — Air contains oxygen and nitro

gen ln the following proportions at and at atmospheric
pressure I
B y W i gh t e .

O xygen 0 2 36 .

N itrogen .

48 . AI R REQ U I RE D F O R T HE C O MB US T I O N OF C A R B ON TO

CA R B O N D IOX I D E .

C + 2O = C O 2

= 44

the atomic weight o C and 16 is the atomic weight

12 is f
f f
,

of O For burning 1 lb o C lbs o O are required

f
,
.
,
. .

lbs The amount o air required will be x

f
or .

or lbs The products o combustion are

.

N . lb s
COZ

lb s .

N itrogen is inert so far as combustion is c oncerned

f
.

At a temperature of and a pressure 1

f
o

1 lb of air occupies cu t

f
. . .

The total amount of air required in c u t . . rs

X or about 153 cu ft at. .

49 . R EQ U I R E D
AI R F OR T HE C O M BU S T I O N OF

M O N O X I D E T o CA R B O N D I OX I D E .

CO -l-O = CO2

The weight o f
air requi red will be
lbs .

The air required in cu ft will . . be

X at
36 G AS -ENGINE T HEORY AN D DE S IG N

52
.
C O M BUS T I O N OF A C OM PO UN D . Experiment h as
shown that :
W hen a fuel contains 0 then s o much less 0 will
,
be re

quired for complete combustion ;

When a fuel contains both H and 0 the n only the surplus
f
,

H ( if any ) need be considered The H and O o the fuel

f
.

used in forming H O will not a fect the calorific power

, Z ,

of the fuel and may be neglected This gives a high and .

a low heating value for such a fuel the lo w value being the ,

true o n e
f
.

Example : A sample o anthracite coal has been analyzed

and found to be as follows :
9 4 per cent .

H and O in proportions to form water 4

f
.

H available o r combustion 2

The cu ; ft . o air required for the combustion f

f C will be o

14 3 X 94
100
and for H
4 31 X 2
1 00

The analysis gives percentages by weight The cu ft . . .

of air required can be found direct without first finding

f
the weight o air but the student should no t con use
,
f
weights and volumes
f f
.

A formul a often used o r finding the weight o air r e

quired is :
( 1) Weight o f
ai r in lb s .
= l 2 C + 36 (

52a TH E C A LO R I F I C P O W E R
A C O M P O UN D can be
f
. OF

figured according to the percentage o the elements Th e

f
.

H and O o the fuel must be treated as descri bed in th e

pre ceding parag raph .
 C O M BU ST ION 37

N ote —It m ust be understood that C and

may exist 0
in a fuel without being in the form o CO or CC and that f ,

H and S may also be in a fuel without b eing combined

w ith 0 .

M ore air is always supplied in gas engines than is theoret

ic all y required for combustion .

5 3 VO LUM E
. O F T HE PR OD UC TS OF C O MBUS T I O N —It will
be shown later that
Where V is the volume o the gas at the freezing point
°
f -
.

T
°
temperature abs .

V actual volume .

T temperature .

This is true onl y when no chemical reactions are going

o n during expansion The combined volume after c o m
.

b u s tio n may n o t be the same as the s u m of the volum es

before combustion even when the final and initial tem
,

t and press ures are the same For example

f f
p e r a u r e s .

1 cu ft o H requires
. . cu ft o air total cu ft . .
,
. .

The volume after combustion will be cu ft

f
. .

1 cu ft o C O requires
. . cu ft of air total cu ft . .
,
. .

The vol ume after combustion will be cu ft

f f
. .

1 cu ft o OH requires
. .
4
cu ft o air total cu . .
,
.

f
ft The volume after combustion will be
. cu ft . .

The La w o Avoga dro must here be taken into account .

This law is as follows :

f
Equal volumes o all gases under the same conditions of
tempe rature and pressure contain the same number o f
molecules .

( 2) Weight in lbs per cu ft at 32

°
. . .

M olecular weight
2

Fo llowing are the volumes in cu ft per lb of some gases . . .

at
38 GAS ENG INE T H EORY AN D DESIGN
- .

cu ft .

19 0

54 . T H E O R E T I C A L T E M P E R AT U R E S OF C O MBU S T I O N .

Wh en C b u r ns to C02
f f
a .

Number o B T . . per lb o C
U available = 14
.
, 500 . .

For every degree rise in temperature N requi res

X 0 244 B T U. An d CO requi res
. X . .
2

B T U ( multiplying the weight in lbs by the

. . . .

specific heat ) then

t = 4 8 72 = increase in temperature °

f
.

I f we assume the temperature oair before c o m

the
b u s tio n to have been then the final temperature will
b e 4 8 72 + 6 2

b Wh e n CO b u rn s to CO
f
.
,

N umber of B T U available = 4 . . .
, 320 per lb . o CO
4 320 °
5380 rise in
X X
temperature .

c Whe n H bu rn s to HZO
f
.

H ere the temperature o the water must first b e

raised to the boiling point Latent heat must be -
.

supplied to convert the water into steam The .

steam must be raised to the final tem perature .

The N must be raised to the final temperature

f
.

N umber of B T U available = 62 000 per lb o H

. . .
, . .

( 9 X 96 6 )
( 212 —t ,) 9 ( t — 212) (9 X (t —t )
, X

=
t 49 l 0°

of air before combust ion .

 C O M BU ST ION 39

The theoretical temperatures are never attain ed because

the com bustion is seldom complete ; an excess o air is f
always supp lied ; there are radiation losses ; some moistur e
is usually present in the fuel ; dissociation takes place .

5 5 D I S S O C I AT I O N
.
— T he tendency of carbon to combine
.

with oxygen increases with the temperature as h as been ,

stated before un til it reaches a certain limit and it then

,
'

decreases with a further increase in tempe rature the ,

affinity between the elements finall y be coming zero and a ,

still further increase in temperatur e results in a separation

f the C O or CO or other combinations with O This
f
o 2, .

breaking up o the chemical combination with O is ca l led

”
dissociation and takes place with a corresponding a b
f f
,

so r ption o heat lower ing the tem perature o the fir e and

f
,

decreasin g the calorific po wer o the fuel since it takes ,

j ust as much heat to break up an oxygen compound as w as

liberated in the formation o that compo u nd The H O f .
z

present is also broken up IVh e n the temperature has fallen

.

sufficiently the oxygen compoun ds again form and r e

supply the lost heat but in a gas engine thi s r e—
,
combination ,
“ ”
or after bur n ing may occur so late in the stroke as to
-
,

constitute a heat loss D issociation is supposed to take

.

place at temperatures ranging from up The tem

f
.

p e r at u r e varies o,
course with conditions and cannot be
,

accur ately determine d .

 C HA PTER VI

F U E LS

56 The fuels commonly use d in c onnection with heat

.

engines are : solid anthracite and bituminous coal ; liqui d

, ,

petroleum and its distillates alcohol ; g as the various gases

, ,

made from coal natura l gas ; other fuels are coke charcoal
, , ,

wood peat etc but since they are used only to a limited
, ,
.
,

extent they will not be further considered here

f
.

57 C O A — R egarding the origin o coal geology teaches

f
. L ,

u s that many ages ago the earth was very dif erent from

what it is to-day C ontinents slowly emerge d from seas

.

and great changes o n land and water took place D urin g .

o ne era called the carboniferous era the air w as very hot

, ,

and moist and the land was covered with immense trop ical
forests and other l uxur iant vegetation D uring succeeding .

ages fu r ther changes took place and these forests were even
tua lly buried beneath deposits o sand rock etc unti l a f
f
.
, , ,

great crust had been forme d over them D ecomposition o .

the vegetable matter produced heat and the heat and

pressure resulted in a partial combustion an d distillation
f
o the vegetable products changing them into coal ,
This .

coal as we all know is now obtained by m ining Coal is

, , .

generally clas sified as ant h racite o r hard and bituminous , , ,

or soft I n this coun try P ennsylvani a is the great anthra

.

cite producing S tate The output for 19 05 was

-
.

tons About 28 S tates produce bituminous coal and the

.
,

total output for the same year was tons The

f
.

production o coal in the U nited S tates during the ca l endar

y ear 1907 was tons of lb s each Great . .

40
 F U E LS 41

B ritain an d Germany ran k next as coal producing coun -

tri e s The chief reason why greater progress has been made
.

in Eur 0pe with large gas engines than here is because fuel
is s o much scarcer there and the natur al resources in ,

general are more limited necess itating greater economy

f
.
, ,

S ince the composition o coal varies much the calorific power

vari es accordingly III order to obta in a fair average o f
f
.

the heat ing value o coal from a certain locality several

samples should be analyzed .

58 An th raci te is a hard coal burning with little o r no

f
.
,

smoke I ts calorific power is usually greater than that o

f
.

soft coal I t contains a certain amount o incombustible

.

matter commonly termed a s h An average composition “ ”

.

is as follows :
C arbon 9 0 per cent by weight .

H o r O and N
,
. 5
Water 1
As h 4
B . T U . .
pe r pound to
59 . B itu mino u s ,
or soft coal ignites more readily than ,

the anthraci te and during combustion ( un der a boiler )

f
f
,

usually gives o a large amoun t of black smoke A good “

f
.

average analysis o bituminous coal cann ot be given since

it varies from grades rich in heating value to grades almost
unfit for use as a fuel The following however may be .
, ,

taken as a guide :
C arbon 50—80 per cent by weight
—
.

H O N etc
, , ,
. 10 40
S ulphur 1 3
Ash o r earthy matter
, ,
2—
20
B T U per pound to
f
. . .

There are o course other kinds o coal such a s semi

, ,
f
bit uminous lignite etc but these need not be discussed here
, ,
.
, .
42 GAS—
ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

6 0 PE T R O L E U M —P etroleum
also called mineral and is
f
.

crude oil With respect to its origin O pinions d i fer but it

f
. ,

seems that this o il is the result of the decomposition o

anima l matter which was buried i n a similar ma nner to
the coal The U nited S tates is the greatest o il producer
.
-

in the world with R ussia second The oil is O btained by

,
.

boring wells in the o il districts S ometimes the petroleum

f f
.

has to be pumped o u t but r e q u e ntl v it gushes out o the

,

well with considerable force P etroleum is fo u nd in thi s .

country in P ennsylvania Texas C alifornia and some other

, , ,

S tates The annual production in the U nited S tates i n

f f
.

1905 reached a total o barrels o 4 2 g allons

e ach D uring the calendar year 1907 the production o
.
f
petroleum was gallons I n or d er to obtain .

the various oils known as gasolene kerosene etc the c rude , ,

.
,

o il is subj ected to a distillation process The lighter oils

'

f
f
.

are driven o fir st and the result of th e d istill atio n and

'

f
,

general properties o the disti ll ates are given in Table I I ,

.

6 0a .
—
T A BL E II
P E T R O LE UM D I S T I LLAT ES

D i ti ll C nt
Sp i fi F l h i n g B T U
G r v i ty P i nt
ec c as
Pe r lb
.

a te
. .

s e
a o per .

R hi g o lene 59 62
Ch y m o g e ne 59
G —
.

s lene
a o 65 72 4 0 70
1 4—
.

Benzine 74 32
1 4—
.

N a phtha 74 32
Kero sene 98 100 1 6 0 —
L ub o il
Pa ra f
. . 90 230
fin
Residue

. 80 90
44 G AS -ENGINE T HEORY AN D D ESIG N

,
f
however are di fi cult ones U nless complete combu st i on
.

is obtained the exhaust will be smoky an d give O ff disagree

able odors There is also danger from carbon deposits in
.

the engine cylinder I f practically perfect combustion can

.

be obtained it forms a safe and cheap fuel

f
.

There are s o many grades o fuel o il that when the o il ,

is wanted for a gas engine this fact should be state d in

,

ordering since some fuel oils as well as some crude oi l s

, , ,

are absolutely unfit for u s e in the engine cylinder .

S ince the fuel o il and distillates contain various com

b inatio ns of hydrogen and carbon it is difficult to give the ,

chemical composition
6 2 Ke rosen e is a cheap and safe fuel and can be used to
.

good advantage in the gas engine by increasing the com

pression somewhat over that commonl y used o r gasolene f
f
,

and by properly carbureting I ts u se as a fuel o r small

.

motors is spreading rapidly While the probable percent

f
.

age o kerosene in petroleum is about 50 only 30 per cent ,

is actually obtained by distillation .

O ne pound of kerosene vapor at atmospheric pre s sure

f
, ,

occupies a space of cu t ; 188 cu ft of air are required

. . . .

for its combustion o r volumes in a ratio of 1 to 76 ; it is

,

about five times as heavy as air

f
.

A number o the s o-called kerosene engines are first “

started o n gasolene and when the engine is warme d up

f
f
the gasolene is turned o and the kerosene on
f
.

6 3 Ga s ole ne h as been used o r automobile and the

.

smaller marine and stationary engines almost exclusively

f
,

be cause o the following advantages : I t is easily carbur

eted since it is volatile ; it is readily ignite d by the electric
,

spark ; good combustion is more e asily obtained than in

f
the case o the heavier oils ; in short it is cleaner and easier ,

to handle .

I t possesses a numbe r of disadvantages however among , ,

 F U ELS 45

which the following : I t is volatile therefore dan gerous

ar e ,

unless carefully handled ; more ex pe nsive than the other

oils ; in some localities the cost is almost prohi bitive ;
considerable loss from evaporati on occurs in warm loc ali
ties ; cannot be procured a t all in some places ; in some
of the S outh American countries its u se is forbidden
by law
f
.

O ne pound o gasolene vapor at atmospheric pressure

f f
, ,

occupies a space o cu ft 1 8 11cu ft o ai r are required

. . . .

for its combustion or volumes in a rati o of ,

to 1 ; it is
about times as heavy as air
f
.

There are several grades o gasolene and this fact must

be considered in specifying it for fuel purposes
f
.

64 ALC O H O L — There are two kinds o alcohol —me th ylic

f
.
,

o r wood alcohol made by dry distillation o wood

,

in iron retorts and e th yl alcohol Cs Oz m ade by dis

f
, , ,

t ill at io n from the fermented infusions o substances c o n

taining starch such as potat o es corn rice barley wheat
, , , , , ,

etc o r substances containing sugar such a s sugar beets

.
, , ,

sugar cane molas ses etc Waste products can be used

, ,
.
,

such as diseased potat o es bitter molasses etc , ,

.

F o r fuel purposes the ethyl alcohol is denaturized so as

to make it unfit for human consumption This is done by .

adding benzine wood alcohol gasolene and other s u b

, , ,

stances
f
.

There are also electrical methods o manufacturing alco

h o l and for these a great deal is claimed
f
.
,

Following are the principal properties o ethyl alcohol

S pecific gravity freezing point about 200 below
,
-
,
°

zero when pure ; calorific power B T U per lb ,

. . . .

when pure ; when diluted t h is may run down t o

B T U has a strong affinity for w ater
f
. . . .

A somewhat higher compression than o r ga solene i s

usually required o n account o the water i n the alcohol f .
46 GAS-ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN

U ntil quite recently the extensive manufacture o f

al cohol
was prevented by an excessive tax but this h as been r e
,

moved so that alcohol can now be manufactured in quantity

, ,

although under certain restri ct ions When produced in .

large quantities it can be sold at a price that compares

favorably with that of gasolene o r kerosene The Treasury
f
.

D epartment gives the Ollo w ing figures for denatured a l

cohol : For th e s ix months ending June 3oth 19 07 whole , ,

sale dealers received wine gallons ( this includes

alcohol received from other dealers ) and sold and removed
gallons .

Among its princi pal advantages as a gas engine fuel are -

I t can be produced in any quantity and at a com paratively

lo w cost ; it i s safe fires can be extinguished with water ;
f
,

this cannot be done in the case o o il where water simply ,

spreads the flames ; it is cleaner than the oils and leaves

n o deposits in the engine cylinder ; there is no danger from

f
expl osions in case o leaky connections .

The consumption I n pounds per H P hour h owever .

-
.
, ,

is greater than for the fuel O ils when the alcohol is greatly
diluted .

U nder certain conditions acids are formed during com

b u s t io n which will corrode metallic surfaces
f
.

Alcohol is an ideal fuel o r small engines properly de

signed for its use .

65 NAT U R A L GAS is o r was formed by undergro und dis

f
.
, ,

t illa tio n I t is obtained as in the case o petroleum by

.
, ,

drilling to the subterranean accumulations Where obtain .

able it forms an ideal fuel especially for the larger station

,

ary gas engines The calorific power can readily be cal

.

c u la te d when the chemical composition is kno w n .

66 C OA L GAS or I LLUM I N AT I N G GAS is obtained by de

.
, ,

structive distillation of coal The coal is placed in closed

.

iron reto rt s which are heated from the outside The gases .
 FU E L S 47

which are driven o during this heatin g are filtered f

f
and coo led The prod uct remaining in the retorts is
.

called coke This g as has bee n largely superseded by

.

water g as .

6 7 W AT E R GAS is formed by blowing air and steam alte r

f
.

n at e ly t hr ough a mass o incandescent carbon I t is similar .

”
F o r illuminating
“
to the product called producer gas
f
.

purposes the water g as is enriched by the addition o car

b u r ette d hydrocarbon vapors The illuminating g as is .

fixed ( made a stable compound ) the same as coal g as

”
,

by passing it through a supe rheater An illuminating g as .

is not so good for power purposes a s a power g as .

68 OI L W ATE R GAS is sometimes m a de from pe troleum

.

by heating the o il in a retort into whi ch highl y su perheated

steam is passed in such a mann er as to ultimately mix the
constituents While this gas h as been used as an engine
f
.

fuel it is more o an illuminat ing than a power gas

,
.

6 9 —
B LA T F U R A C G S In the modern blast furnace
f f
S N E -
A

for the reduction o iron o r e less than o n e—

.

third o the car

b o n burns to CO , so that the discharged g as consists
f
,

largely o C O The C O has a calorific power of abo ut 100

f
.

B T U per cu t o r about
. . . . B T U per poun d B y in
.
, . . . .

creasin g the compression sufficiently this g as can be used

in the g as engine ( see P ar Ab out cu ft o air f
f f
. . .

is required per cu it o g as and the calorific power O t he

f
.
,
.

mi xt ure is about 55 B T U per c u t . . . . .

The foll ow ing figures were furnished by the Lackawann a

S teel C ompany and represent the average blast- furnace
f
,

practice per ton o iron :

Ch r g P r d u ti n
a e o c o

lb s . I ro n lb s .

Ga s
S lag
lbs . lbs .
48 GAS-ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

Average an alysis of gas by weight :

Pe r ce nt
by W i gh t e

N i tro gen N
Ca rb o n m o n o xide CO
.
, .

Ca rb o n di o xide CO , ?

M etha ne CH
, . 38 .

H ydro gen 08
Wa ter va p o r H O
.
,

, Q 2 30 .

T o ta l
The calorific power o the above gas equals f BTU
f
. . .

per lb About 5 0 per cent o this is available as a fuel for

f
.

g as engines o r l b s o gas containing BTU

f
. . . .
, ,

per lb for every t e n o pig iron produced

. .

At o ne time these gases were considered waste products

and discharged directly into the atm osphere
f
.

O ne of the chief problems in c onnection with the u s e o

blast furnace as well as coke— oven and producer g as is
f
-
, ,

the proper cleaning o the gas before it reaches the engine

cylinder A centrifugal cleaner o r blast furnace gas c o n f
f
-
.

sists of a drum which revolves rapidly inside o a casing

and is so arranged that it throws both water and the g a s
f
against the inside o the casing by centrifugal force The
f
f
.

wate r picks up the dust in the gas and as it drains o at

f
the bottom o the casing it carries the impur ities with it .

The cooled and cleaned gas passes o n to the engine:

70 P R OD UC E R S AND P R OD UC E R GAS —P rod uce rs are o
. f
two kinds : pressure producers used for large power in
f
,

s ta lla t io ns and suction producers used o r the smaller

, ,

installations .

I n the p res su re p rodu cer compressed air is introduced into

the as h pit and the pressure throughout the system is
-

greater than atmospheric This necessitates an auxiliary .

air compressing system a g as holder and is also open to

-
,
-
,

the O bj ection that if there should be a leak the C O will

escape This gas is a deadly poison The use o a gas
.
. f
 FU E LS 49

holder h as several advantages : the action o the producer f

f
f
is n o t a ected by the pulsations o the engine a supply O f ,
f
gas is always on hand for quick starting and the engines
f
,

can b e r un independently o the rate at which the producer

is generating g as .

The general way in which the s uc tion ga s p roduc er operates -

is shown in Fig 19 A the producer pro per consists of a

. .
, ,

steel shell lin ed with fi r e b r ic k and is provided with a fi r e

,

grate as h pit etc The producer is charged with coal from

,
-
,
.

FIG . 19 .

above and a fir e started at the bottom As the mass o coal f

f
.

above the fire becomes heated gases are driven o and ,

when the engine is running it sucks these gases into the

cylinder and burns them in the usual manner When the .

gases leave A they are at a high temperature and contain

man y impurities They firs t pass through the bo iler B
.

where they are cooled by water circulating through ve rtical

pipes The hot gases generate steam in B and some o
. f
this steam passes with the ai r through the fire in A where ,

it helps to control the combustion by lowering the tempera

ture and where it also enriches the g as From B the gases .

pass thr ough a wet scrubber C This scrubber contains

f
.

severa l layers o coke o n which water is S prayed contin

50 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

u o us ly The obj ect is to further cool the gases and remove

.

impurities such as tar pitch etc which sink to the botto m

, ,
.
,

of C I t is important that the gases should be as cl ean as

.

possible before entering the engine cylinder as impurities

will cause the piston and valves to stick and wear rapidly .

From C the gases pass through the d r y s c r u b b e r D which

'

contains excelsior removes further impurities and a lso

, ,

prevents pulsations of the engine from reaching A From .

D the gases pass to the engine .

The chief problem in connection with producer gas is

f
the proper cleaning o the gas As menti oned in the fore .

going when the gas leaves the producer proper ( A) it

,

carries along tar ammonia sulphur dust etc ; III order to

, , , ,

avoid stoppages and irregular running of the engine due

f
to clogging up and wear o parts the gas should be dry and ,

fr e e from dust and other impurities and O f course cool in , , ,

order that the volume may be reduced to a minimum The .

design of producers and cleaning apparatus is rapidly chang

ing and it will doubtless be some time before anything
f
,

l ike a standard o construction is reached .

