Alternatives for Gasoline Internal-Combustion Engine An internal-combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of the fuel takes place within cylinder (see fig 1). An internal combustion engine has one or more cylinders in which the process of combustion takes place, converting energy released from the rapid burning of a fuel-air mixture into mechanical energy. The first person to experiment with such an engine was the Dutch Physicist Christian Huygens , in 1680. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler constructed what is generally recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine: small and fast, with a vertical cylinder, it used gasoline injected through a carburetor. In 1889 Daimler introduced a four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves and two cylinders arranged in a V, having a much higher power-to-weight ratio; with the exception of electric starting, which would not be introduced until 1924. Most modern gasoline engines are descended from Daimler's engines. The gasoline internal-combustion engine was selected for the automobile due to its flexibility over a wide range of speeds, reliability, compact size and range of operation. Also it could be produced by economical mass-production methods. Even though, the gasoline internal combustion engine has these positive values, when it comes to the negative side of the gasoline internal combustion engine, it is clear that these positive values are not enough to balance the scale. Why do we need an alternative engine to replace the well known Gasoline- Internal Combustion engine? Fig 1.http://www.cardesignonline.com/images/renault-inline-3.jpg As a very ambitious automobile enthusiast, I asked this question myself more than a thousand times and I could not give an answer till now. Once my professor asked us to write a research paper, I immediately decided to research this topic stated. My audience is anybody who drives an automobile and my purpose is to inform them about the alternatives that they can choose over gasoline internal combustion engine. In today's world, there has been a growing prominence on the pollution producing features of the gasoline internal-combustion Engines and rapidly growing demand for the fuel, gasoline which will be limited to only few reserves in the near future. Now the majority of the automobile industry of the world is searching for alternatives for the internal-combustion engine and some of these alternatives have made their way to the production already. There are lots of ingenious designs and concepts circling inside the automotive world. Among many concept prototypes, only a few found promising results such as biodiesel engine, hydrogen fuel cell engine, battery-electric engine, and hybrid-gas and turbojet-turbine engine.
It was first created in the 1880s in Germany. The internal combustion engine was designed by Karl Benz. In the early stages of the internal combustion engine, it was unbearably loud and slow. The engine was still more efficient than a spark ignition engine. In 1892, a man named Rudold Diesel turned the internal combustion engine into a diesel engine. Later on, the engine was finally designed small enough to fit in a automobile. In the 1880s the internal combustion engine was the best engine of its time.
The Automotive, or electric car industry particularly, comprises all those companies and activities involved in the manufacture of electric motor vehicles (EV), including most components, such as engines, bodies and rechargeable batteries or another energy storage device. The industry’s principal products are passenger automobiles. Despite the fact that the first electric cars were produced in 1880s , the advances in internal combustion engines, especially the electric starter, soon diminished the relative advantages of the electric car and became the dominant design in the market. Due to this the EV was almost a forgotten industry staying in the early stage of development, conforming to less than 1% of the automotive stock
The tradeoffs of using gasoline for cars are large emission of carbon dioxide and required large amount of chemical t...
When the problems with gasoline use are considered, the catastrophic environmental effects are the primary concern. Automobile use consumes 70 percent of the United States oil supply and is responsible for one-third of the nation’s carbon emissions (Lovins 173). This results in pollution, global warming, and health problems for the people, plants, and animals. The search for alternative fuel is powered by the increasingly evident environmental problems and long-term health of the planet (Povey 17). Fortunately, reducing emissions globally is predicted to have a positive effect and offset previous harms (Backer).
We've all seen them before, the mysterious chunks of metal under the hoods of our cars. They start when we turn the key and take us where we want to go. But how does an engine work? Internal combustion engines are a very important part of everyday life. We use them in our cars, trucks, and airplanes.
Gasoline fueled cars produce a number of pollutants. The most damaging pollutants that come from gasoline fueled cars are particulate matter. Particulate matter is a sequence of organic materials and inorganic substances. It includes ingredients such as lint and minerals. Nitrogen dioxide, produced when fuel is burned at high temperatures, can cause damage to the lungs and cause chest pains. One might ask, “Why are Americans still driving gasoline cars?” knowing the damage that they are subject to cause. I personally maintain that the government should push people to p...
