Improvements on Internal Combustion Engine

The main purpose of an internal combustion engine is to convert chemical energy from the fuel into mechanical energy that can then be used to move a car. The development of the internal combustion engine, however, took some time to come about. At first, the main type of engine used was an external combustion engine. It was not until the 1860s where engineering minds began to work on the concept of the internal combustion engine. 

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The first combustion engines developed, however, were not very efficient. Furthermore, these engines were very heavy and very large. Near 1876, however, Nicolaus A. Otto refined the combustion engine by developing what is now known as the four stroke cycle. Through the use of this cycle, the overall weight of the engine was reduced and the efficiency was drastically improved. In fact, Otto's engine, compared to an engine 15-years before, weighted about three times less and had a higher overall efficiency of 14 percent. 

Only a few years later, several engineers began to refine Otto's machine. Some of these were James Robson and Karl Benz. These engineers worked by following basic principles that dictated the maximum efficiency of an internal combustion engine. These principles mentioned that to achieve the maximum efficiency one had to have the largest possible cylinder volume with the minimum boundary surface, the greatest possible working speed, the greatest possible expansion ration, and the greatest possible pressure at the beginning of expansion. 

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Yet, there were still many improvements to be made as the technology at the moment limited the potential of the internal combustion engine. For once, the fuels available could create serious problems and thus a time had to pass to developed technology, such as carburetors and ignition systems, in order to fully exploit the potential of this engine.