The use of hard coal in the producer does n o t now

present any di fficulties which cannot be o r rather whi ch ,

have not been successfully mastered The use of soft

f
, .

coal o n account o tar in the gas the tendency to cake

f
, ,

and form slag and adhere t o the sides o the producer is

f
,

more difficult D oubtless d istinc t ty pe s o producers for

f
'

the various kinds o fuels will eventually be evolved The

f
.

doubl e zone producer a description o which can be fo u nd

-
,

in books o n g as produce r s fur nishes a gas free from tar

-

f
.
,

O ne advant ag e o the producer which cannot be over

estimated is that the poorest kinds o fuels can be used f .

Among the fuels successfully used are lignite peat w ood , , ,

straw mine culm garbage and many waste products

, , ,
.

71 CH E M I C A L R E A CT I O N S
. I N T H E PR OD UC E R — T he
52 G AS -ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

high calorific power with a de c re a se in the heat loss of

f
,

about 15 per cent The amoun t o steam that can be used

f
. ,

however is limited since if the temperature o the fire is

, ,

lowered to o much the H, O will n o t be broken up and a loss

instead of a gain results The limit of the ratio of steam
.

to coal by weight is about 1 to 4 0

f
.

The producer gas carries about 8 5 per cent o the calo

r ifi c power of the coal An average analysis is as follows
.

B y V lum
H rd C l S ft C l
o e
a oa o oa

2795 2795
12 12
l 2 2 5.

2 5 .

57 3 56 5

P roducer gas contains 1 10—1 50 B T U per cu f8

t ; 0
f f
. . . . .

cu ft o gas should be furnished by 1 1b o c oal

. . . .

The amount of coal burned to CO and which furnishes ,,

the heat required to O perate the producer is usually 5 ,

per cent by weight of the fuel consumed The loss in radia .

tion ashes tarry products etc may run up to 10per cent in

, , ,
.
,

some cases .

The properties of various fuel gases are given in Table I I I .

7l a T A BL E III
.
-

P R OP E RT I ES O F F U E L G A S E S

B T U
B T U We I ht Cu Ft Ai r
. . .

. . .

r Cu
Sym b l
. .

W
FE E
Iiil
Ft
t
.

“ pe pe r
Et
o
M ix
I . .

N a tura l Ga s
Co a l G a s
Wa ter Ga s
O il Wa ter Ga s
Bla st-F urn a ce Ga s
P ro duce r Ga s
E th lene o r Ole fia n t G a s
M et ne o r M a rsh Gas
Acetylene
 FUELS 53

71 b .
— F U E LS — N umer ous attempts
E N R I CH M E N T OF

have been made to enri ch the liquid fuel s i e to increase ,

. .
,

their heating value per poun d by adding variou s sub ,

stances Thus far but little progress has been made in this
.

direction I n Germany fair results have been obtained with

.

benzol CJ I ( coal tar benzine ) which is generally mixed

,
‘

,
-
,

with gasol ene in varying quantities The O bj ect is to in

f
.

crease th e heating val ue o the fuel with but little or no

increase in cost
f
.

7 2 C AL O R I M T RY —
A calorimeter is an apparatus o r
f
. E .

determining the calorific or heating power o a fuel , ,

.

I n the M ahler cal orimeter the liquid o r sol id fue l is put , ,

into a vessel fill ed with oxygen ; this vessel is placed in

another containing water s o that it is entirely surrounded
by water the fuel is then electrically ignited and the heat
,

resulting from combustion ( which is complete as an excess

f
,

o oxygen is provided ) is absorbe d by the water The rise

f
.

in the temperature o the water the weight of which is

‘
,

kn own plus the heat absorbed by the closed vessel ( which

,

amoun t is determined beforehand ) gives the calorific

power o the fuel f .

The J unker gas calorimeter consists of a cylinder con

taining a burner similar to the B un sen burner through
, ,

which air and gas flows The h o t gases pass o u t through .

tubes surrounded by water— the tubes and water j acket ar e

outside the fir st cylinder— and the cubic feet o g as consum ed f
in a given time and the amoun t o water heated to a c e r f
f
,

tain temperature w ill give the calorific power o the fuel

f
,
.

There are also a number o calorimeters in which chem

ic a ls are used in the determ ination o the calorific power o f f
the fuel Thes e possess a number o advantages over the
. f
older forms described above .

I t is sometimes desirable to analyze exhaust gases and ,

chemical calorimeters for this purpose are o n the market .

 C HA PTER VII

L A WS OF G AS E S

73 THE
. I N D I C ATO R D I A G R A M — In Fig 20 the vertical
. .

lines called ordinates represent pressures and the hori

, , ,

z onta l lines called abscissas represent volumes 0 is

f
.
, ,

the point o no pressure and n o volume .

L e t us assume that :
(a ) The piston of a gas engine compresses its charge o f
a ir and gas from a to 5 without an increase in pressure ;

( 5) The mixture is then

ignited while the piston is
o n its inner dead centre and

the pressure rises during

combustion from 5 t o c ;
(c) The piston n e w moves
out and enough heat is s u p
plied to keep the pressure
constant giving the lin c od;
'

F I G 20 ,

(d) At the end of the

. .

stroke the exhaust valve O pens and the pressure in the

cylinder falls from d to a then ,

The total pressure o n the piston in pounds multiplied

f
,

by the distance a b I n feet equals the work done I n oot

,

pounds .

Therefore the area a b cd represents the work done b y the

pist on o n its o ut stroke S uch a diagram is called an in
.

d ic ato r diagram
f
f
.

Th e act u al indicator diagram is very di eren t from the

54
 L AWS OF GAS ES 55

above in form although the principles are the same since

'

—
, ,

it is impossible to compress at constant pressure and con

sequently along a straight lin e an d to expand a g as in
f
b

the same way Fig 21 shows the form o an actual indi

. .

cator diagram The line CV .

represents zero pressure i e ,

. .
,

l b s below atmospheric
.

pressure The total pressure

.

from zero is called a b solu te

p r es s u re ,
and is measured
in either poun ds per square
inch or in atmospheres— 1
,

atmosphere being equivalent

F I G 21 ’
to lbs The line aa r e
. .

pre sents the atmospheric pressure This indicator diagram .

'

is r e a d as follows :
( a ) The piston starts to c o m p r e s s t h e charge at a an d the
pressure rises during compression to the po int 5;
( b ) The charge is n o w ignited and as the piston starts ,

to move out the pressure rises due to the combustion going ,

o n to the po int c
,
and from there on it falls as the com
,

b u st io n stops and the volume increases ;

(c) At the point d the exhaust valve opens and in r ush
ing o ut the gases expand to atmospheri c pressure .

The area enclosed by the irregular outline a b c d r e pr e

sents the work done by the burning charge in expanding ,

j ust as the area in Fig 20 represents the work done This . .

area in square inches divided by the distance a b gives the , ,

mean height of a rectangle having the same area as the

diagram as indicated by the dotted lines I f for example
f
, .
, ,

the s cale o pressure is 200 l b s per inch and this mean .

,

height is inch then the mean pressure throughout the

f
,

stroke is 100 l b s This mean e fective pressure i s a b b r e

.

viate d M E P . .
,
56 GAS-ENG INE T H EORY AND DESIGN

The work done by the expanding charge is now figured

as follo w s :

H P
.
-
.

where
A = ar e a f
piston in sq in
f
o . .

L = s tr o k piston in feet
e o .

N ( power strokes ) .

I n a single -cylinder four cycle engine the power strokes

-

are only o ne half of the total R P M

-
. . .

The planimeter is an instrument for measuring the area

of a surface having an irregular outline like the indicator
diagram .

The shaded portion in Fig 21 represents the work done .

by the fly-wheel during compression This is again restored

f
.

to the ly -wheel by the gas during expansion and does n ot

a fect the indicator diagram f
proper and s o is neglecte d ,

in our present calculations .

Fig 22 is an indicator .

diagram from a four-cycle

engine D uring the exhaust .

stroke the pressure in the

cylinder rises a little above
atmospheric due to back
F I G 22 . .

pressure of the gases and ,

during the suction stroke the pressure drops somewhat

below atmospheric due to wire drawing e fect -
f .

74 THE I N D I C ATO R — F i g 23 illustrates the principles

. .

o n which the indicator W orks The card C o n which the .

,

indicator diagram is drawn by the pencil point T m oves

f
-
,

back and forth to correspond with the movement o the

engine piston P The cylinder D communicates with the
.
’

en gine c y linder D I n D the r e i s a small p is ton P ( are a

.
’ ’
 L AWS OF GASE S 57

1 in ) whi ch works against a sti f spring so graduated

sq . . f
that it registers o n C the press u re against pistons P and P ’

to some definite scale I f a pressure o 100 lbs will c om . f .

press the spring then a point o n the indicator curv e 1 ”

above atmospheric press

ur e shows that the press

ur e in the piston was

100 l b s at that instant
. .

N ow it can easily be
seen that as P m oves back
and forth P m oves up ,
’

and down and the ,

changes of pressure and

volume in D and D are ’

traced on C by the point

T . The in dicator card
thus furnishes a record
of the change of pressure
F I G 23
and vol ume in the engine
. .

cylinder an d consequently o the work done The horse

,
f .

power computed from the indicator diagram is called the

indicated horse power and is abbrevi ated I H P
-
. .
-

The actual indi cator carries a drum o n which the card

is mounted and instead o moving back and forth this
,
f
drum revolves thr ough a certain angle A reducing m ech .

a n is m is provided between the drum and piston rod since

f
,

the movement o the drum is very small compared with

the piston travel
f
.

75 C H A N G E S I N A GAs —
. The st ate o a gas may be .

changed by : addin g to o r subtracting heat from it ; doing

external work upon it This w ill brin g about changes in : .

volume temperature pressure specific heat intrinsic

, , , ,

energy entropy , .

I n the following pages a permanent gas a ir wi ll be con , ,

58 GAS-ENGIN E T H EORY AN D DESIGN

but the laws with the substitution O the proper

s id e r e d , ,
f
constants apply to all gases
,
.

C ertain laws regarding changes in pressure volume and , ,

temperature of gases have been determined by experiment ,

and these will be briefly mentioned .

76 LAW O F GA Y-L US S A C OR C H A R LE S : VO LUM E AND

.

T E M P E R AT UR E — T he pressure remaining constant the v o l

f
,

ume o a perfect gas is proportional to its absolute tem

p e r a tur e .

V, T ,

V. T1
or the volume remaining constant the pressure
, ,

directly with the absolute temperature '

P2 T2
P1 Tr

also , V , = V ( 1 + a t) o

where T = a b s temp . .

V = v o lu me in cu ft . .

P = p r e s s u r e in pounds per s q ft . .

a 1 /4 9 3
t = temp above .

The volume of a perfect g as increases 1/

4 93
degree increase in temperature .

77 LAW . OF M A R I OTT E BO Y LE :
AND P R ES S
OR VO LUM E
UR E The temperature remaining constant the volume
.
-
,

must vary inversel y as the pressure and directly as the ,

density (since density varies inversely with the volume ) .

P1 V2
P2 VI

goin g laws gives

60 GAS ENG INE T HEORY AN D DES IG N
-

81 .E X P A N S I O N — T he expansion may be isopiestic is o ,

thermal adiabatic according to the law P Vn = a constant

, ,
.

8 2 I S OT H E R M A L E X PA N S I O N takes place at c on s ta nt te m
.

p e r a tu r e W. hen a gas expands under ordinary conditions

its tem perature falls I n order to expand isothermally
.

heat would have to be supplied I n Fig 24 let the . .

FIG . 24 .

represent the isothermal expansion from a to b ,

then V = the initial volume ,

V = the final volume

, ,

P = the initial pressure ,

P , = the final pressure .

S ince the temperature does not change the expansion

follows the law
P V P , V,

The isothermal curve is an equilateral hyperbola an d is .

expressed as follows :

(R? )
V
W =P , V, log 0

w here W = th e work done log e is the hyperbolic ,

8 3 A D I A B AT I C E X PA N S I O N —In
. .

a g as does no t receive heat from ,

 L AWS OF GAS ES 61

is done at the expens e of the intrinsic energy o the g as f .

There is a fall in temperature and pressure .

I n Fig 25 let the curve ab represent isothermal e x p a n

.

sion and the Curve ac adiabatic expansion S ince no heat

,
.

is added dur ing adiabatic expansion the final pressure will

be lower than for isothermal expansion The PV o the . f

FIG . 26 . FIG . 27 .

isothermal expansion becomes PVn in adiabatic expansion

f
.

The n is the ratio o the two specific heats of the gas and
expresses t h e ratio of the change in pressure and volume
in adiabatic expansion .

I sothermal expansion would be more wasteful than adia

batic since the gases would be exhausted at a much higher
temperature .

84 I S O M E T R I C L I N E S — In Fig 26 the line b c represe n

. . ts
'
an increase in pressure without an increase in volume .

S uch a rise in p ressure would take place when a piston is

held stationary while the charge explodes .

8 5 I S OP I E S T I C L I N E S O R I S O B A RS — In Fig 27 the line

. . .

b c represents an increase in volume without a change in

pressure S uch lines are called isobars
. .

86 S P E C I F I C H E AT A T C O N S TA N T VO LUM E AND AT CO N
S TA N T P R E SS UR E —
.

S p e c ifi c heat has already been defin ed

a s the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature o f
62 G AS -ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

a un it weight o a substance f When air is heated and

allowed to expand a ce r tain amoun t of heat is necessary
to raise the temperature 1 under these conditions I f the °
.

same amoun t of air is con fi ned in a closed vessel s o that it

cannot expand and the same amount o heat is applied
,
f ,

the tem peratur e will O bviously be higher than in the first .

case A gas therefore has two s pecific heats Experiment

. .

has shown that the

f
S pecific heat o air at constant pressure ( Cp ) is
S pecific heat of air at constant volume ( CV ) is
C 2375

5 1 4 05 = n ,
.

. a constant .

O . 16 9 1
Fo risothermal expansion n 1 .

For adiabatic n
O ne lb of air raised 1 at constant pressure requires °

f
.

778 X 2375 t lbs

f
-
. . .

O ne l b o air raised 1 at constant volume requires °

f
.

778 X 169 5 t—lb s

f f
. . .

The real specific heat o the products o combustion is a

very uncertain quantity and di fe rs more o r less from the f
theoretical specific heats I t can be approximated by an
f f
.

analysis o the produ c ts o combustion — b y taking the

f
mean o the various specific heats I n Table I V the specific . .

heats and volumes of some gas es are given .

8 7 E X PA N S I O N A CC O R D I N G To T HE LAw P Vn = A CO N
.

S T AN T — IS O th e l m a l and adiabatic expansions are possible

‘
.

onl y theoretically and can never be realized in practice

f
.

They are very useful in the development of the theory o

thermodynamics The actual expansi on o a gas takes
. f
place according to the formula PVn = a constant in which
f
,

n is the ratio O f the specific heats o the This form ula

g as .

may be written as follows :

n
PV
"
P , V, and
 L AWS OF GASES 63

or ,
the pressure varies i nversely with the nth power O f the
volume
f
.

I n practice for O bvious reasons the value o n will vary

, ,

more o r less from the theoretical value ( for air ) but

f
,

the actual value o n for an engine under given conditions

can be computed from its indicator card .

The actual compression curve o n the indicator car d will

usually lie between the isothermal and adiabatic curves
( see Fig .and follows the law P V = K the value o n
°
,
f
being or

8 8 C O M P RE S S I O N — T h e laws and form ulas for expansion

.

apply equally well to compressi on since compression i s

f
simply the reverse o expansion
f
.

89 C O M P R E S S I O N I N Tw o S T AG E S — T he work o c o m
.
.
.

pression is lessened if the work is carried on in two or more , ,

stages s o that the air can be inter— cooled ; for example

f f
,

a body o air is to be compressed to 10 per cent O its orig

inal volume I f it is compressed in the first stage (fir St cyl
.

inder ) to 55 per cent the temperature will have increased

,

to something like O n its way to the second cylinder

the air is cooled back to its initial temperature s ay ,
and
now much less energy is required to compress it from 5 5
per cent to 10 per cent of the original volume than would
have been the case if the heat had n o t been withdrawn .

9 0 TH E C A RN OT C YC L E — The term
”
cycle here refers
f
.

to a succession o heat changes in the gas .

I n the theoretical cycle of maximum efficiency pr e posed

by C arnot it is assumed that :
(a ) There is a heat reservoir of unlimited capacity so
that heat can be sup plied Without a change in temperature ;
( 5) There is a refrigerator of unlimited capacity s o that
heat can be withdrawn without a change in temperature ;
( )
c The engine cylinder and piston are non -conducting

S O that heat cannot escape that way ;

64 GAS-ENG INE T H EORY AN D DESIGN

( d) The engine is connected to both heat reservoir an d

refrigerator so that heat can be received and discharge d .

The cycle then operates ( Fig 28 ) a s follows

.

(a ) The engine is connected to the heat reservoi r and heat

flows int othe cy l inder s o that the gas expands isothermally
from c to d;
(b ) The connection is c losed and the expansion continues
adiabaticall y from d to a ;

FIG . 28 .

(c ) The engine is now connected with the condenser which

withdraws heat isothermally while the piston moves from
a to b ;

(d) The co nnection to the condenser is closed and the gas

is compressed adiabatically from b to c so that when the
point c is reached the gas is in exactly th e same condition
as at the beginning of the stroke .

All heat transfers have been made at maximum efficiency

f
so that the efficiency o t h e cycle i s expressed as follows :
—T
T,

T.
.
d
.

f
E fi ciency .

This cycle is reversi ble I t is assumed O course that

.
,
f ,

cylinder and piston are I nsulated s o that they will not a b

sorb any heat .
 L AWS OF G ASES 65

The actual gas engine cycles necessarily di fer greatly

-
f
from the C arnot since the latter irn p o s e s conditions which
can never be realized in practi ce but it points o u t the lines ,

along which the greatest thermal e fficiency could be secured .

Other cycl es such as the B eau de R ochas Lenoir B ray

, , ,

to n D iesel etc ha v e already been descri bed

, ,
.
,
.

91 .
—T A BLE IV

V O LUM E S AN D S P EC I FI C H E ATS OF G A S ES

Sp i fi ec c He at
Vo l at 32°

C n t nt n t nt
.

Co
Pr r l um
o s a s a
e ss u e Vo e

b
Ca r o n m o n o xide
Ca rb o n d IOX id e
 C HA PTE R VIII

I
G A S -E N G N E E FF I C IEN C Y

92 I n. f
a d iscussion o the efficiency o the gas engine f
certain factors must be considered Among the factors .

to be discussed are : reliability economy advantages dis

, , ,

advantages
f
.

93 R . E L I A B I L I T.Y —T h e desirability o installing gas

power depends much upon the reliability O f the engine
f f
,

and into the qu estion o reliability enter a numbe r o con

siderations among which are cost overload and un derload
, ,

capacity proper handling etc

f
.
, ,

The only way to improve the design o any machine is

to acknowledge its faults and then work to overcome them .

The advantages of the g as engine are many ; its disa d

vantages should be carefully studied with a V iew to min
imiz ing or overcoming them altogether I n the matter o . f
reliability there is still much room for improvement e S pe
f
, ,

c ia l ly in conn ection with some o the apparatus connecte d

f
with the O peration o the engine Without reliability any
f
.

h eat engine is o little u s e Ga s-engine design presents a

.

much more difficult problem than the steam engine for a

f
,

number o reasons The gas engine has no reservo i r I n

.

which energy can be stored ; the power is delivered inter

mitte ntly to the crank pin ; high temperatures pressures
-
, ,

and fuel conditions make a reliable performance under

wi d e l y varying conditions something that will result only
from careful designing good workmanship and proper hand
f f
, ,

ling It h as been customary o n the part o some manu a c

.

66
68 GAS-ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIG N

engine cannot be expected to properly perform its work

when improper fuel is delivered to it Too many engines .

and producers have been installed without having been

properly tested .

Where power only is wanted the gas engine has much in

its favor but where steam is needed for heating during the
,

—
winter o r for manufacturing purposes a s in paper mills ,
,

textile mills etc a special heating system would have to

,
.
,

be installed in connection with the gas engine and under ,

these conditions the steam engine possesses some a dva n

tages I n the large electric light and power plants o n the
.
,

other hand a vast amount O f heat is wasted in exhaust

,

steam and this waste could be largely avoided by the u s e

,

of a high grade gas engine Attempts have been made t o

f
-
.

u se the exhaust gases o a gas engine for heating purposes

f
,

or generating steam and it is claimed that 1 0 per cent o

,

the heat has been saved in this way .

The steam engine will carry a l arge overload and will pu ll

hard under varying loads since it h as a large reservoir o f
f
,

energy to draw from I n the case o the g as engine the

.

obstacles to be overcome in order to achieve the same

results are great U nl ess a g a s engine is desi g ned for an
.

overload capacity it will simply slow do w n and stop when

overloaded to any e xtent and while it may be very efficient
,

under full load it may drop greatly in efficiency when run

ning under three-quarter o r half load and when the l oad i s ,

much less than o n e half it may again s te p A g as engine

-
.

sho ul d be designed firs t for reliability under the conditions

under which it is to work .

A good design alone wi ll n ot produce a good engine .

U nless the work in the shop is right a poor en g ine will

res u lt A well -built engine o poor design will give some
. f
results while a well designed but poorly built engine will
,

never give resul ts .

 GAS-ENGIN E E FF I C IEN C Y 69

94 EC O N O MY —The thermal efficiency of di ferent f

f f
. .
g as
engines varies o course w ith the type o en g ine and the
f
, ,

goodness o the design Automobile marine and the.

, ,

smaller engines have efficienci es of 15 to 20 per cent The .

large g as engines have e fficiencies ranging from 1 5 to 30 ,

and even 35 per cent ( brake efficiency ) The theoretical .

heating value of a fuel can never be realized in a gas engine ,

but it has be en customary to fig ure the thermal efficiency

by taking the theoretical values as 100 per cent .

The heat losses are about as foll ows : H eat absorbe d by

the water j acket 30— 50 per cent ; heat converted into
,

work ( indi cated ) 15— 4 0 per cent ; heat l ost in the e x haust
30—
, ,

4 0 per cent .