In today’s society, cars and other transportation vehicles produce pollution, harming the environment as well as one’s health. Engines produce toxic substances such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. However, the invention of the catalytic converter has helped reduce the pollution. Catalytic converters were first used due to the contractions on toxic emission regulations in the 1970s. The catalytic converter “turn the harmful chemicals in vehicle exhausts into harmless gases such as steam” (Woodford). These catalytic converters are essential to creating a less polluted atmosphere. An engine with and without a catalytic converter differs greatly and the reactions occurring are very significant in understanding the role of the converter;
The invention of internal combustion engines in the early 19th century has led to the discovery of utilisation of cheap energy that is petroleum and this enabled the world to develop and progress into the modern world today. Humans were able to accomplish more work done with little manual labour, using internal combustion engines powered by fossil fuels. Internal combustion engine are mechanical power devices that convert heat energy to mechanical energy with the combustion process taking place in a system boundary (Rolle, 2005). Among the internal combustion engine invented in the 19th century were the Otto engine, Diesel engine and gas turbine engine. Gas turbine engine is one of the popular engines used today due to its high torque per weight ratio relative to other types of internal combustion engines. As explained by Cengel and Boles (2011), the gas turbine engine works on a 6 stages process, namely air intake, compression, fuel injection, combustion, expansion and exhaust (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Many hazardous pollutants escape from the internal combustion of the engine. Conventional gas powered vehicles use irreplaceable fossil fuels to run. When burned, these fossil fuels create numerous toxins like carbon dioxide (Larminie 246). Carbon dioxide is considered the main greenhouse gas that creates the foundation for global warming (hybridcars.com, pollutants). This harmful pollutant may not have a serious effect on people at first, but it does have consequential effects on the environment that in turn put people in danger (Nutramed.com). The major consequence caused by global warming is the rise in average temperature. This results in a domino...
Changes in the mechanical technology have affected the automobile over the last 50 years. In the 1950's the engines where high compression, produced a lot of horsepower, and used more fuel, often called “gas guzzlers.” This was not a big problem because gas was only around 20 cents a gallon. Back in the ‘50's m almost everyone who had a vehicle added to the engine to give it more horsepower. The carburetor was the main source of activity of the “shade tree” mechanic. This is the part of the engine which give it the fuel. The carburetor was a very delicate piece of machinery. It always required a bit of tinkering here a turn there. You could never get it just right. The fuel injection system fixed most of these problems. Since it has many fixed parts there is very little to do to it. The computer of the car controls it and maximizes fuel economy. This was a big help when emission standard where placed on cars. The only thing left to do was lower the compression of the engine in order to stow down the usage of ...
My under graduation in Mechanical Engineering enlightened me with various important concepts from Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, IC engines, Design Of Transmission Systems and Manufacturing Technology. These subjects persuaded me to analyse concepts in the real world and its applications. IC Engines became one of my favourite subjects and indeed my liking for automobiles mult...
Fuel alternatives for the future are very important because, we need resources for life. We won’t have fossil fuels forever. It is important to start now. If we did not have any fuel alternatives how would the world be?
Most people today fill up their car with different qualities of petrol, because that's what the average car takes. They don't usually consider an alternative for the petrol that they load into their cars. Although petrol is widely used, it is not the only source for a car to get its power from; diesel and electricity are alternatives to the general petrol used by most cars. Although different from each other, diesel and electricity are alternatives to the average gasoline received at a gas station. Diesel is a more concentrated type of fuel that is usually used by big automobiles because they require a lot of power in a little amount of time. Electricity is a method that uses the power of batteries to produce a low horsepower but, nevertheless fast automobile. Electric cars are generally created to be soundless and environment friendly. The purpose of this paper is to classify and educate the reader of the different types of fuel available for an automobile to use: petrol, diesel, and electricity. The general petrol, used by most people, is usually the only type of fuel accepted on the average car in the United States today.
In an age where our dependence on fossil fuels and other expendable resources is dramatically increasing as our supply is decreasing, it is imperative that new forms of energy arise. Although it is still in very early stages, it is fundamentally plausible that hydrogen could become a major fuel source in cars. For example, Honda has already released five hydrogen fuel cell cars.
In a fast-paced developmental world, technology is being more implemented in our daily life. Internal combustion engines are seen as harmful to the environment and thus, manufactures are adding electric cars to their fleet. There are 125000 electric cars in the United Kingdom but the figures for petrol cars are still over solid 35 million. Despite the steady increase in numbers of green cars, petrol cars still exist in the 21st century and will still be on the roads for a number of financial, efficiency, and political factors.