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  • Essay / Internal combustion engines: what is it and how it works

    An engine in which the chemical energy of the fuel is released inside the engine and is converted into mechanical work can be defined like an internal combustion engine (Ferguson and Kirkpatrick 2015).Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayAn increase in pressure occurs due to the combustion of fuels such as diesel or gasoline in the combustion chamber. This causes the piston to move down and through this process the chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy. Some highlightsIn 1876, the first practical four-stroke engine with in-cylinder compression was developed by Nikolaus Otto, a German engineer and it was named the "Otto Silent Engine". However, the concept of a four-stroke engine had been designed and patented by A. de Rochas in 1861. Sir Dugald Clerk, a Scottish mechanical engineer invented and built the first two-stroke engine, which he later patented . in 1881. A German engineer, Rudolph Diesel, developed the first four-stroke engine using direct injection of liquid fuel into the combustion chamber. Self-ignition and combustion of the air-fuel mixture is a result of the high compression ratio of the engine (Ferguson and Kirkpatrick 2015). How it works (two-stroke engine) Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Personalized Test In a two-stroke engine, the functions performed are the same as a four-stroke engine, but it does it in just two piston strokes or "steps" instead of four. In the simplest two-stroke engines, this is done by using the crankcase and the underside of the moving piston as a pump for the air-fuel mixture. The official name given to these engines is “two-stroke crankcase recuperation”. Just below top dead center (TDC), the spark plug releases a spark and burns the fuel. This combustion produces enough energy to push the piston down. As the piston approaches bottom dead center (BDC), the mixture of air, fuel, and oil continues to move up the transfer ports and into the cylinder. As the piston rises, it first covers the transfer ports and leaves only the exhaust port open to allow the exhaust gases to leave the combustion chamber. The oil is mixed with the fuel because it is not possible to lubricate the engine parts in any other way. This leads to unburned oil recognizable by the black smoke coming from the vehicle's exhaust as well as a distinct gasoline smell. There are 4 distinct strokes in a 4 stroke engine. They are: IntakeCompressionExpansionExhaustShot 1: Intake – An intake valve opens to let in air or an air-fuel mixture. The downward movement of the piston creates suction. Thanks to suction, the air/air-fuel mixture enters the combustion chamber. To maximize the amount of fresh mixture admitted, the intake valve opens just before the start of the stroke and closes just after the stroke ends. Stroke 2: Compression - The mixture is compressed to a fraction of its original volume. For this stroke to be most effective, the intake and exhaust valves must remain closed. Combustion is initiated near the end of this stroke, resulting in a rapid increase in cylinder pressure. Stroke 3: Expansion – Due to the compression stroke, the mixture is highly pressurized, causing the piston to push all the way to bottom dead center (BDC), which forces the crankshaft to rotate. Once the piston.