From the heat converted into work must be subtracte d

the work done in overcoming engine friction which may ,

run from l g to 10 per cent and the remainder will be the

f
,

output o the engine .

The water-j acket loss can be reduc ed by circulating the

water slowly s o that the temperature of the cylinder wal ls
and other parts is kept j ust below the danger poi nt Th is -
.

is a di fficul t thing to do in practice .

The heat loss in the exh aust can be reduced by providing

for complete combustion and early ignition s o that the
pressure and temperature in the cylinder will be as low as
possible when the e xhaust valve O pens The efficiency of .

the engine in general can be increased by : having the

, ,

gre ate s t piston speed practicable ; the greatest possible

expansi on ; increas ing the compression as much as fuel
conditions will allow ; rapid an d complete combustion ;
f
keeping the excess o air over that required for combustion
a s l o w as possible .

I t m ay be stated as a general rule that economy will

inc rease directly with the compression A striking example
f f
.

o this is o u nd in the D iese l eng ine whe r e a the r mal , ,

70 G AS -E NGIN E TH EORY AN D D E SIGN

efficiency of 38 p e r cent or more is obtained chiefly by , ,

high compression An other example is foun d in the B anki

.

engine The mann er in which the fuel is han dled puts a

.

practical limit o n the compression for if a mixture of air ,

and gas ( o r vapor ) is heated by compression beyond the

ignition temperature it will ignite t o o early and a back
explosion results I f the fuel is forced into the cylinder
.

after the piston has completed its compression stroke then ,

the degree of compression is limited only by the mechanical

construction The compression limit is raised in t h e larger
f
.

engines by the use o water cooled pistons valves etc -

, ,
.

A large engine consumes less fuel per H P hour than a .

-
.

small engine M any of the large gas engines are sold un der
.

a guarantee to develop their ful l rated B H P on a con

f
. . .

sumption of e fective B T U per H P hour and

f
-
. . . . .
,

at 5 0 per cent loads with a consumption o BTU . . .

The actual consumption of some eng ines under full load is

B T U per H -P hour
. . . . . .

O il engines are usually guaranteed to develop their

rated B H P o n a consumption o 1 l b of o il per H P
. . . f . .
-
.

hour under full load I n a nu mber of engines of more than .

20 H P this falls to 5
-
} lb
f
. . .

The performance o an average gas engine under average

f
f
conditions is very di erent from that of an engine carefully
adj usted and tested by an expert under the very be st
possible conditions .

9 5 A D V A N TA G E S AND D I S AD V A N TA G E S —
. T he more im .

po r tant advantages of g a s engines may b e summed up as

foll o ws : S mall space occupied as compared with the steam
plant ; can be quickly started and stopped at any time ;
si mplicity ; fuel is consumed only while the engine is run
n ing ; f
ec o nomy o fuel ; cheap fuels can be used ; corn
p a r a t ive ly low co s t o upkeep and attendance f .

Among the disadvantages are : I nability to carry over

 G AS- ENGIN E EF F I C IEN C Y 71

unless specially desi g ned ; decreased efficiency when

l e a ds
run at less than full loads ; regulation often poor ; cannot
be star ted u nder load ; irreversibility
f
.

M ost o the disadvantages can be overcome to a great

extent or altogether by good design workmans hip and
, , ,

proper handling .

96 M E
. D I A U S E D I N H E AT E N G I N E S — M any attempts
have been ma de to use media other than air and steam in
heat engines Experiments too num erous to mention have
.

been made with al cohol chl oroform ammonia naphtha , , , ,

ether etc but the res ul ts have been unsatisfactory for

,
.
,

various reasons The advantage of a low specific heat is

f
.

c ounterbalanced perhaps by the greater weight o the

, ,

medium required pe r stroke S ome of these media are

f
f
.

expensive others dangerous some have an o ensive odor

, , ,

others are explosive irrespirable etc Air and water pos , ,

.

sess two immense advantages : they are abun dant and safe .

97 O T
. H E R T Y P E S AND CY CL E S O F H E AT E N G I N E S — T he
various cycles such as the B rayton Lenoir etc have a l
f
,
.
, , ,

ready been mentioned The limitations o the compression .

cycle have been pointed o ut in the preced ing paragraphs .

The other types include h o t-air engines engines using media ,

other than air or water etc H ot air engines in whi ch a ,

.
-
,

body of air con fi ned in a closed space is generall y heated

from the outside have been used to a limited extent for
,

s mall pumping outfits but in larger powe rs are too bul ky ,

to be commercially successfu l Naph t ha engines in which .

,

naphtha is used in the same manner as steam in a boiler ,

have limited application for small marine work C ompound

f
.

ing combinations of di ferent media used in series etc have

, ,
.
,

been tried but found to be impracticable I n order to be

,
.

a real success an engine m u st b e a commercial success and ,

if it does not answer the commercial requirements it will

be a failure no matter how perfect it may be theoreti cally
,
.
 C HAP TER I X

E X P L O S I VE M I XT UR ES

98 . Explosion has be en defined as extremely rapid c o m

b t i — as practically instantaneous combustion The
f
us o n .

burn ing o the charge in the gas engine cylinder is usually -

“ ”
s o rapid that the term explosion is commonly applied
to this combustion but it can hardly be called an explosion
,

in the sense that gun powder explodes since the combustion

f
,

in the engine cylinder requires an appreciable length o time .

99 . C O M P R E S S I O N — It has been mentioned in the pre

.

c eding chapter that the economy is increased by increasing

the compression The reasons for this are that with air
.

c ompressed into a small space the combustion is more

ra p id and c omp le te than with low or no compression the
f
,

heat has a better opportunity o exerting pressure against

the piston before it is absorbed by the cylinder walls an d ,

increasing the compression practically means lengthening

the stroke \Vith low compression only a part o the fuel
. f
may be burned S ome gases are so poor that they will n o t
.

burn at all with low compression and for this reason engi nes,

running o n blas t-furnace gas for example compress to 1 50

, ,

o r even 200 lbs while engines running o n illuminating g as

.
,

may compress to only 75 l bs The method of handling the .

fuel however puts a practical limit to the all owable com

, ,

p r ession
N o te —S ee also C ooling by Water I nj ection
.

1 00 M E T H OD S O F H A N D L I N G F U E L — There are p r a c
.

tically three methods of handling the fuel vi z C ompressing

f
,
.

an explosive mixture o air and fue l and igniting by the

72
 EXP L OSIVE M I X T UR ES 73

electric spark ; compress ing air onl y and inj ecting the fuel
upon completion of the compression stroke ; compressing
the air and inj ecting the fuel into a vaporizing chamber
dur ing the compression stroke
f
.

The simplest method o handl ing the fuel is to draw a

f
charge o air and gas ( or vapor ) into the cylinder during
the suction stroke and then compress this explosive charge .

This mixtur e must be kept below the i g nition temperature

during compression in order to prevent p r o ignition and -

f
,

this is the o ne g reat disadvantage o the method I n the .

larger engines as mentioned before the compression limit

, ,

is raised by cooling the piston and valves as well as the

cylinder and cylinder— head and by diluting the explosive
,

mixture with an excess of air .

The method of inj ecting fuel into the combustion space

after the compress ion stroke has been completed permits
the compression to b e increased as much as the mechanical
construction will permit This method results in high fuel
.

economy and does away with all ignition apparatus since

f
,

the temperature o the compressed air is high enough to

igni te the fuel The disadvantages of this method are
.

greater stresses in the machine more friction greater , ,

difficulty in starting and the extra mechanism necessary for

,

handling the fuel O ne great advantage is that cheap petro

.

leum oils can be used and since the combustion is p r a c t i

, ,

cally complete no carbo n deposits in the cylinder will result

f
,
.

The method o inj ecting fuel during the compression

stroke vaporizing a n d ignit ing this fuel by means of a hot
,

chamber is carried out in the H ornsby Ackroyd and several

f
-
,

o the two-cycle o il engines The hot chamber furnishes

.

the necessary heat for vaporizing and igniting the heavy

f
oils The advantages o this method are ability to handl e
.

heavy oi ls and simplicity The disadvantages are that

, .

carbon deposits cannot be prevented ( although an attempt

74 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

is made to confine them to the combustion chamber ) an d

f
,

the time required o r starting .

101 .S C A V E N G I N G —
In
. the large two -
cycle engines a
scavenging charge is employed S eparate ai r and g as
.

pumps are used As the burnt gases pass o u t through the

f
.

exhaust port a charge o fresh air is pumped into the cyl

inder and following this comes the new combustible charge
f
.
,

The scavenging charge clears the cylinder o all bur n t

gases and also prevents pre ignition since the hot ex haust
-
,

gases cann ot come in contact with the fresh combustible

charge I n the four cycle engine the fresh charge cannot
f
-
.

exceed in volume the piston displacement and a body o ,

burnt gases equal in volume to the compression space always

remains in the cylinder B y scavenging and pumping in the
.

fresh charge the entire cylinder is filled with an explosive

mixture and the power output o the engine is increased f .

102 D I LU T I O N O F E X P LO S I V E M I X T UR E S —Experiments
.

have shown that combustion is more rapid and the highest ,

pressures are obtained when the volume of air is only

,

slightly in excess of that required for combustion An

f
.

excess o either a ir o r g a s hinders combustion besides mak

f
ing an extra amount o fluid to be heated D ilution may .

be carried to such a point that ignition wi ll not take place

at all As the dilution increases the rise in pressure during
.

explosion decreases until finally there is practically no r is e

in p re s su re . Failure to ignite and consequent stopping o
,
f
the engine may result from either too rich o r too poor a
,

charge Fo r rapid and complete combustion furthermore

.
, ,

the mixture of air and fuel should be as intimate as possible .

103 I N C O M P L ET E C O M B U S TI O N —I ncomplete combustion

f
. .

n o t only means less power and a waste o ,

fuel but may ,

produce carbo n dep o sits in the cylinder S uch deposits .

are liable to cause pre— ignition They will also mix with
.

the lubricating oil and form a gummy paste which rapidl y

 C HAPT ER X

M I X I N G V A LV E S AN D C A R BU RE T E RS

105 M I X I N G VA LV E S —In the stationary gas engine some

f
.

provision must be made for mixing the charge o air and

gas thoroughly before it enters the cylinder A no n .

homogeneous mixture means poor combustion This mix

f
.

ing is usually done by means o a mixing valve Fig 30

f
. .

shows a simple arrangement o r this purpose The ga s .

en ters at A and its flow is regulated by the valve B The

f
.

air enters at C an d the mixture o air and gas passes out

at D The valve B can be arranged
f
.

with a micrometer attachment o r

accurate adj ustment There are o f
f f
.
,

course di ferent styles o mixing

,

valves but the obj ect in each is to

f
,

secure an intimate mixture o the air

and gas All the air required for .

combustion may or may n ot pass , ,

through the mixing valve .

1 06 VA P O R I Z E RS — In stationary
. .

engines using a liquid fuel a vapor

ize r is used o r atomizing the fuel andf
mixing it with the air Fig 31 shows
f
. .

the general arrangement o o ne style

F I G 30. .

o f
vaporizer The fuel is kept under .

sufficient pressure to carry it into the vapori zer either by

elevating the tank o r by putting the liquid under air
press ure A small pump can of course be used instead , if
.
, ,

76
 M IX ING VA L VES AND C AR BU RE T ERS 77

desired The fuel enters at D and its flow is regulated

.

by the needle valve C D uring the suction stroke the

.

air enters at A and the

fuel is atomized in pass
ing through the restricted
opening controlled by C ‘
.

The overflow pipe E leads

away the surplus fuel .

107. CA R B U R E T E R S .

The vaporizer gives very

good res ults for steady
loads and speeds but where
,

the speed varies greatly

F I G 31
,

and changes quickly a

. .

carbureter is used . Fig 32 illustrates the general princi

.

ples upon which carbureters are constructed The fuel .

enters at A and is kept at a constant level by the float B .

F IG . 32
.

The float is s o adj usted that it keeps the fuel level about
below the O pening in the atomizer C The air comes .
78 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

in through D and in rushing past C creates a vacuum

, ,

so that a fine atomized spray of the liquid is drawn

from C and mixed with the ai r . The amount o car f
b u r e te d air passing through E can be regul ated by the
valve F
f
.

S ince the vaporizing o a liquid resul ts in lowering

temperature the incoming air should be warmed somewhat
, ,

and this can be done by flanging the pipe D and leading

some of the hot exhaust gases past The atomizer breaks
.

the liquid up into v ery fine particles but heating the fuel
,

vaporizes it and makes a m ore intimate mixture of air and

fuel possible resulting in more power with a lower fuel
,

consumption
f f
.

I n the case o alcohol and kerosene this preheating o

air is necessary in order t o obtain th e b e st results The
'

air may be heated at both G and H When kerosene and

.

the heavier oils are used with l o w compression the o il seems

to decompose in the engine cylinder and ca bon deposits r

resul t I t is claimed that if the carbureted charge is drawn

.

through a vaporizer at a red h eat ( H in Fig 32) that no .

carbon deposits will form in the cylinder .

Warming the incoming air accomplishes three purposes

it restores to the liquid the heat l ost in evaporation and so
f
preve nts an undue cooling o the liquid ; it makes a more
homogeneous combustible mixture which means more
f f
,

economy ; it neutralizes the e fect o m oisture in the air

and fuel .

Too m uch moisture interferes with combustion — al ~

though a slight amount is b e n e fi c ial—and trouble is some

_

times experienced in wet weather or when there is con

s id e r a b l e water in the fuel
. Gasolene kerosene and the
,

other O ils contain m ore or less water while alcohol is usually

,

largely diluted with water .

I f only a part of th e air necessary for combustion is drawn

 M IX ING VA L VES AND C AR BU RE T ERS 79

through the carbureter the increase in volume due to

heatin g wi ll amount to very little
f
.

The starting o an engine operatin g on alcohol o r kero

sene is apt to be more difficult than in the case of gasolene
unless some provision is made for warming the incoming
air previous to starting
f
f f
.

There is a considerable di erence O O pinion regarding

f
the value o pre heating as discussed above S ome ex
-
.

p e r ime nt e r s insist that better res u lts are obtained by

breaking up the l iquid fuel as much as possible by means
of atomizers S ince if the preheated charge cools o n its
, ,

way to the combustion chambe r the fuel will simply con

,

dense and no good has been accomplished by pre heating -

.

O ther experimenters claim that good results can be o b

ta in e d by pre— heating Experiments made by the author
.

lead him to believe that very good results can be obtai ned
by pre-heating provided care is taken that the fuel does not
,

condense previ ous to ignition

f
.

The cleanest method o handl ing any fuel in the com

b u st io n chamber is doubtless by introducing it in the form
f a gas free from impurities The final solution of the
f
o .

method o handling heavy oils may be to gasify them _O ne .

method of doing this has been mentioned un der O il “

Water Ga s .

A point that must be bor ne in mind incarbureter design

is that while the mixture may be right for slow speeds it
f
,

w ill be too rich at high speeds o r if right o r high speeds

f
, , ,

it may be too lean o r slow speeds P rovision must there .

fore be made to sec ure the right mixture at vary ing speeds .

Another point is that the air should pass through D at

a fairly high speed in order to obtain the best atomizing
f
f f
e ect A speed o 70 to 8 0 feet per second will give good
.

results .

A carbureter must be so designed that it will work

80 GAS ENGINE T H EORY AND DESIGN
-

properl y in spite of the j olting it may receive in an auto

mobile o r boat and when th e engine is tipped up and do wn
f
,

at di ferent angles .

The fuel must be t h oroughly filtered before it reaches

the carbureter .

S tudents a r e sometimes at a loss to understand how a

slight variation in the adj ustment of the mixing valve o r
f
f
carbureter may make a large di erence in the horse power
f
-
.

I f we take the calorific power o gasolene to be

B T U per pound then this is equivalent to
f
. . .
,

t -lbs
. I f a four cycle engine running at
.
-
R P M con
. . .

sumes 1 pint of gasolene per H P hour then the oil con

.
-
.
,

sumption per power stroke is 1 / gallon per H -P . .

 C HA PTE R XI
G O VE RN I N G

108 . F U N CT I O N S OF T HE G O VE RN O R
engine slows —An
down as the load increases and runs faster a s the load de
f
,

creases ; therefore a governor is necessary to take care o

f
the variation o load by vary ing the power when the en g ine
is desired to run at a constant spee d— as is the ca se in
stationary practice The governor may o course be ar f
f
f
.
, ,

ranged s o that it can be s e t for di erent speeds Wh ere .

bo th the speed and the load vary as in automobile prae ,

tice a wide range of speed and power can be obtained by

,

t hr ottling the charge and by also advancing and retardin g

,

the ignition .

R eliability and economy un der varying loads are mat

f
ters o prime importance and must be given careful con
,

sideration
f f
.

A brief outline o the principal s y ste mS o governing '

will be given .

1 09 I M PO V E R I S H IN G T HE CH A R G E — U nder this syst em

f
.

the quantity o fuel used per power stroke is diminished in

order to diminish the power The advantage o this
. f
method is that the compression always remains the same
f
,

and therefore the highest e fi c ie n c y —S o far as compression

—
is concerned is maintain ed The disadvantages are that
.

the fuel m ust heat up an excess of air when running under

light loads and the mixture may become s o weak that it
will not ignite at a ll in the cylinder in which case fuel ,

is wasted and may burn in the exhaust pipe This method .

6 81
82 ENGINE T H EORY AND DESIGN
G AS -

is also called q u a lity gove rning since the quality of the

,

mixture is changed .

1 10 T H R OTT L I N G T HE C H A R G E —U nder this sys tem the

.

governor acts on a valve which is so arranged that the

charge of air and fuel is increased o r diminished as the load
f
in creases o r decreases The proportions o air and fuel are
.

n ot changed but only the amount drawn into the cylinder

,
.

This method is used in the Westinghouse and a number

of other stationary engines as well as in the maj ority o
,
f
automobile engines where the throttling is done by hand .

F IG . 33 .

f
The disadvantage o this method lies in the fact that the
compression varies with the volume o the charge drawn f
in with a consequent decrease in economy The ec onomy .

f
is always less for light and overloads than for full load but,

the di er enc e in economy is frequently much more than it

should be Throttling the charge will usually al low the
.

engine to run under l ighter loads than impoverishing the

charge This second method is also called qu an tity govern
f
.

ing since the quantity o explosive mixture is changed

f
,
.

S ince the rate o combustion varies with the compression

th e ignition point should be advanced for light load s ,

therefore the ignition poi nt as well as the throttle should

 C HA P TE R X II
I GN I T I ON

1 13 I gnition
. may be brought about by means o f
a hot
chamber high compression o r the electric spark
f
.
, ,

114 H OT C H A MB E R I GN I T I O N —Th ls is o n e o the earliest

f
-
. .

forms o ignition and i s still used in some gas an d o il engines .

The arrangement for an o il engine is shown in Fig 34 . .

A cast iron chamber A opens into the cylinder P re vi ous

f
-
.
, ,

to starting this chamber is heated by means o a torch to

,

a dull —red heat and when the en gine is runn ing the o il is
sprayed either into the chamber direct ,

o r into the cylinder an d is then carried ,

into the chamber during the com

pression stroke The point at which
.

ignition takes place depends upon the

time at whi ch the o il is inj ected and
upon the general form o the hot f
F m 34 .
chamber The narrow neck connecting
.
.

the cham ber with the cylinder delays

combustion When the eng ine has been running a little
.

while the torch may be taken away as the chamber is now ,

kept at the proper temperature by the heat of combustion

f
.

The disadvantages o the above method are the time

required for starting and the impossibility O f timing the
i gnition with anything like accuracy especially with a fuel
f
,

o varying quality The advantages are simplicity and that

f
.

the hot chamber contains su fi cient heat to vaporize and

ignite the heavy oils .
 IGN I T ION 85

I n the engine a small porcelain tube opening

f
g as
the cylinder is used in place o the cast-iron chamber .

1 1 5 I G N I T I O N B Y C O M P R E S S I O N —Alr may be c o m
. .

pressed to such a degree that the temperature will be

o r even mor e — a tem peratur e amply su ficient to ignite any f
fuel Where such high compression is used the fuel must
.

be inj ected when the compression stroke has been com

p l e t e d otherwise pre—ignition takes place
N ote —S ee also C ool ing by Water I nj ection
.
,

1 16 E LE CT R I C I G N ITI O N — Electric ignition is now in

.

almost un iversal use o n gas and gasolene engines The

f
.

great a dvantage o this method is that i g nition can be timed

with absolute certainty The principal systems o electric
. f
i gnition will be briefly described
f
.

The source o the electric current may be a primary

battery a secon d ary (stor
,

age ) battery a dynamo or a ,

m agneto .

A dyn amo is self-e xciting

f
,

while the field o the mag

neto is composed o per f
manent steel magnets .

117 THE J UM P S P A R K
.

S YS T M — F i g 35 is a dia
f
E

gram o the j ump—

.

spark sys
tem . This is made up o f
a battery ( usually several
primary batteries conn ected
F I G 35
in series ) A which furnishes
. .

the cur rent a revolving disc B which opens and closes the
,

circuit (the sha ded portion of the disc is a conductor the ,

res t is a n o n conductor ) an induction coil C and a spark

-
,

plug D which is screwed in to the engine cylinder .

I n the s p ark plug as here shown are two insulated wires

-
, ,
86 GAS-ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

which proj ect into the cylinder and have the ends so bent
that the current has to j ump across a small air space I n .

j umping across this space the current produces a spark

which ignites the explosive mixture
f
.

1 18 THE I N D UC T I O N C O I L
.
— The fun ction o the induc
tion coil is to convert the low tension battery current into
f
-

a high tension current which is capable o j umping across

-

the air gap between the plug terminals A low tension

f
-
.

current cannot do this The coil is compos ed o an iron

f f
.

core a a primary winding o a few turns o heavy wire 5

f
, ,

a secondary winding o many turns of fine wire 0 a small ,

f
piece of iron d held against an adj ustable screw e by a
spring and a condenser
,
Wh en the primary circuit is
.

closed by B a low-tension direct current flows through the

primary winding and magnetizes a which attracts d As .

d j umps toward a it breaks the circuit the current ceas es ,

to flow an d a ceas es to be a
magnet so the spring pulls d
,

back against e This breaking

f
.

and closing o the circuit at d

takes place very rapidly and c o n
t inue s s o long as the ci cuit is r

not broken at B d is called a

“

f
.

vi brator The action o the pri

. ?

mary current ind uces a high

t ension alternating current in C
f
.

The cond enser f consists o sev

f
'

F I G 36. .
era l sheets o tinfoil insulated
from each other and its function
is to s to r e the current at o ne eriod and give it o u t at
f
p
another increasing the efficiency o the coil and prevent ing
,

inj urious sparking at d This system is used principally

o n high —
.

sp eed engines .

1 19 THE MA KE-AN D-B RE A K S YS T E M —Fl a

’

g 3 6 is
. dia .
 IGN I T ION 87

f
gram o the make— and break system
-
The current is .

furnished by the battery A the cam B pushes the rod D

,

into the cylinder s o that it makes a sliding contact with E .

The O bj ect of a sliding contact is to remove any soot which

may b e o n the contact surfaces The soot would act as an
.

insulator and prevent the current from passing The cir .

cuit is completed by a primary winding aroun d the iron

core C When the cam releases D the latter is pushed b ack
.

by a spring breaking the contact with E and as the c o n

, ,

FIG . 37 .

tact is broken a spark is produced The current here used .

is a lo w -tension direct
f
.

The ordinary dynamo o r magneto wi ll n o t furnish s u

f
fi c ie nt current at a slow speed o r a good spark and o r ,
f
this reason engines are frequently started o n a battery
current and after they have speeded up the battery is c ut
o u t and the current is furnished by a magneto I n Fig 36 . .
,

a and b are switches ,

an d F is a magneto o r dynamo , ,

dr iven by the engine.

The make-and— break system is generally use d o n slow

and medium speed engines I t is more reliable and fur
-
.

nishes a better spark than the fir st system but has the dis ,
88 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

f
advantage o requ iring moving parts in the engine cylinder .

This system is also used o n alcohol and kerosene engines

since these fuels are more diffic ul t to ignite than gasolene
o r ga s and require a better spark than the j um p spark
,
—
generally furnishes .

120 TI M E RS D I S T R I BU TO RS — F i g 37 shows the wiring

.
,
.
,

etc for a multiple- cylinder engine A is the magneto B

f
.
,
.

is the primary wind ing o the induction coil D is the timer , ,

E is the distributor C is the secondary winding 1 2 3 and

, , , , ,

4 are four cylinder -heads into which the sparking plugs are -

screwed I n the position shown the current is flowing

.

through the primary circuit I n the secondary circuit the

.

plug in cylinder 1 is recei ving current The discs D and E .

I
are m o unted tog ether
o n one shaft an d it can

readily be seen how all

four plugs receive cur
rent successively during
o n e revolution o the dis f
tributor shaft The cyl .

in d ers i n this case are

usually fir e d in the order
1 3 4 2 S ome s ix
, , , .

cylinder engines are fir ed

in the or d er 1 4 2 6 3 5 , , , , ,
.

The ignition can be

F I G 38 .

advanced o r retarded
'

by rotating the casin g carrying the brushes aa a n d contact

po ints bbbb .

I n all electric-ignition systems proper insulation must

f
,

o cour se be provided for

, .

121 S TO R A G E -BATT E RY S Y S T E M —In Fig 38 (the Apple

. . .

system ) the dynamo A charges the storage battery B and

f
,

t he current re q uired for i gn ition is t aken rom the battery ;

 IGNI T ION 89

dddd are induction coils and eeee the spark plugs These -
.

plugs may be grounded o n the frame so that only one r e

turn wire is necessary This does away with the w iring
.

enclosed by the dotted lines .

I t will be noticed that the double—

disc system in Fig 37
f
.

does away with the use o a separate coil for each spark
ing plug
-

f
.

The a d vantages o the dynamo and storage- battery c o m

bination are that current is always available for both
ignition an d l ighting and starting can be done without
,

ha ving a primary battery in circuit .

FIG . 39 .

Fig 39 shows a very simple i g nition system (Atwater

f
.

K ent ) This consists o a primary battery induction coil

f
.
, ,

distributor and sparking plugs S ince the amount O cur

,
.

rent required for ignition is very small and there is no waste

f
,

o cur rent it is claimed that the battery will last a long time
, .

122 H I G H AND Lo w T E N S I O N M A G N ET o s — M agnetos are

.
-
.

n o w o n the market which are s o woun d that n o induction

coil is required and which will fur nish sufficient current

,

at a slow speed for starting so no primary battery is r e

,

quired A prominent one is the B osch

. .

I n the B osch high tension magneto both the primary

-

f
and secondary windin gs are o n the armature so that the
magneto u r nishes an alte r natin g hi gh tension current -
90 GAS ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

direct The magneto also contains a distributor and pro

.

vision for advancing and retarding the spark The arma

f
.

ture rotates and the speed o rotation depends upon the

f
number o engine cylinders supplied with current .

The B osch low-tension magneto furnishes an alternating

current The armature oscillates instead o rotating The
. f .

l o w tension current may be used with a make and—

-
break -

mechanism o r with a special spark pl ug which is mag

,
-

n e t ic a l ly O perated The magnetic plug permits a low

.

tension current to be used for high— sp eed work with ,

consequently no insulation troubles N o mechanical .

make and break mechanism is required

- -
The plugs are .

connected to the magneto with single wire cables -

.

123 C O N CLU S I O N — In conclusion it may be stated that

. .
.

a weak spark will not ignite an explosive mixture : there

must be sufficient heat to start combustion ; a high tem
p e r a tur e of the S park is not enough if the spark is of
very short duration A poor ignition system will not
.

furni sh a good spark .

The ignition shoul d be arranged to take p l ace near th e

centre of the explosive mixture .

I f the points of a spark plug become coated with soot

-

the spark cannot j ump across Engines are sometimes ar .

ranged with two plugs in each cylinder so that if one set

causes trouble the other set can be use d thus avoiding
f
,

stoppage o the engine o r both sets can be used together

, .

The insulation should be protected from heat O il water , , ,

etc and all conn ections shoul d be s o arranged that they

.
,

cann ot work loose .

92 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D D E SIGN

the surplus heat The pump A is geared to the crank o r

.

cam shaft The radiator B is of the usual honeycomb style

.
,

hav ing a very large radiating surface The fan C draws air .

through the openings in the radiator so that a large amoun t

of heat can be abstracted in a short time This as most .
,

water cooling systems is really a combination of water an d

-
,

air cooling .

At slow speeds and where the water is free from inj urious
,

substances a pl un ger pump may be used I n marine prae

,
.

tice where the cooling fluid is taken from the water in

,

which the boat moves a centrifugal pump is generally best, ,

since it will allow dirt and small obstacles to pass through

without becoming clogged The inlet end o the water . f
pipe sho ul d be protected by fine wire gauze s o that only
very small obstacles can pass through The rapid an d free .

circul ation of the water is usually counted upon to carry

the impurities o u t again .

A point to be borne in mind is that while a pump may ,

furnish sufficient water at a high speed it may n ot furn ish ,

enough to prevent the engine from overheating when run

ning at a slow speed I f the pump fur nishes sufficient water
.

at a slow speed it may cool the engine too much at a high

speed .

126 C OO L I N G B Y BO I L I N G —A good method where there

f
.
,

is no scarcity o water is to simply allow the water to bo il ,

away This keeps the entire water j acket at a temperature

f f
.

o about 212 and the tempe ratur e o the water remains

°

the same no matter whether the engine is run n ing fast o r

f
,

slow The amount o water boiled away in this manner

.

p e r H -P
will be quite small This does away with a large
. . .

cooling-tank pump piping etc The steam can also be

, , , .

led into the exhau st passage and s o help to cool it .

127 AI R C OO L I N G —In order to do away with a large

.

r ad iator pump piping j oints which ma y become l eak y

, , , ,
 C OO L ING 93

etc several automobile manufacturers have adopted the

.
,

air cooling system in which Fig 4 2 the engine cylinder

f
-
.
, ,

is provi ded with a numbe r o flanges gi ving a large r a diat

f
,

ing surface and the cooling e fect is further increased by

,

forced air circulation The fuel economy i s somewhat higher

f
-
.

than i n the water cooled sy ste ms s in c e the temperature o

-
,

the cylinder walls is higher The cylinder requi res m ore .

l ubricating o il than a water cooled -

c y linder This system is n o t a p pli

.

cable for cylinders of more than 10

H -P since the heat cannot be carried
f
f
. .

O with sufficient rapidity .

I n this connection it might be men

t io n e d that cooling becomes a very
F I G 42 . .

serious problem as the cylinder d ime n

sions increase This i s especially s o in the case o high—
. speed f
engi nes whose limit at present seems to be 7 X 7 o r 7 x
1 28 C OO L I N G B Y W AT E R I N J E C T I O N — M an y experiments
.

have been made with water inj ection with a view to lower
ing the water j acket losses the idea being that the water
-
,

inj ected into the combustion chambe r would absorb a pa r t

f
of the surplus heat o c ombustion and by its expansion ( as
steam ) increase the power o the engine The result has f .

been that the temperature was lowered to o much and a

loss instead of a gain resulted I n the B anki motor water
f f
.

is used for the purpose o absorbing a part o the heat

generated during compression and so dec rea se the work of
compression also making higher compression pressures
f
,

possible without danger o pre-ignition I n this engine a .

water vapori zer is located i n the ai r-suction pi pe and fuel

-
, ,

water and air are drawn into the cylinder together The
,
.

compressi on is about 230 lbs and the explosion pressure

f
,
.

is abo ut 6 00 lbs The thermal e ficiency is about 30 per

.

cent .
94 GAS ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

129 C OO L I N G W AT E R R E Q U I R E D
. .
—Th e amount o f
water
required for cooling may be calcu l ated by figuring that the
heat carried away by the j acket water is equal to the in
d ic ate d hors e -power and then taking the d i erence between
,
f
the temperatures of the incoming and outgoing water .

°
The latter should be in the neighborhood of 18 0 and
should be kept as nearly constant as possible .

The tank capacity for stati onary engines is usually fig

u r e d as 25 gal per H -P . . .

I n automobile engines about 1 gal per H -P is figured . . .

,

and the radiator must have sufficient capacity to d ispose of

the total B T U as rapidly as they are absorbed by the
. . .

water
f
.

I n ai r cooling the amount o radiating surface required

varies with the design I n the Franklin engine an auxiliary
f
.

exhaust valve is used for disposing o the exhaust gases

quickly .

The auxil iary exhaust wh ich is described elsewhere

f
, ,

has an important bearing o n the cooling o the cylinder .

130 A N T I F R E Z I N G S O LU T I O N S
. E - —In order to prevent
the j acket water from freezing during cold weather while ,

the engine is not running various substances are added ,

to the water Among these are glycerine in proportions of

.

half and half ; also cal cium chloride in proportions of 1 to 2

by weight The filtered solutions should be used Alcohol
f
. .

is sometimes used in place o water and th i s will freeze at

a l ower temperature than either o the above O il h a s also f
f
.

be en used in place o water

f
f
.

D raining o the j acket water when the engine is n o t in use

will overcome this trouble in the case o a stationary engine f .

Water containing lime o r any substance that will either

,

form a coating o r corrode the metal must not be used I f

f
.
,
'

this point is neglected a reliable running o t h e e ng ine

,

cannot be expected .
96 ENGIN E T H EORY AND DESIGN
G AS-

132 TH E M U FF L E R
for portable engines should be s o
f
.

designed as to secure a gradual expansi on o the gases and

f
consequent reduction o pressure the speed o the exhaust f
f
,

gases depending upon the diameter o the exhaust passage ,

FIG . 44 .

which should be as large as convenient Fig 4 4 shows the

f
. .

arrangement of a mu fler which may be placed near the

engine The sketch is self expl anatory
.
-

133 A M A R I N E E X H A US T is shown in Fig 4 5 The ex

f
. . .

haust gases are discharged through the bottom o the boat ,

and consequently under the water doing away with noise,

and smoke A valve should be provided so that the ex

.

haust pas sage can be closed when desired ; otherwi se if the

engine sets low in the boat the water may back up into
,

the cylinders when the engine is no t ru nning The cooling .

FIG . 45 .

f
and consequent reduction o volume o the exhaust gases f
is further assisted by leading the discharging cooling-water
into the exhaust passage thr ough pipe A as shown I n the .

un der water exhaust care must be taken to proportion the

-

passages so that there will be as little back pressure as

po ssible This is especially the case in the small two-cycle
.

engine which is usually so sensitive to back pressure that

,

the engine may easily be stopped from that cause .

 EXHA U ST 97

134 . TH E A UX I L I A RY E X H A US T — In a number o f
engines
an aux iliary exhaust valve operated by a cam or an auxil ,

ia r y exhaust port uncovered by the piston to ward the end

o f the stroke is provi ded for several reasons As the gases
,
.

pass through the a u xi l i ary exhaust the pressure in the

cylinder falls rapidly and the exhaust valve proper is not
forced open against a considerable pressure as is ordinarily
,

the case The hottest gases pass out through the aux i liary
.

port lessening the danger of overheating the exhaust valve

f
.
,

The exhaust gases are disposed o quicker and a cooler

cylinder results I n the larger stationary engines a bal
.

an c e d water cooled exhaust valve di spenses with the

f
-

necessity o an aux i l iary ex h aust .

 C HAPTE R X V

L CT I ON
SE E OF TY PE

135 f
I n se l ecting the type
engine to be d esigne d the
advantages and disadvantages f
. o

the v arious constructions

o

must be studied and the designer can then choose the type
most suitable fthe work to be done Following i the
or . s

general classification accor d ing to the mechanic al construe

tion :
Two-cycle o r four-cycle .

H orizontal o r verti cal .

S ingle-acting o r double-acting .

S ingle-cy l inder o r multiple-cylin d er .

136 Tw o CY CLE OR F O UR CYC LE

- —Earl y experim ents
-

with two—
.

cycle engines proved unsatisfactor y and the four

cycle type was built almost exclusively for a while D uring .

the past few years the two-cycle type in both small and
—
,

large horse powers especially in the large has proven very

, ,

successful I n smal l po w ers the two- cycle type has the

f
.

advantage o S implicit y and cheapness and is at the present

time very largel y used in marine practi ce I n large powers .

the two-cycle type is almost a necessity since the four cycle -

m achine becomes excessively bulky for the power devel oped

f
.

M any o the obj ections which apply to the small two- cycle
engine with crank case compression do not apply to the
f
-
,

large machines where a charge o air and gas is d elivere d

f
,

to the engine cylinder by means o separate pumps The

f
.

ad vantages o this latter type are that the cylinder is c o m

pletely charge d with a combustible mixture an d that there

98
1 00 GAS-ENG INE T HEORY AND DESIGN

portant point a n d in the doubl e acting tw o— cycle type the

f
-
,

arrangement o the valves is simpler .

The ve r tical type is lighter more compact lends itsel f , ,

to multiple cylinder construction possesses a greater

-
,

mechanical efficiency the lubricat i on is better the arrange

f f
, ,

ment o valve gearing is simpler it is capable o better ,

balanc ing and higher speed the various parts can be made
,

more accessi ble it i s cheaper to manufacture and install

I t would seem as i f a v ertical double—
.
,

acting multi ple , ,

cylinder type would possess many advantages over the

horizontal tw in engine construction—the opin ions o some
-
f
experts to th e contrary notwithstanding .

1 38 S I N G LE -A CT I N G O R D O UBL E A C T I N G —T h e single
f
-
. .

acting engine is simple and easy o construction in smal l

powers I n large powers however it becomes excessively
.
, ,

bulky the various parts become heavy and difficult to

,

manufacture sound castings accurate machine work and

f
, , ,

resulting reliability o performance are difficult to O btain .

When the reciprocating and rotating parts weigh many

tons they are expensive to manufacture .

The do u b l e a ct ing cylinder is much smaller for the same

power o r for the same size there is double the power with
, , ,

a moderate increase in length I t has more mechanism . .

S ince there is a crosshead there is n o side thrust o n the

piston .The double-acting cylinder requires a better
cooling arrangement for valves piston etc which must be , ,
.
,

water cooled as well as the cyl inder This type becomes a

f
-
.

necess ity o r large powers

139 S I N G LE - CY L I N D E R O R M ULT I P LE-CY L I N D E R —Fo r a
.

. .

given power the single-acting cylinder i s bulki er heavier , ,

irregular in runn ing and except for small powers more

, , ,

expensive There is a greater pressure on the cylinder-head

f
.

and through the m e chanism I t is more di fi cult to

.

cool . The obj ections mentioned in the prec ed ing para

 S EL EC T ION OF T YPE 101

graph regarding size and weight o parts apply equally f

well here .

The multiple-cyl inder machine is lighter smaller carri es

a much sm a ll er fly—
, ,

wheel and as there is a more continuous

f
f
,

and steadier turning e ort the engine can be better bal

,

ance d H owever the multipl e- cyl inder engine must be

.
,

be tter desi gned and constructed s o that each cylinder will

do its share o the workf .

Whenever an engine is to b e design e d for a certain class

of f
work the designer must decide o r himself how far the
various advantages and disadvantages enumerated in the
foregoing apply and be governed accordingly .

14 0 S M A LL U N I TS vs L AR G E U N I T S —A word might
f
. .

here be said about installing several eng ines in place o

one u nit where a certain amount O f power is wanted I f .
,

for example H -P is required in a power stati on

f
.
, ,
.

there are many advantages ( aside from the question o

cost which is usually l ess ) in having say four units o f
300 H — f f
, , ,

P each in place o o n e unit o H P I f any -

thing happen s —and t h ings are bo un d to happen—and o ne

. . . .

engine must be s te p p e d for a while the others will continue

f
,

running and the ent i re plant is not put o u t o commi ssion .

M any electric light and power stations pumping stations

f
-
, ,

etc have installed a number o smaller units in preference

f
.
,

to o ne o larger size .
 C HA P TER X VI

D E T E R M I N AT I ON O F THE P R I N C IP A L D I M E N S I ON S

14 1 PO W E R f —The power
a gas engine depe ds prin n
ip lly upon the vol ume f
—
. o

air ( ai r and ) that i t can

f
c a o or g as
handle in a given time the n um ber cubic inches
per H P per minute F ue l requires a certain amou t f
y sa o

air for complete combustion an d the greater the amo nt f

. . . n o

ai r handle d per minute the greater the amou t f

u o

fue l that
can be burned and the greater the amou t f
n o

,
heat that is n o

l i be rat ed and converted into mechanica l energy in a given

time After having decided upon the type and po wer then
.
,

the cylinder bore piston stroke and R P M can be deter

, ,
. . .

mine d A 4 5 x 4 1 ( bore and stroke ) four-cylinder auto

.

mobile engine running at ,

wil l deve l op as
much power as an 8 x 12 sin gl e-cyl in d er engine ru nning at
”

about 4 00 if the fue l i s th e sa m e , s ince the volum e

fair han dl ed per minute in each c ase is nearl y the same
f
o .

The power developed by an engin e o a c ertain bore and

stroke depends to a certain extent u pon the fuel used .

An eng ine runn ing o n natura l g as a rich fuel will develop , ,

more power than when running o n blas t-f u rnace g as .

14 2 C O M P R E S S I O N — T ll e allowable co mpression varies

f f
. .

with the method o handl ing the fue l an d the method o

cooling Where a charge o air and ue l i s compress ed in
. f f
the cyl in d er the danger of p r o-ignition puts a practica l limit
o n the degree of compression The methods o increasing
. f
the com pression li mit by more extensi ve cool ing ad d ing a
f
,

surplus o air etc have al ready been di scus sed I n the

,
.
, .

s ma ll er engines the compression ranges from 75 to 100 l b s .

102
104 GAS ENGINE T H EOR Y
- AN D DE S IGN

to cu in Where an overl oad capacity is de

. .

sired the cylinder volume must be increase d The amoun t of

f
.

ai r require d can readily be figur ed from the calorific power o

the fuel an d the air required for compl ete combustion o 1 f
lb of the fuel For example 1 H — P requires BTU
f
. . .
.
,
. . .

per minute when an efficiency o 25 per cent is assumed

,

1 70 B T U are required and enough air must be furnished

. . .

to burn this fuel plus a certain percentage for fluid losses

,

( leakage wire
,
-
drawing etc ) and for an overload capacity
,
. .

The total cylinder vol u me will be the piston displace

ment plus the compression space .

14 5 BO R E AND S T R O K E —H aving found the amount of

.

air to be handled per minute and the piston speed in feet ,

per minute the bore and stroke can readily be computed

,
.

Fo r example if the piston speed is taken as 9 00 feet and

, ,

the engine is desi red to r un at 4 50 the stroke will

be I n a four cycle engine the cylinder volum e would
f
-

then be the amount o air required per minute in cu in . .

4 0 X 12r

d Ivrd e d by

The ratio of b o re to s troke can be varied to suit conditions .

I n the high-spee d engines this ratio is usually 1 to 1 some

f
,

times 5 to 4 al though o late there is a tendency to make

,

the stroke more than the bore ; in stationary engines often

1 to and in the larger engines 1 to This last
ratio is seldom exceeded With a moderate S peed and the .
,

stroke somewhat greater than the bore th ere will be more ,

time for ignition combustion charging and exhausting

f
, , , ,

and a better fuel efficiency results I n the case o an .

automobile engine or other portable motor power with

, ,

light weight is the most important consideration an d fue l

f
,

economy is o secondary impo r tan ce .

The cylinder vol u me i s frequently figured from the

etc instead o from the amount of air required
.
, f
 DE T ER M INA T ION OF PRIN C IPA L DI M ENSIONS 1 05

for an engine of a certain power but the method here given

f
,

is the S implest o r beginn ers

f
.

. E —
14 6 E F F C T O F ALTIT U D E S ince the density o the ai r
decreases with the altitude a gas engine will develop less ,

power at a high altitude than near the sea level and the
f f
,

work o compressi on will be somewhat less The e fect of .

altitude can readily be computed from Table V .

14 6a .
—
TA B L E V
E FF I C I E N C I E S A T D I FF E RE N T A LT I T U D E S

r tr i B r m tr i V l u m tr i
B
Al ti tud i n P r ur i n P r u i n E ffi i n y f
a ome c a o e c o e c

F t
e
In h f p un d
ess
C m pr
e
i n
ess r e c e c o

M r ur y S u r I n h P nt
ee c es o o s p er o ess o
e c q a e c er ce

14 7 . H E AT AND P OW E R U N I T S ET C ,
.
—B elow are given
some heat power and other units which are very c o n
, ,

ve n ie nt i n heat-engine calculations as well as some d e fin i ,

tions of the terms commonly employed .

Wo rk is force exerted over a distance .

P o we r is the rate of doing work ; the time factor here

comes in
f
.

Ene rgy is stored work or the capacity o performing work,

.

P ote ntia l en e rgy is the energy stored in a body by virtue

106 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

o f
its position . Example : A stone
on the roof o a building f
possesses potential energy since in fa l ling it can do work .

A defle c ted spring and fuel both possess potentia l energy .

Kine tic ener gy is the energy possesse d by a body by

virtue o its motion f Example : A fly— wheel possesses
.

kineti c energy as d oes also a bullet when in motion

f
, .

Con ser va tion o ene rgy — Energy cannot be destroyed any

more than matter Energy cannot be produced except at
f
.

the expense of some other form o energy ; i t cannot b e

create d or dest r oyed but it can change its form .

1 horse-power = ft -lb s per min . . .

1 — 74 6 watts .

1 B T U per min . . . .

1 B T U per hour . . . .

1 kilowatt
f
.

1 B TU —778 t -lbs
. . .

1 calorie
f
.

1 calorie B T U = amount o heat require d to

f f
. . .

raise the temperature o 1 kilogram o water 1 C °

.

I kilowatt ( K w ) watts . .

H -P . .

Watts volts am peres .

1 gallon = 231 cu in
f
. .

1 gallon o water weighs lb s

f
.

1 cu ft o water weighs
. . lb s .

1 centimetre = 2 54 ins . .

1 metre ft ins . .

1 litre gal .

1 kil ogram lbs .

1 in. centimetre .

1 ft. metre .

1 gal . litre .

1 pound kilogram
f
.

1 atmosphere = 14 7 l b s per s q in . . . . o mercury .

108 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

ing to the law P V P V B C represents the rise in

-
, ,

pressure at constant volume during explosion ; C D r e p r e

sents adiabatic expansion according to the law used for
compression ; DA represents the d rop in pressure d uring
exhaust .

The method of plotting the P V = K curve is given in the “

next paragraph
f
.

The method o calculating the theoretical temperatures

f
o combust ion has already be en given Viz ,

'
B T U .

R Ise I n t em p e r a t ure
Cv

The rise in pressure fB C can now be figured since

or

P 2
T2

P. T.

T, the absolute temperature at the point B is found from ,

PV P I 71

the formula
T I

14 9 . A C T U A L I N D I CATO R D I A G R A M .
—
Ir1 order to figure
the strains to which the engine parts are subj ected the
actual indicator diagram i s necessary I n designing a new .

engi ne such a diagram must be forecast as accurately as

possible although the exact diagram of course can only
, , ,

be obtained after the engine has been built and O perated

f f
.

A good way is to take the diagram o an engine o the same

power com pression and operating o n the same fuel when
, , ,

such a diagram can be obtained Frequently this is not .

possible and in such a case the following information will

,

be helpful :
I n place O f PV —K the formula PV 35 =
K is used a s 1 °

,
‘

this approximates more closely the actual compression and

expansion curves .
 F OR C ES A C T ING I N T HE GAS ENG INE 1 09

f
The method o drawing these curves as shown in Fig 47 ,
.
,

is as follows : The ordinates represent pressures The .

abscissas represent volumes I f a line CD is draw n at angle

f
f
.

a,
then 1 + tan b = ( 1 + tan Find angle b ; and lay O
CC The values commonly used are given below :
.

Fa ct o r ta n b .

ta n a = 25
. ta n a = l5
.

The smaller the angle a the more points c a n be plotted

f
f f
f
.

The point P V being known lay o X D = 25 X C; lay O

f
f
, .

0C ( for lay o X E at 4 5 and draw

1 °

‘
f
f
EE ; draw P G and lay o CC at draw G E gi ving
‘ ‘ ‘
,

F IG . 47.
1 10 G AS -ENG INE T HEORY AND DESIG N
1 12 GAS-ENG INE T H EORY AN D DESIGN

one point On the curve C ontinue in the same way to .

locate the other points and draw the curve through these
points .

Fig 4 8 is a curve plotted according to the law P V

. K
Fig 4 9 shows a curve plotted according to the l aw P V
.

-
K also a volume—
,
temperature curve plotted according
to the same law .

I t will be noticed that the vo l ume first decreases rapid

with a moderate increase in pressur e then the pressure ,

increases more rapi dly until the c urve finally becomes

nearly a vertical l i ne .

The a c tua l e xp l osion p re s s u re s will vary w ith the fuel ,

dilution compression etc but the following may be taken

, ,
.
,

as a guide :
G s o lene expl o si o n p ressure
a -
. . co mp ressi o n p ressure X 4 to 4 15
I llumin a ting G a s x 35 »

P r o ducer Ga s x 25
Bl a st F u rn a ce Ga s
- x 211;
The compression pressure for rich fuel s is about 9 0
pound s
The compressi on pressure for lean fuels is about 18 0
pound s
1 50 A N G UL A R I T Y O F C O N N E C T I N G-R O D —
. I we assume . f
that the fly-wheel and consequently the crank pin revol ves
,
-
,

at a constant velocity ratio i e at a constant S peed then

f
, , ,
. .

the velocity o the slider ( piston or crosshead ) the tan

f
,

g n t i l e fort the crank —pin and the side thrust o n the

f
e a o n ,

slider are continual ly varying due to the angularity o ,

the connecting rod -

f f
.

I n the following figures the ratio o length o connecting

rod to stroke has been taken as 2 to 1 the crank pin i s ,
-

assum ed to turn at a constant velocit y ratio and the ,

pressur e o n the pist on to be constant

f
.

Fig 50 S hows h o w the angularity o the co nnnec tin g-rod

f
.

a fects the slider Angles so and e are e q u al

. .
 F ORC ES A C T ING I N T HE GAS ENGINE 1 13

cd
’
equals the velocity f
othe S lider when the crank pi n -

is at b
f
.

cd equals the velocity o the sli der when the crank pin -

is at b ‘
.

I f the connecting rod moved parallel to the S lider s path

-
’

the vectors would be equal .

FIG . 50 .

While the crank pin moves from to b , ( Fig 5 1) th e b

f
- .

velocity o the slider is greater than the velocity of the

crank pin since the vector extends beyond the circle and
f
-
,

the velocity o the crank pin is taken equal to e d The posi

-
.

FIG . 51 .

f
tion o greatest velocity is generally assumed to be when
the crank and connecting rod make an angle of This
f
-

is not strictly accurate but close enough o r all practical

,

purposes This veloci ty condition may cause a knocking

.

in the engine if there is any play on account of the inertia

f
O the reciprocating parts .

8
1 14 GAS-ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

S L I D E R VE LO C I T Y D I A G R A M —
f
15 1 .
-
Fig 52 the curve . In .

a ol shows ho w the velocity of the slider changes during

o

the stroke The curve is l aid o ut as follows

f
.

D ivide the semi circle which represents the travel o

-

the crank pin into 10 equal parts ; c b is the crank and

-
,
l
,

F IG . 52 .

b ‘
a the connecting rod ; when the crank pin is at b the
‘ - - 1

S lider pin has mo ve d from a to a ; draw the line b d

- ‘ ‘

f
.

Then the d istance c d represents the velocity o the slider

fo r the position shown as compared with the throw ( o n e
,

half the stroke ) w hich is ta k en as 1 .

F IG . 53
.

This can b e proved by means o the i nstantaneous-centre f

and similar triangles The proofs o r this and some o
. f ,
f
the following statements , will n o t be given as they ar e
S imple geometrical and trigonometri cal p r e po s itions and
can be foun d i n books on machi ne desi g n .
1 16 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

tages and disadvantages of the o set cylinder Fig 54 a a f

f
f
f
. .
,

small o set is used by several automobile builders The

,
.

chief advantages claimed are a more equally divided si d e

thrust equalizing w ear and a more direct t h rust during the
,

working stroke The compression stroke is how

.
,

ever performed un der a corresponding d isa d

,

vantage I n a single— . acting steam en gine this

arrangement is advantageous but in a gas engine ,

the disadvantages seem to balanc e the a dva n

tages fairly well The student should draw the
f
f
.

tangential -e ort diagrams (taking into account

F IG 54. a .

the inertia of the reciprocating parts ) o r an O f set f f

f
o 9 ; and 1 o
, f
the stroke The arrangement as will be seen
.
,

from such a diagram is really a quick return motion

,
.

1 53 S I D E T H R U S T O N T HE S L I D E R — In Fig 55 let 9 51
. . .

represent the pressure on the piston ; b a represents the ‘ l

thrust along the connecting r o d ; then gb represents the

1 -

S ide thrust o n the S lider .

FIG . 55 .

Figs 56 and 5 7 show how this side thrust reverses durin g

.

the compression an d expansion strokes The inertia of .

the reciprocating parts enters I nto the problem of sid e

thrust and the thrust may in consequence reverse during, ,

the stroke
I n doubl e—
.

acting engines the net forward pressures must

b e considered in laying o u t these di agrams .
 F ORC E S A C T ING IN T H E GAS E NGINE 1 17

154 R AT I O O F C O N N E C T I N G R O D L E N G T H T o S T R O K E
-

I t can readily be s een that the longer the con necting—

. .

. rod
the more direct the thrust on the crank pin un til with a -

f
,

connecting rod o in fi nite length the thrust would be

-
,

parallel to the piston axis The advantages of a more .

direct thrust and consequently better turning effort are

, ,

overbalanced by the disadvantages of increased inertia ,

friction longer engine etc

f
.
, ,

The rati o o connecting rod length to stroke varies from -

2 to 1 in high spe e d eng ines to 3 to 1 in slow—

-
speed engin es .

FIG . 56 . FIG . 57

A f
ratio o S lightly more than 2 to 1 is commonly used in
automobile eng ines while in stationary engines 23 to 1 is
,

the usual practice

f
.

155 I N E RT I A — A fo rc e tends to change the state o a

. .

body with respect to rest or motion

f f
.

Ine r tia is the property o a body by vi rtue o which it

tends to continue in its state o rest o r motion until acte d f
upon by some force
f f
.

The in ertia o the reciprocating and tur ning pa r ts o an

engine sets up forces which a fect the tur ning ef ort balance f f ,

of the moving parts and sets up Stresses in the various

,

parts The turning effort shoul d b e as constant as possible

.

-
,

and the balance should be as perfect as it can be made ,

although sometimes balance must be obtained at the ex

f
f
pense of t u rning e ort and vi ce versa P erfect balance is
, .

usually impossible in the ordi nary forms of construction

since reciprocating parts for in stance can be balanced , ,

o nly by reciprocating parts and not by turning parts The .

un balanced forces tend to rock and shake the engine I n .

1 18 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

a vertica l engine the reciprocation tends to lift and d rop

the frame alternately and as the cranksh aft is turning in
,

o n e direction the frame tends to turn in the O pposite d ir e c

tion I t is a good general rule that the frame should be

f
.

made sti f and the reciprocating parts as light as possible

f
.

The inertia is much greater o course in a h igh speed

f
-
, ,

engine than in a slow S peed engine the di ference o n a o

f
-
,

count o speed may be 10— 1 o r even more ,

.

156 I N E RT I A O F C O N N E CT I N G-R O D AND R E C IP R O C AT I N G

.

P A RTS —At the dead centres the reciprocating parts and

conn ecting r o d may be assum ed to be at rest D uring the
f
-
.

first part o the stroke these parts oppose the piston press
ure as the velocity increases D uring the latter part o the
. f
stroke as the velocity decreases these parts o n account
f
, , ,

o their velocity and inertia exert ,

pressur e in the direction of the piston

travel The connecting - rod partakes
f
b .

o both reci procating and turning m o

tion but o ne-half o the rod is usually f

f
,

ass u med ( for the sake o convenience

F I G 58
. .

in calculations and because nearly ,

t r ue ) to have reciprocating motion and o ne-hal f to hav e

turning motion .

The following form u la may be used

F WN R Z

WN R ( 1 —l /n) 2

Where F is the inertia at the beginning o the stroke in f lb s

f
.
,

F is
1
the inertia at the completion o W the stroke in lb
f
s .
,

is the weight o the reciprocating parts ( piston etc ) plus

f
,
.

o ne -half o the connecting r o d weight in lbs N is the

f
-
.
,

R is the radius o the crank pin circle in feet n

f f
-
,

is the ratio o conn ectin g rod len gth to length o c r an k

-

throw .
120 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

61 oz weight of connecting —
rod complete with b e a r mg s
; ; .
,

cap screws and liners 4 lbs 3 oz ,

. .

1 5 7a C O U N T E R B A L AN C I N G — T he connecting -rod and

. .

crankshaft may be balanced as Shown in Fig 6 0 H ere

f
. .

r = r = d ista n c e to centre of gravity

1
The weight o C .

FIG . 60
.

F IG 62 .

FIG . 63 . F I G 64
. .

f
equals the weight o the crank Then only the crank pin .
-

and half of the connecting r o d remain to be balanced - .

W W 1
W
f
+ ,

Where W = b a la n c e
weight in lbs W = w e ig h t o crank .
,
1

pin W ,,
= w e ig h t of half connecting rod -
.

—
The proper way to balance is as here show n wit h t he
balance weights in the same plane with the cranks Th e .
 F OR C ES A C T ING I N T HE GAS ENG IN E 1 21

other plane ) is not good I n order to make the latter

f
.

method e fective there should be two fly wheels and balance -

,

weights should be placed in each one This thr ows out of .

balance a rotatin g part which wo u ld otherwise be balanced .

I n engines having thr ee

o r more cylinders especially ,

those run ning at high speeds ,

balance weights are often

omitted The cran k pins here
.
-

are 120 and 9 0 apart

° °
.

I n Fig 6 1 there is n o t a per

.

feet balance since the inertia F I G 65 . .

cur ves ( Fig 58 ) cross and are not the same for the cylin der p o
.

s itio n s shown There is also a couple due to the distance d

. .

I n Fig 6 2 the couple is zero but the forces are not per
f
.
,

e c t l y balanced .

°
I n Fig 63 the crank pins are _120 .
-

apart the forces are balanced but

F IG 66
, ,

there i s a couple
. .

I n Fig 64 there are no couples but there are free forces

.
,
.

I n multiple cyl inder engines care should be taken to

-

have all pistons connect ing— ,

rods etc weigh the same ,
.
,
.

1 58 F O U R CY CLE E N G I N E D I A G R A M S -Fo r a better un der

f
-
. .

standing o the prece d ing the following diagrams are given :

Fig 65 is an ind i cator car d from a four—
. cycle
single-cylinder engine .

FIG . 67 .

Fig 66 is the inertia diagram o the reciprocating parts ; f

f
.

Fig 6 7 is a diagram o the piston press ur es for the com

.

p l e t e cycle fou
,
r strokes .
122 GAS
- E NGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

Fig 6 8 is the combined piston pressur e an d inertia di a

.

gram
f
f
.

Fig 69 is the tan gentia l e ort di agram derived from th e

.
-

preceding .

I n the casef a cyc l e engine the

o tw o -
must be combined with the pressure diagram
I n the case f
.

a multi ple cyl inder engine the

o -
,

followed are the same as in th e foregoing .

124 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

The large horizontal engin es developing up to severa l

thousand horse p ower with the i r heavy mo v ing parts and
-
,

high combust i on pressures present diffi c ulties i n the design

,

and building which are pecul iar to this type alone The .

li ght high speed engine presents diffi culties

f
-
,

o altogether another nature E ach type r e .

quires a careful study of the difficulties p e c u l

iar to it .

16 0 M AT E R I A LS O F C O N S T R UC T I O N — T he
f f
. .

physical characteristics o the metals used o r

the various parts must b e stud i ed in order to
F I G 70
. .
.

make the design practical The greater part of

f
.

the gas engine consists of castings and a knowledge o the

f
,

general behavior o iron d u ring melting casting and cooling , ,

is essential The pattern maker must make

.
-

the proper a llowance for shrinkage but it is the ,

’
designer s province to give the part such a
form that strong castings with m inimum
shrinkage strains will result I n a casting F .
71 :

having a cross section similar to Fig 70 the thin part cools .

,

quickl y and the metal hardens and becomes s e t The .

heavy part cools slowly ,

the surface cools first and

hardens then the interior ,

cools an d shrinks and

tends to draw in the outer
porti ons which have a l
ready cooled creating ,

shrinkage strains and

F I G 72
making the interior p o r
. .

o us . These shrinkage strain s weaken the metal s o that

the casting may break when subj ected to onl y moderate
strains S harp co rners where the thin part j oins the
f
.

heavy part are also a source o weakness Very thin and .

 D E SIGN AN D DI M ENSIONS OF PAR T S 1 25

very heavy sections should be avoided if possibl e The .

section should be uniform throughout or where o ne sec , ,

tion must be thinner than another the change S hould be ,

gradual as shown in Fig 71 The fly wheel Fig 72 fur

, . .
-
,
.
,

nishes a good example of the strains

s e t up in cooling The arms cool .

first. The rim cools slowly and

tends to pull o u t the arms putting ,

them under te n sion The slower .

the castings cool the stronger they

F I G 73
will be I f the design is good then
. .

.
,

the matter of poor castings is up to the foundry S crap iron .

is cheap and some of it in the frame will do no harm if cor

,

r e c tly mixed and poured but poor metal and poor foun
f
,

d r y work wil l result in a return o engines to the builder .

FIG . 74 .

. CY L I N D E RS — T he following fi g
16 1 A RR A N G E M E N TS OF

ures show various arrangements of gas— engine cylinders in

common use to day and require but little explanation
-
,
.

F IG . 75 .

Fig . 73 is a single ac ting horizontal engine two

-
,
or four
cycle .

Fig . 62 is a horizontal double O pposed eng i ne four cycle

-
,
-
.
126 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D D ESIGN
-

Fig . 74 is a single acting horizontal tan d em engine four

-
,

cycle .

Fig is a double acting horizonta l tandem engin e four

. 75 -
,

cycle .

Fig 76 is a hori zontal .

twin - cy l i nd er e n g i n e ,

four-cycle cranks at ,

Fig 77 is a hori z ontal .

double-acting engine tw o ,

Or four-cycle .

Fig 78 is a hori zontal

“

d ouble-piston two-cycle
engine Oe c h s e lh au s e r
F I G 76
, .

Fig 79 is a vertical
. .

single-acting engine t w o o r four cyc l e

—
-
.
,

Fig 63 is a vertica l single-acting engine three cyl inder

. , ,

four-c y c l e cranks at
,

F IG . 77
.

Fig 64 is a v ertica l S ingle acting engine four cyli nd er

.
-
,
-
,

four cycle cran k s at

-
,

F IG 78

Fig 80 is a vertical single—

. .

acting engine s ix-cy l in der

f
.
, ,

—
four cycle cranks at 120 two styles o cran k-shafts sho wn
,
° ‘

.
128 GAS ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

l 6l a OF R
-
I O N —
D I R E CT I ON
OTAT T he horizontal engine .

always turns over as shown in Fig 8 3 The vertical

”
. .

engine may rotate in either direction usually counter ,

clockwise when the observer faces the fly wheel I n the - .

FIG 83

f
. .

case o a twin screw boat the engines are right and lef t
-

hand t e turn in opposite directi ons the propelle rs usually

,
. .
, ,

turning over and toward each other

”
.

16 2 F R A M E S — T he drawings here given are S imply in

.

tended to illustrate principles .

F IG . 84 .

D uring the expansion stroke the pressure in the cylinder

tends to force the cylinder and crank— shaft apart and the
metal in the frame which resists these strain s should be as
much as possible in a straight line The conditions should .

approach those S hown in Fig 83 Figs 84 and 8 5 are p lan

. . .
 D E S IG N AND DI M ENSIONS OF PAR T S 1 29

f
views o the large horizontal engine shown in Fig 8 3 The
f
. .

outboard bearing in Fig 84 is usually o the type shown

.

in Fig 108 The E uropean bui lders provide three bearings

f
. .

o r the crank-shaft as shown in Fig 84 while several Amer

,
.
,

ican builders have a dopted the si d e crank shown in Fig 8 5 . .

I n the latter arrangement there is a considerable S ide

thrust and since the piston pressures are hea v y the
, , ,

strains are necessarily great A very import ant advantage

is that there are onl y two bearings to keep in line—a thing
.

difficult to do in the three-bearing type Wh en a fly-wheel

ff f
.

weigh s a tri fle o fi ty o r eighty tons this matter o getting ,

F I G 85 . .

bearings true is an exceedingly di fi cult o ne U nl ess the f .

bearings are amply proportioned and everyt hing is in line

f
f
, ,

and the shaft is sti so that there is but little deflection ,

the bearings will quickly wear at the edges and hot boxes
,
f
will resul t as we ll as wobbling o the fly-wheel A fly wheel .
-

may burst from this cause An other point which here

.

comes in is that while the be arings may be in line with

f
,

the machine at rest there may be a binding o the cran k

,

shaft when the engine is running .

I n Fig 8 5 P L is the moment acting o n th e frame at the

.

point shown ; a is under tension and a is un der compression , .

9
1 30 GAS-ENG INE T HEORY AN D D ESIGN

The moment is zero at the centre f t and greatest at the,

extremities .

Fig 86 sho w s a common horizontal-frame design for small

.

engines The l etters a: designate the usual weak points

.
,

which are somewhat exaggerate d in the drawing These .

may be enumerated as follows :

A long heavy cylinder supported only at o ne end ;
Too little metal at various points between crank-shaft
and cylinder end ;
B earing split o n centre does not take thrust correctly .

F IG . 86 .

Fig 87 shows the usual vertical form and its ad v ant ages
.

can be seen at a glance There is no difficulty about taking

f
.

care o the pressures tending to force cylin d er and crank

shaft apart and to arrange for multiple-cylin d er construe
ion The section AB is treated as a beam fixe d at both ends
f
.

and loaded at the centre The frame must be sti f s o that

.

there will be no be nding between A and B which would

tend to loosen the foundation bo lts .

M aximum total piston pressure

Area smallest section of frame .

The maximum fibre stress per square inch runs in d i f

fe r e nt engines from 5 00 to lbs A lo w value is o .
,
f
course to be preferred
, .

General rules for frame design are

1 32 G AS - EN G INE T H EORY AN D DE S I G N

The a llowance o r r e boring is fromf up according to

-
,

the size of the cylinder I n light engines no allowance is .

made for r e boring The cylinder cylinder head and water

- .
,

j acket should be subj ected to a hydraulic test for leaks .

Fig 88 shows cylinder water j acket and head cast in

.
,

one piece .

Fig 89 shows the cylinder and water j acket in o ne piece

. ,

the head ( also water j acketed ) being cast separate

- .

F IG . 88 . FIG . 89 . FIG . 90 .

Fig 9 0 S hows cylinder water j acket and frame

.
,

separate S uch a cylinder is called a liner and i s

.
“
,

in the larger engines I t is free to expand and can be

.

made from harder metal than the frame B etter castings .

can be secured in this way .

The normal strains in a cylinder are tension and the

greatest pressures result from explosion These range from .

300 to 8 00 lbs per sq in . . .

I n figuring the strength of the cyl inder to resist rupture

as shown in Fig 9 1 : .

P = p >< a

P = R
where P = th e maximum piston pressur e .

= th e maximum press ure per s q in

p . .
 DESIGN AN D DI M E N S IONS OF PAR T S 1 33

= th e
area of the piston
f
a .

R = r e s ista n c e O fered by the metal to P

a = ar e a o
1
f
cylinder wall resisting P = area d
area d ‘
.

s = 1 500 to ,
l b s per s q in Fo r special mate . .

rials the values are higher .

d and d 1
outside and inside diameters .

The greatest strains in the cylinder are those tending

to produce rupture as sho w n in Fig 9 2 since the highest .
,

FIG 9 1
. . FIG . 92
.

explosion pressures are reached as the piston starts to move

o ut
,
and therefore there is only a small area to resist
, ,

the rupture parallel to the cylinder axis .

H ere P = 2(d X c ) X p 1
.

a c X t .

R = 2a X s 1
.

1
P I
R .

Where P = maximum pressure

I
tending to produce rupture
as shown
f
.

d inside diameter o the cylinder

f
.

t thickness o cylinder wall

f
.

c distance between top o piston and cyl inder

head .

R = resistance to rupture
1

f
.

The tension is greater in the inner layers o the metal

than in the outer layers a fact of considerable importance
f
,

in the design o large guns but in ordinary gas— engine pra e

,

tice this may be neglected .

1 34 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

The material for cylinders is a c l ose grained cast iron -

which can readily be machined The cylinders espe .

,

c ia ll y where liners are used may be harder than the pist on

,

s o that the latter as it can be replaced at l ess cost may

, ,

take the greater wear I ron containing about pe r

f
.

cent o silicon possesses considerable tensile strength

with a fair degree o hardness f .

164 W
. A T E R J A C K E T — Water j ackets are made th inner
than the cylinder walls be cause they are subj ected to
little pressure and no wear The water j acket is prop e r
.

tio n e d with a view to obtaining a sound casting In .

a
light engines it may be Tr in thick .

if cast S ometimes the j acket is

f
.

made o spun copper I n hori .

zo nt a l engines the water j acket

has to carry a part o the cylinder f
weight etc an d is webbe d and ,
.
,

proportioned accordingly The .

space between cylinder and j acket

should be such as to allow o f
proper cooling with a moderately
slow flow o water Air pockets f .

must be avoided and provision

F IG 93 . .

made o r draining o o r otherwisef f

f
removing impurities The water j acket usually comes a
f
.

little below the lowest point o piston travel as sho wn in ,

Fig 88. .

165 CY L I N D E R H E A D —T h e cylinder head must first

f
.

o all be rigid I n small engines the thickness is about

.

the same as that of the cylinder wall Fig 93 shows a . .

separate water-cooled head S ometimes a double head .

is ribbed but the ribs are O f doubtful advantage since

,

they interfere with expansion H eads are sometimes

f
.

corrugate d in or d er to increase the sti fness The sha pe .

1 36 GAS ENG IN E T H EORY AND DE S IGN
-

the head from springing There must be room en ough

.

between the nuts s o that a wrench can be freely used .

S tuds may be used where there is little o r no occas ion

for taking them o ut ; otherwise bolts and nuts must be used ,

since threads in cast iron wear quickly .

For simple tension :

F R
R n X a >< s
where F maximum total piston pressure .

to l b s per s q in
f
S . .

n number o bolts
f
.

a area o bolt .

B olts and studs are always made larger than th e o r e t i

c ally necessary s o that they will stand considerable tight

F IG . 95 . FIG . 96 . FIG 97
. .

e n ingup The strains due to screwing d own a nut may

f
.

be calculate d by the principle o leverag e as follows

1
2 r p t 7:

where S = stress due to screwing up

f
, .

r radius o force applied o n wrench handle in -

inches .

p press ur e of force applied o n wrench-h a ndle

in poun ds .

t threads per inch o n bolt .

 DESIGN AND D I M ENSIONS OF PART S 1 37

that the valve seats can be water cooled and also easily
f
-

removed for r e grinding S everal ways o arranging valves

-
.

and valve cages are shown in the following three figures .

Fig 9 5 sh o ws the inlet and exhaust passages cast in

.

o n e piece with the cylinder This arrangement is found

.

in many light engines The caps o n top permit the ready

.

removal of valves This arrangement makes a rather

.

expensive casting and increases the cooling surface in the

combustion chamber The inlet valves ( in the case of a
multiple—
.

cylinder engine ) are placed on o ne side and the

exhaust valves on the other side Two camshafts are .

therefore required for operating the va l ves .

FIG .

Fig 96 shows a simple and compact arrangement

. .

A more direct gas flow is obtained The cages and valves

.

are easily removed There is no extra space in the c o m

.

b u stio n chamber .

I n Fig 9 7 the valve cages are easily removed I n the

f
. .

case o several cylinders o n e camshaft operates all valves .

P ockets in which burnt gases may lodge or places where ,

carbon may deposit must be avoided The parts su b

f f
.
,

j e c t e d to the heat o the exhaust gases are often made o

nickel steel .
138 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

F ig . shows the general arrangement o cy l in d er

98 f ,

cy l inder-hea d s valves an d water-cooled piston in a l arg e

, ,

horizontal d oubl e-acting engine .

.I
16 8 P S TO NS — T h e requirements here are that the
iston must no t spring it must d istribute the side thrust
p ,

as evenly as possibl e Above 6 in diameter pistons are . .

,

usually we b-stayed Large pistons are both w ebbe d and

f
.

water cooled The top o the piston which is hottest

f
-
.
,

end expands most shou l d be finishe d o smaller than the

,

rest of the piston barre l in or d er to p revent binding when

r unning hot
f
.

Fig 9 9 shows a s im pl e piston design o r small engines

. .

FIG . 99 . FIG . 1 00
.

Fig 100 shows a piston design o r l arger engines The

. f .

head is ribbed p roviding additional stiffness and the

f
, ,

bosses for the piston pin are a l so sti fened by ribs help
f
,

ing to obtain an even distribution o si d e thrust along

the entire piston l ength
f
.

The thickness o the piston head may be calculated -

according to the formu l a for the thickness of the c y l in

der-head
f
.

The material used o r pistons is a close grained cast -

iron preferably somewhat softer than the cylinder metal

,

so that the piston which is easily replaced may take the

, ,

greatest wear .

The ratio of piston length to diameter depends alto

gether upon the design I n light engines it may be 1 to 1 .
,
1 40 G AS - ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

P
d 1 x
where p pressure per sq in proj ected bearing surface . . .

P maximum piston pressure .

d diameter of pin
f
.

1 length o pin between bosses .

For both the piston pin and wrist pin ( crosshead ) p

S hould be kept below 1000 lbs if possible although in
f
.

the case o intermittent pressures such as we have here , ,

much higher pressures ( maximum ) are al lowable than

where the pressure is constant .

FIG . 1 01a . F IG . 101b .

171 P I S TO N -R O D D IAM ETER —Where a crosshead is

f
.

used ( double acting engine ) the diameter o the piston

-

r o d may be calcul ated as foll ows

(I bD p
where d diameter of the rod .

b for steel
f
.

D diameter o cylinder .

p = maximum unbalan ced pressure per s q in

f
. .

di ference between the pressur es o n the two sides

of the piston .

1 71a CR O S S H E AD — The cross head design follows steam

. .

engine practice Fig 101a shows an arrangement which

. .

is in common use The bearing surfaces are lined with

.
 DESIGN AND DI M ENSIONS OF PAR T S 14 1

faces are roun ded s o as to permit a certain amount O f

-
f
self centring o the mechanism .

S ince in double-acting engines the pressure o n the cross

h ead i s always in o n e directi on vi z downward the cross
,
.
, ,

head may be arranged a s shown in Fig 101b . .

172 P I S TO N R I N G S
.
— P iston rings must be carefully
made since their function is to prevent leakage and with ,

poorly fitting rings the leakage losses

may become very great The rings
.

may be lap cut as shown in Fig 102

-
. .

When open the ring is larger than

the inside cylinder circumference by
the distance 2a I n order to have
.

the ring a true circle when in the

cylinder it must be S prun g together
and then machined to size I t is bet .

ter to have more rings with the dim e n

sions b and d small than to have the
F I G 102
,

fewest possible rings and have them

. .

wide and sti f f . F o r eccentric rings the following pro

portions represent good practice .

d 05 to 04 D decreasing as D increases
. .
,
.

b d
c g d
where D is the inside diameter o the cylinder f .

E ccentric rings exert a more un iform pressur e all the

way aroun d than concentric rings The rings are put in .

so that the lap j oints bear against the cylinder at di fferent

points and pins are inserted so that the rings cannot turn .

The material for piston rings is cast iron

f
.

1 73 C O N N E CT I N G —
. ROD — T he ratio o connecting r o d
.
-

length to stroke h as already been discussed in P ar 1 54 . .

The connecting rod is considered as a strut under com

-

pression from the piston pressure and under tension from ,

14 2 GAS-ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

the inertia pressure The greatest piston pressure Is at

f
.

the beginning o the stroke The greatest bending moment

.

due to inert ia acts at about 6 /10 L from the wrist-pin wh e r e ,

L is the distance between centres .

F IG . 1 03 .

Fig 103 shows the I secti on type used in light engines

.
-
.

The cross section at a distance L ma y be calculated

as follows
f X P X L 2

E e
where f
moment o inertia o the section ( see P ar f
f
.

factor o safety for compressi on 5 —10 .

maximum piston pressure

f
.

modulus o elasti city O f the metal

f
.

length o connecting-r o d in inches .

FIG . 1 04 .

f
Q

The ratio o a to b may be 1— —

2 or 2 3 Fo r a round .

connecting-r o d Fig
,
. 104 the follo w
,
ing formula is
=
d a p + C

Where d f
diameter o r e d at it L from piston pin .

D p Is t o n diameter in inches .

L length connecting-rod in feet .

14 4 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

The diameter to resist twisting may be calc ul ate d as

follows .

F o r a solid round S haft

T = PL
“
d 7:

32

Fo r a hollow round shaft

( d t —dI )
‘
7:
J
32
where Ttorsional moment in inch-pounds .

L l ever arm .

P twisting force .

safe shearing stres s lb s

f
s .

J polar moment o inertia

f
.

r radius o S haft
f
.

d diameter o shaft
f
.

d ,inside diameter o hollow shaft .

The diameter to resist be nding is figured as

F o r a solid round shaft

TI PIL

I 7r (1
8

c 32
 D ESIGN AND DI M ENSIONS OF PART S 145

where T1 = be nding moment

f
.

I moment o inertia .

I
moment of resistance .

c
f
The resistance o a shaft to bending is about o n e- half
that to resist twisting .

F o r combined twisting and bending :

F o r a solid roun d S haft :

x/T ,
’
T, +
“
T, T

For a holl ow ro u nd shaft

where T, = combined twisting and bending moments .

r r = o ut and inside radius of hollow shaft

, .

A holl ow shaft is lighter for the same strength .

F o r light fly wheels d
-
about 4 D
For heavy fly — wheels d about 3 D
where D is the cylinder bore .

S ince the crank -shaft h as a tendency to bend when run

ning it must be designed s o as to
possess considerabl e stif ness f .

In single ac t ing m u ltiple—

-
cylinder e n
gines the cran k shaft in general need
-

not be larger than for a single cylinder -

engine since the maximum stresses

are nearly the same Cr ank shafts are .
-

usually steel drop-forgings .

1 75 CR A N K — T he crank is treated
.

as a cantilever beam
F I G 107
.

The area of the cross section is usual

. .

l y from to f
the area o the crank shaft cross section -
.

1 76 CR A N K P IN — T he crank pin is considered as a

.
-
.
-

simple beam loaded at the middle and subj ected to bending .

10
14 6 GAS-ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

The crank -pin must be strong and rigid an d the be aring

s urface must be large enough to prevent the O il from be ing
squeezed o ut I n order to secure the requir ed bearin g
.

surface the diameter is invariably ma d e greater than it

need be for strengt h ; l b s per s q in may be taken as
. . .

the allowable pressure The crank p in is frequently made -

the same diameter as the crank -shaft I n side—

.

cran k en .

gines the pin is consi d ered as a cantilev er beam ( se e P ar .

1 77 M A IN B E A R IN GS —T h e length o the main bearings f

f
.

is ma d e from two to three t ime s the d i a meter o th e s h aft .

FIG . 108 .

For heavy fly wheels an outbo ard bearing Fig 108

-
,
.
,

should be used This I s frequently made with a spherical

f f
.

j oint as shown to al l ow o r the bending o the shaft I n

, ,

run ning I n order to prevent rapid wear and overheat ing

.

the main bearings should present ample bearing surface

and positive lubrication shoul d be employed .

When the main bearing is made in tw o pieces the general

arrangement show n in Fig 108a is followed At 33 thin
. .
148 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

f a fluid is much less than the su face friction f soli d s r

therefore with a fil m f
o o ;
,
oil between the rubbing surfaces
o

the sharp edges cannot engage and the work lost in friction
becomes less When there is a film f
,

. lubricant b tween o e

the metal surfaces they obviously can ot touch

The general requirements f
n .

a lubricant are as follows

o

I t must not become gummy ; it must resist oxidation ; it

must not corrode metallic surfaces ; it must be able to
absorb and carry away the heat generated by friction ; it
must have a high temperature o decomposition ; it must f
f
have su ficient body so that it will n ot be easily squeezed
out ; the internal friction must be low .

The lubricant should be suited to the work in hand .

For light pressures and high speeds a thin o il is best F o r .

great pressures and slow speeds a heavy O il or grease , ,

should be use d .

Graphite is a good lubricant especially if fed w ith O il

f
, ,

but in the case o the g as engine cylinder it is apt to short

-

circuit the S park — plug Where there is n o danger from

f
f
.

this source it forms an ideal lubricant since it is not a ected

by high temperatures .

F o r piston lubrication a high fir e-test o il must b e used

f
-
.

U nfortunately even the be st o these O ils will not stand

much more than about
M any lubricating O ils contain acids and other inj urious
f
substances A goo d method o testing them for acid is to
f
.

place a piece o polished steel in the o il and leave it there

fo r several days N eedless to s ay lubricatin g o il should
.
,

be thoroughly filte red before being used .

( )
c B ea r i g me tal s
n - — When the surfaces are highl y
fin ishe d the wear will be greater between hard metals as ,

ste el o n steel than when o n e metal is soft as steel on babbitt

, ,
.

The softer metal is worked into shape more easily and by

contact with the hard metal is smoothed decreasing the ,
-
 DESIGN AN D DI M ENSIONS OF PART S 149

friction When the lubrication fails a soft metal like

.
,

babbitt will melt and run o u t without inj uring the sh aft
, ,

whereas with brass o r cast iron the shaft would be destroyed .

The bearing metal should carry its load without distortion

-
,

and must not heat readily .

C ast iron is better for some purposes than other ma

t e r ia ls
. The piston furnishes an ex ample of this H ere .

cast i ron wears longer than brass or bronz e

f
.

B rass is a copper—zinc alloy made up in di erent pro

,

portions and sometimes with a d ditional ingredients .

B ronze is a copper t in a ll o y the proportions being about

-
,

90 per cent copper to 1 0 per cent of tin I t is a bette r .

bearing metal than brass B ronze is used where the press

-
.

ures are too high for babb i tt

f
.

P hosphor bronz e contains a small amount o phosphorus

which improves the strength and ductility of the alloy .

This bronze is used extensively for bearings .

M anganese bronze is used extensively for propellers ,

propeller shafts and sa l t-water fittings in general since

, ,

it will not corrode easily

B abbitt is a copper—
.

tin-antimony all oy a good grade ,

ha ving about the following proportions : tin 9 0 per cent ,

antimony 7 per cent copper 3 per cent I t is use d ex

f
.
,

te n s ive ly for the main bearings o engines I t is easily .

poured in place and scraped to fit and when the be aring

, ,

overheats it will melt and run o u t without doing any inj ury .

I n order that the babbitt may hold to the supporting shell ,

grooves must be provided as shown in Fig 108 The bab . .

bitt is sometimes hammered after being poured in order

to make a better contact with the shell
f
.

The maximum pressure o r babbitt at slow S pee d s is

given as lbs per s q in
. . .

The maximum pressure for bronze is l b s per s q in . . .

The maximum pressure between steel and steel har d ,

150 GAS-ENGINE T H EORY AND DESIGN

ened an d polished as in ball -be arings etc may reach

, ,
.
,

lbs per s q in
. . .

For intermittent pressures higher values can be used

f
than for constant pressures .

( d) F m o r a n d P r op o r tio n o B e a r in gs —In designing

bearings the followin g points are to be observed : F ind
the direction and magnitude o the f
forces acting o n the bearing ; deter
m ine the safe working pressures an d
speeds ; provide means for forcing the
lubricant between the bearing surfaces ;
F I G 1 09.

provide means o r taking up wear

.

f .

Th e bearing metal must n o t change its shape when u nder

-

load .

I n Fig 109 if the lubricant enters a t A it will take the

f
,
.

path o least resistance and work o ut to the left and the

f
rest o the bearing o n the right will receive no lubrication
at all H owever if the o il enters at the centre B it will
.
, , ,

m eet as much resistance o ne way as the other and wil l

work in both directions I f grooves are n o w ou t in either .

the shaft o r bearing metal the lu b r i

f
-
, ,

cant will reach all parts o the

bearing .

When the motion reverses the o il ,

has a better chance to lubricate than

when the motion is always in o ne
direction
F I G 1 10
.

I f in Fig 1 10 the pressure and rota

. .

tion are as indicated by the arrows and the o il enters at ,

A the lubrication will be poor since the t endency is to

,

squeeze o u t the oil where the pressure is I f the O il is .

forced in at B under pressure the entire bearing will be ,

lubri cated .

I n Fig 1 1 1 the oil enters at A and is worked outward

.
152 GAS-ENG INE T H E O R Y AND DESIG N

a tightly fitting valve which will withstand high pressures

and temperatures The fo llowing must be studied in
.

n e c t io n with valve design .

( a ) Valve proportions .

( b ) D iameter and lift

f
.

(0) Angles o valve opening .

(d) Valve gearing .

( e ) C ams .

(f ) S prings .

( g) Val ve passages .

—
(a ) Va lve P r op or tion a The va l ve proportions vary
f
much in di ferent designs The thickness t ( Fig 1 14 ) . .

must be sufficient so that the valve will not S pring This .

may be figured according to the formula for cylinder— head

thickness I n the exhaust valve .

t is frequently made larger than

in the inlet valve As a rule t .

runs from i to i; d decreasing a s ,

the diameter increases The .

valve— seat angle is usuall y

F I G 1 14
The distance a must be suffi
. .

cient to provi de a good bearing surface and usuall y runs

from to {7 d; t may vary from 7; to k d for a solid stem
‘ 1

f
.

1
The metal at a permits regrinding o the valve .

( ) D
b ia m e te r a nd Lift — The diameter and lift are fig
ur e d o n the assumption that the valve is ful ly open during

the entire period of valve lift and that the gases are moving
in and out at a constant velocity I n a high speed engine .
-

where the valve is lifted from 800— 9 00 times every minute ,

the lift is made as small and the diameter as large as pos

, ,

sible This secures a smoother acti on and reduces the ham

f
.

merin g and j um ping o the valve The exhaust valve is .

sometimes made larger than the inlet valve but usually

f
,

they are o the same size The ass umed constant speed.
 DESIGN AND D I M ENSIONS OF PART S 1 53

is taken as 100 ft per second for the inlet valve and 8 5 ft

.
, .

per second for the exhaust valve o n the as s umption that

the exhaust gases are going out at atmospheri c pressure .

Again a constant gas speed of

,
ft per min is as . .

sumed for both valves but the periods

f f
f
,

valve opening are di erent The

ff
f
o .

rati o o e ective lif t to diameter varies

from 1— 4 to 1— f
6 depending o course , ,

largely upon the speed of the engine .

The designer must be careful no t

to confuse the total valve lift h with F I G 1 15

f
f
. .

the e ective valve lift h ‘

These two are quite di ferent
. f
as can be seen from Fig 1 1 5 . .

To illustrate how important the time factor is let us ,

take a four cycle high speed engine for example :

- -
,

The engine runs at R P M . . .

O ne revoluti on is made in 05 s e c . .

The inlet valve is open during 180 of crank-pin travel °

f
.

Total time o valve opening 0250 se c , . .

Valve is fully open about 0050 se c

f
. .

D uri ng the total time o valve O pening the fu ll charge

must be dr a w n in .

I n a slow— spe e d engine the

conditions are not s o bad but ,

in a two-cycle engine they may

f
be even worse .

(0) Angle s o Va lve Op ening .

The circle in Fig 1 16 represents

f
.

the crank-pin travel Ir engines .

running at medium and high

F I G 1 16
. .

speeds the periods of valve O pen

ing may be as here shown The inlet valve commences to
.

open 10 past the upper dead centre and closes about 22

° °

past the lower dead centre The full period o o pening

. f
15 4 GAS ENGIN E T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

°
is therefore
, ,
o r 1 06 for the camshaft which revolves

at o ne-half of the crank -shaft speed The reason for keep .

ing the valve open after the lower dead centre has been
passed is o n account of the inertia of the gases which are
coming into the cylinder at a high velocity and continue
to c o m e in even after the piston has started o n its return
stroke B y keeping the valve open a larger charge passes
.

into the cylinder

f
.

°
The exhaust valve may O pen 4 0 ahead o the lowe r
dead centre since the tangentia l pressure at this point is

FIG . 1 17. FI G . 1 18 .

f
small and it is desirable to get ri d o the hot exhaust gases
as rapidly as possible The exhaust valve is here open
f
.

°
during o r 1 13 o the camshaft travel These angles .

are varied of course according to the desi g n

, , .

( )
d V a lve Ge a ri g
n —Fig 117 shows a typical valve gear
. .

R otary motion is transmitted from the crank -shaft C t o

the camshaft K by gearing The cam bears against a .

roller R and lifts the lever L which in tur n lifts the valve
,
.

The roller reduces the friction and prevents side thr u st

156 GAS ENG IN E
- T H EORY AND D E S I GN

The opening and closing motion shoul d be as smooth

as it is possible to make it .

S ince the piston velocity changes throughout the stroke

f
the velocity o valve opening and closing should conform
to the piston velocity This condition can only be approx
.

im a te d in practice but
,
the piston —
velocity diagram should
be studied in connection with the cam curve The average .

gas velocity has been given as ft per min The

f
. .

maximum velocity on account o the maximum piston

,

velocity ( since the pi s ton draws in and

discharges the gases ) is much greater .

Fig 121 shows the usual cam outline

f
. .

The sides o the cam are straight l in es

tangent to the base circle C S uch a .

cam is easily machined and works quite

well at slow spee d s but at high speeds ,

the valve is started rapidly from rest

F I G 1 21
. .

at d which results in increased wear the

, ,

valve is also apt to j ump at e and e instead of following

1

the cam curve closely and this causes a poun d ing S uch a
f
.
,

cam requires a much sti fe r spring than the c u rve which

will be described next .

The angles in Fig 121 are usually as follows

.

A cam outline which will give a smooth motion at high

speeds should start the valve from rest gradually lift with ,

increasing speed and then decrease the speed and bring

the valve to rest again gradually A body acted upon .

by gravity falling from rest travels with a un iformly

, ,

increasing acceleration and the distances passed over in

successive intervals are in a ratio o 1 3 5 7 etc Fig 122 f , , , , .

‘
.
 DE S IGN AND D I M E NSIONS OF PART S 15 7

shows the m f
ethod o laying out a curve following this
law The distance A represents the arc o angle a o n the
. f
base circle Fig 121 and is divided into ten equal parts
,
.
,
.

The distance h equals one-half of the valve lift The line .

o n the right is divided into parts whose lengths are 1 3 , ,

9 respective l y
,
B y proj ecting these points over to the ver
.

tical lines o n the left the cam c urve is obtained The .

FIG . 1 22 .

f
upper h a l of the curve is simpl y the reverse o the lower f
half The straight line on the left shows how the cam
.

l ifts the valve in Fig 121 The cu r ve may now be used

. .

for laying out the cam cu r ve proper in the usual mann er .

When the cam bears against a roller care must be taken to

draw the cam curve s o that the centre of the roller will
lift according to the curve in Fig 122 In this case the
f
. .

actual cam curve will be di ferent from the o n e here laid

o ut

the large gas engines combinations f

f
.

I n many o cams o ,

eccentrics rods and levers are used for O perating the valves
, , ,

and these arrangements are frequently quite complicated .

The ratios of base and roll er circles etc are as follows

f
,
.
,

B diameter o cam base circle

f
.

R diameter o roller circle .

V valve lift .
1 58 G AS - ENGIN E T H EORY AN D D E S IGN

R atio of — —
to R is 5 3 to 5 2
B
R atio o fB to V is 5 —1 to 6 —1 for high speed and 4 —
1
for slow—speed engines
f
.

The d iameter o the base circle should be as large as it

can conveniently be made Valves are drop forgings an d
.

are frequently made from nickel steel which withstands

high temperatures better than ordinary steel
f
.

—
(f ) S p r ings The function o the spring is to make the
.

valve follow the cam outline closely at all speeds and to

keep the valve closed between l ifts The spring closes the .

valve against inertia friction etc H elical springs made

f
.
, ,

o round steel wire are generally used M any turns are .

used where the design permits this s o that the tension

, ,

will not vary to any extent with the deflection .

The force P in poun ds which the spring must exe r t in

order to close the valve according to given con d itions ,

may be calculated as follow s

2w h
2
neglecting f ri ction
32 2 X t

f
.

where w weight o the va l ve and stem .

h distance it moves through in feet in t seconds ,

.

2 h
acceleration “
t
The diameter O f the wire diameter o coil etc can be ,
f ,
.
,

now found in tables given in engineering hand books -

.

The pressure per s q in of valve area may r un from 5

. . .

to lbs and even more I n a slow speed engine the r e

. .
-

quired press ure may be 1 lb per s q in . . .

Wh ere throttling o r cut-off governing is used the valves

f
,

may open o n acco u nt o the vacuum in the cyl inder un less

provision is made for loc k ing the valves .

(9 ) V l P —
The dia meter O f inlet and exhaust
f
a ve a s s a ge s .

pipe o r each cylinder is easily figur ed from the assumed

1 60 GAS ENG INE T H EORY AN D DESIGN
-

this reason the wheel is made much hea vier than it need
be for overcoming the idle strokes While the l y wheel . f
-

is giving out energy it slows down and while it is absorb

ing energy it S peeds up .

The kineti c energy of a moving body E

where w weight o body in po u nds f .

v velocity in feet per second .

g gravity
Le t E l represent the change o kinetic energy between f
v
1
and v
2

where maximum velocity

minim um vel ocity
v WV;
2g 2g
2 s E.
—V
0
2 2
V

f
f
I a

Le t
us assume that Fig 124 is the tangential e ort .
-

diagram for the expansion stroke The line b e is the .

FIG . 1 24 .

MEP . line While the piston moves from b to b th e

. . .
1

fly-wheel is giving up energy equivalent to the shaded

port ion A and consequently the wheel slows do wn
,
.

1
From to c the fly wheel is absorbing energy and speeds
-

up the energy absorbed being equivalent to the shaded

,

area B From 0 to c the fly wheel is giving o u t energy

1
.
-

and slows do w n
f f
.

E greatest amoun t o energy in t lbs above the

2
: -

—
. .

mean ( b c ) B
 DESIGN AND DI M ENSIONS OF PART S 16 1

E. g
V K
’

where w weight o rim f

f
.

V mean v elocity o rim in ft per s e c . .

— v2
K
v,

V
great est change in velocity
mean veloc ity
coef icient o f f
unsteadiness
f
.

I n the case o several cylinders the M E P is greater . . .

and the area B is consequently smaller .

K to 05 for ordinary work . .

08 to 10 for light fly wheels .

-
.

01 for textile and spinning machinery

. .

002 to 005 for alternating and d c drives

. . . .

E mpiri cal formul a for fly -wheel weight is

HP
. .

w x w
d mean diameter rim in i nches .

N R . P . M .

The allowable rim speed for cast-iron wheels is about

t— f
min Wheels built up from forged and rolled
. .

materials can be run at much higher speeds and possess

f
,

among other advantages the important o ne o safety ,

.

C ast iron wheels may bur st from o ve r spe e ding defective

-
,

spots in the casting and wobbling during r u nning o n

f f
,

account o bearings being out O line or worn S olid cast .

wheels are stronger than wheels cast in sections .

The safe speed for a cast wheel may also be figured a s

follows

V= 16 .

where V velocity in ft se c
f
. .

w weight of 1 cu in . . o rim material = 26 0 l b s

. .

for cast iron .

11
16 2 GAS ENG INE T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

The centrifugal force tending to produce ruptur e in the

rim as shown in Fig 125 is .

Wv ’

C
gR r

w here R is the mean radius in feet

f
.

T tension in any secti on o f

the rim
C
2
f
The weight o the arms and hub usually equals o n e
f f
third o the total weight o the wheel and the energ y store d

FIG . 1 25 .

in them for a given change in velocity is about 10 per cent

of that stored in the rim
f f
.

The dimensions o r the cross section O the arms near

the hub Fig 126 may be calculated as follows
,
.
,

B D
d s

%d b
where N num ber o arms f
f
.

D diameter o cylinder I n I nches

f
.

B width o rim
f
,

o r the bending strength o the arms is made

f
twisting strength o the shaft .

S
’
fl r

S shearing strength o shaft f

f
.

r radi us o shaft in inches .

16 4 GAS -ENG INE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

cored out for the forged j oints The hub is cored o ut .

as sh own in 126 B so as to relieve the shaft The bolts

,
.
,

etc are also relieved as sho w n

.
,
.

When o n e tapered key is used there is a tendency to

f
throw the wheel o u t o true as indicated in Fig 126 0 ,
. .

I n order to avoid this three keys should be used in large

wheels as shown in Fig 126 A I t is O f the utmost impor
. .

tance that the wheel run s true .

A fly-wheel with an outboard bearing Fig 126 E is to , .

,

be preferred to an overhun g wheel Fig 126 D A hea vy ,

. .

moving part such as a fly wheel shoul d b e supported b e

,
-
,

tween two bearings whenever practicable When two .

overhung wheels are used Fig 126 F the crank shaft is ,

.
,
-

subj ected to a greater torsional st rain than when o ne wheel

is used and made equal in weight to the tw o wheels
f
.

When a l y wheel is made in halves the safe tensile

f
-

strength o the bolts shoul d equa l the centrifugal force

in the rim .

The small vertical engine runn ing at a fairly high spee d

f
, ,

is often discrimin ated against o r portable and other p ur

f
poses in favor o the much heavier horizontal engine on ,

th e plea that the fly-whee ls o n the vertical engine do not

posses s sufficient heft for the work to be done I n the
“
.

comparison bel ow the data was taken from catalogues

f
, ,

the only change being in the speed o the vertical engine ,

which h as been increased somewhat

f
.

H orizontal engine 6 H -P 2 fly wheels o 200 lb s each

f
-
,
.
, ,
. .

mean diameter o wheels 3 feet speed 300 total

f
, , ,

weight o engine lb s .

Vertical engine 6 H -P 2 fly-wheel s with a mean diam

f
,
. .
,

eter o speed R P M I n order to have the same

. . .

“
heft as in the fir st case the W heels should weigh 60 lb s
f
.

each The total weight o the engine woul d then be a

.

l ittle over 200 l b s .

 DESIGN AND D I M ENSIONS OF PART S 16 5

Where manufacturers put o ut 1 2 3 and 4 cylinder -

engines the same fly-wheel is generally used for the multi

,

— —
ple cylinder engine as for the single cylinder engine .

18 1 T A C HO M E T E R
.
—
The tachometer is an instrument
.

for recording the variation in speed per revolution Fig 127

f
. .

shows a tachometer record covering a period o 4 cycles o r ,

8 revolutions . The horizontal distances represent cycles ,

while the vertical distances represent variations in fl y

FIG . 1 27 .

whee l velocity during the cycle An electrical tachometer

.

will greatly exaggerate these velocity variations The .

record in question shows that the engine was equipped

with too light a fly wheel for the load The fly wheel
f
- -
.

weight should be computed n o t only for full load but o r

other loads as well
f f
.

182 F o uN DAT I O N s —
The method o building ounda
f
. .

tions for stationary engines and the mann er o securing

,

the foundation bolts are the same as employed in steam

,

engine practice and need not be described here Wh en .

an engine is installed o n a floor it should be placed near

a wall preferably in a corner in order to lessen the bending
f
, ,

o the floor beams and decrease the vibrations When .

placed o n a built u p foundation the engine should be some

f f
-

distance from the walls O the building A layer o min .

1 66 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

eral wool o r tan bark underneath the fo u n d ation will

lessen the vibrations The weight o the foundation f
f
.

o r an engine with heavy fly whee l s should be at least -

four times the weight O f the engine The area covered

f
.

by the foundation will also a fect the matter of vibration

f
.

A very deep foundation covering little area o r a oun da ,

ati on which covers m uch area but has little depth will n o t
f
,

give the best results This matter o vibration and c o n

f
.
,

sequent shaking O the building sometimes becomes a ,

serious one but with a balanced engine and a fairly

,

large foundation there will be little trouble .

183 S T R E N G T H O F M AT ER IALs —T h e following matter

f
. .

is given for the convenience o the designer Where .

special materials are used such as nickel steel chrome , ,

nickel steel etc the strength in tension compression

f
, , , ,
.

etc will di fer more o r less from the values given and this
.
, ,

fact must be borne in min d an d the pro per val ues su b

stituted .

S T RENG T H OF M A T ERIA L S

U LT I MAT E S T R EN G TH S IN LB S . PER SQ . IN .

Wro u g ht I r an . S te e l .

W EI G HT IN L B s P E R CU
. . FT . AN D CU I N . .

49 0

F A CT O R OF SA F E T Y F .

4 5
6 7
10 15

C O E FF I C IE N T OF E LA S T I OIT Y E .
1 68 GAS -EN GIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

S T RENG T H OF M A T ERIA L S ( Co ntin u ed)

B EN D IN G M O M EN T M

l o a ded

T O R S I O N P O LA R M O M E N T O F I N E RT IA
-
J

( see Pa r . 174 )
 DESIGN AN D D I M E N S IONS OF PAR T S 1 69

ST RENG T H OF M A TE RIA L S ( Co n tinu ed )

I M o ment o f
inerti a P T o ta l stress in
R M o ment o f
res i sta nce l L en g th in in .

G 2
S qu a re o le st r dius f
f a agyr ti n W
o a o W ei g ht in lb s .

A Are f cr ss secti n i n
a o o - o sq . in .

For te nsio n co mp ressi o n o r shea r

, ,

where l d o es n o t exceed 1 0 di a meters

B rea k i ng st r ength o f
be ms a M SR

For co lumns P

F OR A S IM P LE B EAM OF U N I F OR M S T R E N G TH

At l Depth d
At l Depth at

At l Depth d
At l D ep th d
 C HA PTER XIX
I
G AS - E N G N E M AN I P UL AT I O N

184 . P rinted instructions are usually furnishe d by man

ufacturers in regard to starting stopping cleaning and , , ,

taking apart their engines as well as directions for installing

, ,

etc The principa l points to be O bserved will be briefly

.

given .

18 5 S TA R T I N G — In starting the following operations

.

are performed
Turn on the fuel ; turn on the current— where electric
ignition is used ; turn On the cooling water ; turn o n the

F I G 128
. .

l ubri cation ; that there is no load o n the engine ; start

see

the engine ; throw o n the load

18 6 S TA R T I N G D E V I CE S —
.

. S mall single cylinder engines -

'

are usually equipped with starting-h a ndle s as shown in

Figs 128 and 129 The engine is turned over in the d ir e c
. .

tion in which it is to run .

C onsiderable force is required to over c ome the r e s is

f
tance o compression and o n this accoun t relief-cocks
,

1 70
1 72 GAS-ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

O pen the relief coc k -

that the compress ed charge wi ll
so

not rock the fly -wheel back and forth before coming to

res t—when connected to a generator this roc k ing wi ll
inj ure the brushes Another reason for O pening the relief
f
.

cock is to clear the cylinders o all explosive charges an d

thus avoid the possibility O f a back explosion in starting .

188 E N G I N E TR O UB LE s —Assuming that the design

and construction are good half o the gas— f
. .

,
engine troubles
are caused by defective installations and the other half
by careless handling .

P oor foundations small piping with many elbows

, ,

improper distance from the line shaft wrong conne ctions , ,

dirt and O bstacles in connections leaky j oints etc are

f
, , ,
.

O ften the result o installing an engine cheaply .

I f the engine has been properly install ed then in or d er ,

t o avoid trouble the ,

I gnition apparatus must be kept in good order .

Lubrication should receive systemati c attention .

All water and o il j oints must be tight the Oil and water ,

must be filtered
f
.

All parts liable to become loose o n account o engine

vibration must be examined at regular intervals .

B earings must be examined frequently K nocking and .

pounding are caused by play in the bearings TO deter .

mine quickly where the noise may b e the u se O f the stetho

scope has been suggeste d .

Everyt hing in connection with the fuel supply from

tank to combustion cham ber must be in good order .

P i stons and valves must not be l eaky

f
.

When pistons and valves bind due to gumming up o ,

lubricating o il o r carbon d e p o s its a little kerosene will

, ,
.

quickly loosen the parts .

The inlet and exhaust passages must be kept c l ean .

The piping must be s o arranged that any moist ure which

 GAS - EN G IN E M AN I PULATION 173

accum ul ates can be drained O f

f
All parts that must be
.

cleaned at intervals o r adj usted must be arranged s o that

, ,

they can be reached handily .

Wh en an engine is operated o n city gas a rubber bag , ,

and sometimes in addition a pressure regulator is placed ,

between the engine and gas main in such a manner that the
f
pulsations o the engine will not a fect lights o r burners f
in the building which are supplied from the main A .

F IG . 129 a .

pressure r egulator is shown in Fig l 29 a The action o . . f

this is obvious.

When an engine is thoroughly tested o ut in the S hop

in the first place is installed properly and receives intel
,

l ig e n t care there is little cause for trouble after instal

,

lation I n order to O btain good results a gas engine must

.

be properly looked after the same as a steam engine and

,

boiler o r any other machine o r apparatus The c o nstr u c

f
,
.

tion and operation O the engine should be studied by the

f
man who takes care o it and this together with a sys
, ,

t e mat ic inspection will overcome all ordinary troubles

f
.
,

The time required o r k ee ping a gas engine in good condition

f
is less than that required o r many other machines .
 C HA PTER XX
TE S T I N G

189 f
The O bj ect o testing an engine is to d etermine
f f
.

its power thermal and mechanical e fi ciency under di ferent

,

loads and to bring o u t and remedy defects in design

f
, ,

construction and adj ustment The performance O each

f
.
,

engine ( in the case o a stock engine ) should equal a stand

ard determined by careful experimental work in the wa y
f
’

o valve setting timing O f ignition etc When a new

-
, ,
.

design has been completed and an engine built careful

, ,

tests will show where improvements can be ma d e in both

e ffici ency and general design
f
.

P ossibility o errors an d wrong conclusions should be

eliminated as much as possible by the use o pr oper a p f
paratus and careful O bservations
f
.

The tests should be continued for a suf ici ent length

of ’
time to insure the engine s running in the same manner
under actual working conditions Fo r example an engine
.
,
’
might show u p very well during a few minutes run but ,

after it has been installed in a factory and run for several

hours it may overheat o r develop other troubl es which a
,

short run will not bring o u t

f
.

The test shoul d include runs under di ferent loa d s say ,

N o load .

Q uarter loa d .

H alf load .

Three quarter load

-
.

Full load .

O verload .

1 74
1 76 GAS-ENG INE T HEORY AN D DESIGN

f
travel o the piston will therefore produce a horizonta l
f
, ,

m ovement o the mirror while the pressure in the cylinder

,

produces a vertical mo v ement When the engine is run .

ning a point O f light ,

travels rapidly over the

glass screen and the ,

movement is so fast that

there appears to the eye
Ca rd 1
a continuous l ine o f
l ight P ermanent rec .

ords can be made by

photo graphing the light
diagram .

S ome manograph
cards from a Franklin
automobile engine are
Ca rd 2
given herewith
.
:

C ard N o 1 w as taken .

from cylinder NO 3 ,
.
’

H P 102at 700 R P M .
-
. . . .

The closed lines w ere

O btained by cutting o u t
the spark T h e light .

line over the main ex

p a n s io n l ine S hows the
Ca rd 3
increased power due to
.

a completely scavenging
cylinder being fired
after missing several ex
plosions .

C ard NO 2 w as taken .

from cylinder NO 2 H -P and R P M the same a s above

f
. . . . . . . .

C ard N o 3 was taken from cylinder NO 3 o the eng ine

. .

under test H P developed

. .
-
. at R P M
,
Th e . . .
 T EST ING 1 77

rapid drop in pressure near the end o the stro ke i s due f

to the a u xiliary exhaust .

The compression pressure is 60 lbs gauge and the ex .

,

plosion pressure is about 350 lbs .

This engine h as a base 4 stroke ,

”
.

1 93 E X P LO S I O N R E C O R D E R —Another valuable in st r u
f
.

ment o r gas-engin e testing is the Math o t continuous

expl osion recorder H ere a paper ribbo n
.

u nwinds from o n e dr u m and o n to anothe r

drum The drums are turn ed by clockwork

.

FIG 1 3O
te r min ed speed The explosions are r e
' '

cord e d by a pencil s e t in motion as in the ordinary ih

d ic a to r The record ( see F ig 130) shows the regul arity
f
. .

and time o the exp l osions

f f
.

B y means o either o these two instruments it can be

quickly determined whether in a multiple-cylinder e n
f
,

gine each cylinder is doing its share o the work Faults

f
,
.

can be corrected and the result o changes seen at once .

194 OU TS I D E W O R K D O N E B Y T H E EN G I N E —This is
.

the brake horse-power or the power which the engine is

f
,

capab l e o delivering .

w x L x 2 x x R P M
B H -P
. . .

. . .

where L is the length O f the brake arm in feet t e length

f
, ,
. .

from centre o rotation to centre line O f scale o r spring ;

W is the pul l o n the brake arm in po unds .

I H -P -
P
M echanical efficiency
. . . .

I H -P
f
. . .

The di ference between I H -P an d B H P is the work . . . . .

-
.

done in overcoming engine fri ction .

The ordinary dynamometer and pony brake are too

We ll known to require descri ption here F o r high—
speed .
.

12
1 78 G AS ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

engines a fan can be made into a very convenient an d

satisfactory dynamometer This o course requires no
.
,
f ,

cooling water
195 D Y N A M O D Y N A M O M E T E R —
.

. T h i s is an ordinary .

direct-current dynamo so arranged that its field swings

i n ball bearings An adj ustable weight mounted o n an
.
,

arm fastened to the frame balances the mag netic torque

,

between the rotating armature and the field .

B H -P = W X
. . . a constant .

The constant i s determine d by dynamo tests The e fli

f
.

c ie n c y o the dynamo does not enter into the calculations .

A field th e o sta t and a l oad rheostat complete the equipment

196 H Y D R A UL I C B R A K E —There are several forms o f
.

the hydraulic brake but Fig 131 i ll ustrates the princi p l es

, .

FIG . 131 .

involved S everal plates are fastened to the casing C

.
,

plates B are fastened to the shaft water enters at A ,

and circulates along the S haft As the shaft revolves .

the water is forced between the plates which are close

f
,

together and is thrown against the inside O the casing

f
f
,

by centri fugal force The water drains o at D The p as

f
. .

sage o the water between the plates c auses considerable

f r iction and the heat s o generated is carried o by the f
f
water As th e plates fastene d to the shaft rev olve they
.
1 80 GAS-ENG INE T H EORY AND DESIGN
 T EST ING 18 1

Assum ing that there h as be en no lea k age , the di erence f

f
between the total heat supplied and the I H -P plus . . .
,

water j acket l oss plus exh aus t loss m ust be charged to

-
, ,

incomplete combust ion and radiation

f
.

The test ing o engines at defini t e interva l s is apt to result

in a considerable saving O f fuel and in increase in power .

I nstances are on record where the thermal efficiency h as

been increas ed fu ll y 30 pe r cent an d the power largely
increased
200 M E C H AN I CAL LOSS E S —This inc l u d es engine fri c
.

tion leakage back pressure in exhaust ing etc The leak

, , ,
.

age losses may become v ery large if pist ons and valves
do not fit well .

I n conclusion some in dicator diagrams are given ( Figs

f
f
.

"

1 32 t o 135) which illustrate the e ects O f vari ous wrong

c on d itions in the g as engine
f
.

The e fi ciency O f an engine un d er or din ary working

conditions wi l l fal l short O f that determ in ed by experts
in testin g perfectly adj usted engine s un der the best p o s
sible conditions and this must be bo rne in m ind in figur in g
f
,

o n the fuel cons u mption and maximum power o an engine

fo r every — day and perhaps unfavorable con d itions

, , ,
.

Tachomete r di agrams shoul d be also taken in or d er to

d ete rmi ne the correct fly-whee l w eight .
 C H APTER XX I
D ES IGN S

201 M a r lne Engine —The first design ( M—A M- B , M—l

f
'
.
,

—
to M 5 7) shown is that o a small canoe o r boat engine
designed by the autho r This engine is compact and neat
.
,

R P M will
” "
has a 3 bore and 3 stroke and at ,
. . .

deve l op about 2% H -P The fol l owing notes will help

f
. .

in the study o this design

The crank shaft is ample in diameter the weight o the
-
, f
engine complete is about 4 0 lbs the fly -wheel is heavy .

” ”
enough to swing a 12 propeller with a 12 o r 1 5 pitch
” ’

f
.

With some modifications the design can be arranged o r a

four-cylinder engine The screw threads are U S S
. . . .

throughout ; no pipe is used .

The ports are larger than is usual in such small engines ,

the gas passages are as direct as possible the exhaust port

f
,

is uncovered while the piston travels the last 5 o its "

down stroke the cylinder inlet po r t is uncovered a little

,

lat er the cran k case inlet port is uncovered the same length
,
-

O f time as the exhaust port Straight passages prevent.

wire-drawing and back pressure and so increase the power .

The l ubricating O il is carried a l ong by the incoming air

and lubricates all parts in the crank case and cylinder
f
-

in an efficient manner Twelve drops per minute is s u fi

f
.

cient o r good l ubrication .

The pum p is held in place by a small reverse cl utch (n o t

shown ) These clutches are equipped with ba ll thrust
.

be arings .
18 4 GAS ENG IN E T H EORY AN D DESIGN
-

—
M 58 is the re l ief-cock .

TO start the engine O pen the carbureter nee d le va l ve

o n e -half turn O pen the relief cock O pen carbureter butter

f
, ,

fly valve o n e half turn s e t commutator o r a spark a little

-
,

past the dead centre turn over the fly -wheel several times
,

until there is an explosion The crank-case is now filled

.

with an explosive mixture C lose the relief cock and start

.
-

M4 8
 DESIGNS 18 5

the engine A tw o -cycle engine with cran k—

. case compres
sion will no t sta r t until the crank case is fil led with an ex
-

plosive mixtur e Wh en the engine is running turn on the

.

lubricating o il adj ust carbureter and commutator for

, ,

steady running I f the en gine is stopped after having run

f
.

for some time it can be restarted by o ne turn o the starting

,

h an dle
.

r “4 6
186 GAS -ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
188 GAS EN GIN E T HEORY AND DESIGN
-

fi
 DES IGNS 18 9

H o l es f
—Ri n
or g
P in
s No . 14
190 GAS-ENGINE T HEORY AN D D ESIGN

Xx x
.

M—
7 .
—P i st n P i n
o . F AO
. . .

M -8 .
—P ist n P in S
o et S cre w .
19 2 GAS -ENGIN E T HEORY AND D ESIGN
 D ESIGNS 19 3

M - 13 —
. F ly wheel
- .
19 4 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AND D ESIGN

T a pe r Mpe r f oot
' '

M x 34 K e y

M - 14 .
19 6 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

M—
16 .
—C r a nk Ca se
-
_ . R ight a nd left ca stin g .
 DESIGNS 19 7

M—
16 a .
—C r nk C se S tuds F ur w nted with nuts
a - a . o a .

i
f 1
.

1 l

M —1 7 .
—C ran k C se B lt
- a o . Tw o wa n ted wi th nuts .

M—
18 .
-C ra n k -Ca se B o lt . T hree wa nted with nuts .
 GAS-ENGIN E T H EORY AN D DESIGN

i
E

I
M - 19 .
—
M a in Be rin g B ush i n g
a . Two w a nted . F AO
. . .
200 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

—
M 23 —Ca r
. b ureter F ittin g
 DESIGNS 201

M—
25 .
—Needle V a lve F ittin g .

M 26 — —Needle V lve S
. a ea t .

E
— —C rb ure te r T hr ttle V lve
M 27. a o a .
202 GAS-EN GIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
204 GAS-ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN

FAO
. . .

M- 34 .
—
Exh
a ust T u be .
 DESIGNS 205

P . Key .

G r e a se Cu p

M—37
.
-
Wa ter P u mp E ccentric R in g .

M—
39 .
—P ump P lun ge r . FAO . . .
GAS ENGINE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

D r ill
or ff W ir
14 e P in
208 GAS-ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN

M—
45 a nd M- 56 .
—F or Pu m p Ca sting a n d Co mmuta t o r H a ndle .

wa nted .

M—
4 6 —W ter I nlet
’
. a I\Ib e .

—x o
l
——
A j
‘
0

r
w
>

I
 DESIGNS 209

M-4 9 .
—
C mmut t r H ndle
o a o a .
210 GAS ENGIN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
-

Co mm u t tor B u sh in g s
a

Fi b
er

— —C mmut
M 50
. o a to r B ush i n g s F ib er .
212 GAS ENGIN E T H EORY AN D DESIGN
-

202 Ho rizon ta l Engine —P lates S -36

to S 68 show -

f
.

assembly vi ews and details o a small horizontal four—

cycle
gas or gasolene engine which has been partly ,
r e- designed
by the author . These details are so complete that only
a few words of explanation are required .

The machine develops about H -P . . running at 750

R . P . M
The water is allowed to boil off The pump
. .

furnishes gasolene to a vaporizer ( not shown ) which is

provided with an overflow pipe The governor in which .
,

four steel balls depress a plate O perates a throttle valve ,

in the vaporizer The piston is lubricated by means O f

.

an oil cup (see S 36 ) mounted o n a ste m which is screwed

-

into a tapped hole in th e cylinder .

The few small parts not shown can easily be bought in

the market The engine runs very smoothly and illustrates
.

some excellent and interesting principles in design The

f
.

arrangement o base su b —base cylinder camshaft gover

f
, , , ,

nor etc is closely followed

,
.
,
o ut in the design o man y large
horizonta l g as engines .
DESIGNS 21 3
214 GAS ENGINE T HEORY AND DESIGN
-
2 16 G AS - ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DESIGN
D E SIGNS 217
21 8 GAS EN
- GINE T HEORY AND DE S IGN
220 GAS EN GIN E
- T HEORY AND DESIGN
DESIGNS 22 1
222 GAS ENG IN E T HEORY AND DESIGN
-
224 GAS ENG INE
-
TH EORY AN D DES IG N
DESIGNS 225
226 GAS-ENG IN E T HEORY AN D DE S I G N
228 G AS - E NG I N E T H EOR Y AN D D E S IGN

— —C ylinder H e
S 52 . a d Co ver .
DESIGNS 229
230 GAS-EN GINE T HEORY AND DESIGN

— —C I Cylinder L iner
S 54 . . . .
232 GAS -EN G INE T HEORY AN D DESIGN
DES IGNS
234 G AS -
ENG IN E T H E O RY AND D ES IGN
236 GAS—
E N G IN E T HEORY AND DESIGN

S -6 1 —G vern r P l
o o a te .
 DES I GNS 237

S —6 3
.
—Cy linder H e d Assem bly
a
238 G AS -E N G IN E THE OR Y AND DES I GN

K —
% I
240 G AS-E N G IN E TH EOR Y AN D D ES I G N
D E S IGNS 24 1
24 2 G AS —
ENG IN E T H EORY AND DESIGN
24 4 APP E ND IX

GA S EN GIN E , G AS P R O D U C ER AN D No . 3 D Y N AM O
F ive d a ys run ,
J une 1 0, 1 1 , 1 2, 1 3 a nd 1 4 , 1 907, 1 1 hrs per . d ay .

D AT E Av g . Vo lt s Av g . Am . L b s P e a Co a
. l G als . O il

Avera ge

Avera ge V o lts Avera ge Amperes

T o t a l K AY H o urs . T o ta l E H — P H rs de . . . .

v e l o p e d by engine

1 K W Ho u r = El H -P H o urs W ith 88 per cent effi ciency o f

per cent effi ciency o f
. . . . . .

dyn a m o a nd 92 b elt 1 K W H o ur =
,
B ra k e . .

H -P
. . H o urs devel o ped b y the en gi ne .

Co st o fnthr
a cite p e a c o a l used per g ro ss
a ,
to n
Co st Of g a s - engine O il used per ga ll o n ,

lu
f
H e a ti n V a e
o C o
B T . . U .
p e r lb .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O per cent
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 per cent
per cent
per cent
per cent
per cent

l
Co a Con u
St nd b L m p ti n I n l u di n g
f lb s o
400
c

T n t y f ur H ur
-
a y o ss e s o .

pe r we - o o s .

T o ta l 1 29 5 0 lb . 1 09 50 lb .

P er K W . . Ho u r switchb o a rd
at 2 . 1 2 lb .

P er B H . .
- P . H o ur a t engine . lb .
 APPEND IX 24 5

O p r ti n g C t
Op r t i ng C t I n l u d i ng Ch r
e a os s .
bl t E
e
St nd b L
a os s c
gi n St nd b y
a ea e o n
a - o ss e s
y e, s a -

L
.

o s s es .

Co a l per K W H o ur
. . .

Co a l per B H -P H o ur
. . . .

O il per K \V H o ur
. .

O il per B H P H o ur
. .
- .

L a b o r per K W H o ur . .

L ab o r per E H -P H o ur . . . .

T o t a l per K W H o ur . . .

T o t a l per B H -P H o ur
. . . . .

T he fi gures a b o ve lo a d o f f
a b o ut 80 p e r c e n t o th e u ll ca a c ff
f
are or a
p
ity o th e e ng in e a n d a b o ut 60 per cent o f
, the ca p a city o f the pr o ducer .

A t thi s lo ad the engine devel o ped o n e E H -P o n . . .

u r e d by c o a l c o nsum ed in the p r o ducer a n d ta king the effi ciency O f ,

the pro ducer a s 75 per cent the engine used B T U per B H P . . . . .

- .

H o ur o r a n a m o unt equa l to a b o ut
, B T U a t full l o a d o n en g ine . . . .

REPOR T OF T E S T OF O NE ( 1) 250 H P WARR E N T ANDE M .

-
.

G AS ENG I NE A T POW ER H O U SE OF T H E CI T I Z E NS
GA S E L E C T R IC C O M PAN Y L ORAIN OH IO , , ,

F E B R U ARY 2S T H AN D 29 T E 19 08 ,

EN G IN E
T w o -Cylinder IVa r r e n T a ndem G a s E ngine ,
built by S truthers Wells -

Co mp a ny , Wa rren Pa
Di a meter o f
.
,

Cylinder .

S tro ke
Dia meter o fP ist o n R o d
S peed

G E N ERAT O R
E ng i ne w as belt-co nnected to 150 K WV Westi ngh o use 3 ph a se .
,
-
, 60
cycle ,
AO. . G enera t o r a mperes v o lts a t 6 00 R P M
, ,
. . .

T E ST
T he electrica l o utput o f the genera t o r w a s tra nsmitted p a rtly to
wa ter rheo sta t a n d p a rtly to the lighting system o f
a

the Co mp a ny .
246 APPENDIX
T he test w a s sta rted a t P M F eb ru a ry 28 th 19 08 the l o a d . .
, ,

b ein g 20 a mperes per pha se a t v o lts T he l o a d w a s g ra du a lly

P M a t which t ime engin e w a s c a rryin g l o a d o f
.

increa sed until . .

,

4 5 a mperes per ph a se a n d a t this time the West i n g h o use T hree -Cy l in

,

der V ertica l E n g ine w a s st a rted synchro n ized a nd run in p a ra llel with, ,

the W a rren Ta ndem E ng ine W hen the t w o engines were o pera tin g .
,

the l o a d o n the Wa rren T a ndem en gi ne a vera ged 35 a mperes a n d

v o lts per ph a se T his l o a d co nditi o n c o ntinued until
. P M at . .
,

which time the l o a d o n the W a rren E ngine gra dua lly decrea sed to 27
a mperes a t v o lts per pha se At P M the use o the W est . . . f
in g h o u s e E n g ine w a s disc o ntinued a n d the entire l o a d c a rried b y
W a rren T a ndem E n gine the l o a d a t tha t time avera g in g 4 8 a mperes
,

per pha se a t v o lts

f f
.

T he ni g ht l o a d ro m P M o F e b ru a ry 28 th until AM
. . . .

F e b ru a ry 29 th a vera g ed 4 5 a mperes a t v o lts per phase equa l t o

f
,

1 79 K V A Assum in g a t tha t t i me a p o wer fa ct o r o the wh o le cir

w e w o uld ha ve an a vera g e o f
. . .

cuit a s l o w a s K W a t the
f f
. .

switchb o a rd o r a n a vera g e o 201 E H -P devel o ped b y the engine o r

f
. . .
,

seven h o urs a n d th i rty minutes o r a t o t a l o B H -P h o urs

f f
. . .
, .

T he g a s c o nsumpti o n o r this peri o d o time w a s cu b ic feet ;

d ivided b y equ a ls 8 4 cub i 0 feet o g a s per E H -P h o ur .
’
f . . . .

R EAD I N GS OF EN G I N E AN D G E N ERAT O R P ER F O R MAN C E AT P M . .

,

F E B RUAR Y 2ST H
L o a d o n g enera t o r a mperes v o lts equa l to 18 4 K V A
M ea n ef
, , . . .

fective p ressure i n en g ine cylinders 79 p o un ds , .

E n g ine speed 1 72 R P M , . . .

E n gi ne l o a d equ a l t o 238 I H P -

Assu m i n g the mecha n ica l effi ciency o f

. .

the engine a t this l o a d to be

8 8 per c ent w e w o uld h a ve 209 B H -P a t the en g ine o r 1 32 K w a t
, . . .
, . .

the g enera t o r ; the p o wer a cto r b e ing fi

z
f 184

A V ERAG E R EAD I N G FRO M AM . .

,
F E B RUARY 29 T H To P M . .

Avera g e l o a d o n a or gener t
4 3 a mperes v o lts equa l to 18 4
, , ,

KVA
M ea n e f
. . .

fect i ve p ressure o n en g ine cylinders p o unds ,

.

E ngine speed 1 70 R P M , . . .

E ngine l o a d equ a l t o 31 6 I H -P
Assumin g the mech a nica l effi ciency O f
. . .

the en g ine a t this l o a d to be

8 8 per cent we w o uld h a ve 28 1 E H P a t the en g ine o r 1 76 K W o n -

f
. .
, . . .
,

the genera t o r ; the p o wer a ct o r b ein g 9 57 . .

18 4
24 8 APPENDIX
APPENDIX 24 9
APPEN D IX
 I N DE X

PAR .

Adia b a tic exp a nsi o n Centigr a de therm o meter

Ad v a ncing o f
83
1 1 2—1 20
.

sp a rk Centrifug a l fo rce
Adv a nta ges o f
.

the g a s engine 9 5 g a s clea ner

Air co mp o siti o n o f
,
47 Cha m b er co mbusti o n ,

co o ling C ha nge physica l

required f
1 27
co m busti n 4 8 —5 2
,
.

o r o chemica l
req uired per H P 1 44 .
- . Chemica l a cti o n .

Alco h o l Che m ica l re a cti o ns in

p ro ducti o n o f
. 64 pro

Altitude e f fect o f
64 d uce r s 71
n, genera l
.

,
14 6 Cl a ssi fi c a ti o 3
Anthra cite c o a l 58 Clerk engine 12
5 7—
. .

Anti freezing so luti o ns Co a l

Applica ti o n s o f
-
1 30 59
the g a s engine 1 5 pr o ducti o n O f 57
Ash 45 Co ef line a r exp a nsi o n 33a
Atm o sphere
. .

Co ke 66
—
. .

34 Co m busti o n 34 35 , 5 5
Aut o m o b i le st a tistics 15 co mplete 41
Auxilia ry exh a ust co mp o und 34
Av o ga dro s la w inco mplete
f
’
53 4 2, 1 03
o a co mp o und
f
52 .

B a b b it t b r ass b ro nze speed o 46

,
Co mpressi o n 88 9 9 , 142
.

B a l a ncing .

t w o -st a ge 89
.

B a nki engine “

Co nducti o n 21
Be a rings Co nnecting- r o d 1 5 0 1 5 4 , 15 7, 1 73
.

Bea u de R o cha s éy é1e f

' ” '

.
,

Co nserv a ti o n o energy 14 7
Benz o l Co nvecti o n 21
B itumin o us c o a l
B o lts strength o f
,
Co o ling
Co unterb a la ncing
124
15 7a
B o re a n d str o ke .

C ra nk 1 75
B ra ke h o rse p o wer -
.

pin
.

1 76
B ra ke hydra ulic
, oooooooo sha ft
.

1 74
B ray t o n cycle .
.

1 71
B ritish therm a l un i t Curve P Vn 14
Cycle . 4— 26
Ca l o rie 14 7 t w o - str oke 6
Ca l o r ifi c p o wer 4 4—5 2a fo ur stro ke — 7
Ca l o rim etry 72 Cylinder he a d 16 5
Ca ms . 1 79 Cy linder v o lume 14 4
Ca r b u r e te rs Cylinders
f
14 7 16 3
Ca rn o t cycle 90 Cyl inders , a rra nge m ents o 16 1 .

25 3
25 4 INDEX
P AR .

D a imler engine illu m in a ting

la ws o f
13 Ga s ,

Density
Design o f
33
m a r i ne engin e n a tura l
Desig n o f
201 .

p a rts O il wa ter
Design o f
15 9

f
. .

st a ti o n a r y engine 201 pro ducer

Di a gra ms fo ur cycle en g ine 1 58
“

,
-
. speci fi c hea t o .

Diesel cycle v o lu m e O f
D iluti o n o f
14
e xpl o sive mixtures 102 wa ter
D isso cia ti o n G a so lene
G a y L ussa c l a w c f
55 .

D istill a tes petro leum

G o vern o r cut o f
, 60 .
-
,

Distilla ti o n
functi o n o f
60 ,
-

Distributi o n 1 20 .

Dyn a m o meter dyn a m o 19 5 ,

qua lity .

qu a ntity .

94 thro ttle
E ffi ciency
fo o o o o o
9 2, 1 89
E lement 34 H ea t de fi niti o n
, 16 o .

E nergy 14 7 a ndp wer units

o 14 7
av a ila ble 87
'

engine . 1
intrinsic 79 in sensible 25
put int o 19 0 l tent
a . 27 29 —
l sses
f
13 1 , 1 33, 1 34 o 19 7
l o sses mech nic l
f
. 199 a a e q u w a le n t o 24
using he a t sensible n sensible
s urces f
o 93 a nd i 25
Exp a nsi o n 18 , 33a , 8 1 o o 20 .

a di a b a tic speci c
the ry f
. 83 fi 26 , 8 6 , 9 1
iso therm a l
tr nsfer f
82 o o . 17
P Vn . 87 a o 21
39 8 1 H e t u it
a n 23
8 —1 4 a
, .

E xpl o sive mixtures 102 H ist ric l

o a

E xpl o sive p ressures 1 48 , 1 4 9 H ll w sh ft

o o a 1 74
.

H riz nt l vs vertic l
o o a a 1 37 .

F hrenheit therm m ete r

F iring cylinders o rder o f
a o . 30 14 8
,
. 1 20 H ydr c rb ns
o a o 60
F l me
a 36
F l shing p in
a - o 60 I gn iti o n ooooooo 37, 1 1 3- 1 19
F ly wheel
-
. 1 80 I ndica ted H P
F o t p o und
o - 24 I ndica t o r 74
—1 4 9
.

F o rces cting in g s engine

a a 14 8 . diag ra m r .

F o und tio ns a 18 2 I nduct i o n co il 1 18

F o ur stro ke cycle I nerti a 1 5 5 —15 6
f
- . 7
cycle engine d ia g 1 58 I nst a ll a ti o n o g a s engine 184
F ra m es 16 2 I s o metric lines 84
F uels I so piestic lines
en rich ing o f
56 6 1 , 71a , 100 85
. 71 b I so therm a l exp a nsi o n 82 .

F usi o n . 28 , 30, 33a

Ju m p sp a rk 1 17
G ll o n
a .

G a s cha nges in
,
Kero s ene . 62
bla st fu rn a ce - Kilo wa tt . 14 7
co a l K i net i c energy . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

La ws co mbining
,
o f
25 6 I NDE X

T herm o metry
T imers o f
p r ducts f
oc mbusti o o o n 53
T r o ubles eng ine
.

W
,

T w o -cycle vs f o ur cycle ter co o ling 1 25 , 129

T wo—
-
. a ,

stro ke cycle
f
1 30
T ypes o hea t engines 1 28
ja
Unit hea t Wa tt
W eight
,

p o wer t mic
of
, a o
m a teria ls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

delivered
in engine cyl i nder
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Z ero , a bs o lute 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0