Misplaced Pages

Hot-bulb engine: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactivelyNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 19:16, 28 May 2006 editLiftarn (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users48,580 editsNo edit summary  Revision as of 22:00, 7 June 2006 edit undoStealthFox (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users517 editsmNo edit summaryNext edit →
Line 5: Line 5:
The modern ] is a hybrid incorporating the features of direct (airless) injection patented by Akroyd-Stuart in 1890 and compression ignition, patented by ] in 1892. Akroyd-Stuart's ''compression ignition'' engine (compared to '']'') was invented two years earlier than Diesel's similar engine. The modern ] is a hybrid incorporating the features of direct (airless) injection patented by Akroyd-Stuart in 1890 and compression ignition, patented by ] in 1892. Akroyd-Stuart's ''compression ignition'' engine (compared to '']'') was invented two years earlier than Diesel's similar engine.


Hot bulb engines was commonly used to power fishing boats, saw mills, pumps and tractors. The engines were usually one cylinder, two stroke. Hot bulb engines were commonly used to power fishing boats, saw mills, pumps and tractors. The engines were usually one cylinder, two stroke.


To start the engine the bulb needs to be heated. Originally it was done manually using a blowtorch, something that could take 15-20 minutes. Later also electric heating or pyrotechnics was used. To start the engine the bulb needs to be heated. Originally it was done manually using a blowtorch, something that could take 15-20 minutes. Later also electric heating or pyrotechnics was used.

Revision as of 22:00, 7 June 2006

The hot bulb engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high temperature and pressure of a compressed gas, rather than by a separate source of ignition, such as a spark plug, as is the case in the gasoline engine.

It was invented by Herbert Akroyd Stuart in the end of the 19th century. The first prototypes were built in 1886 and production started in 1891 by Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England under the title Hornsby Akroyd Patent Oil Engine under licence. It was later developed in USA by the German emigrants Miez and Weiss by combining it with the two-stroke engine developed by Robert Day.

The modern Diesel engine is a hybrid incorporating the features of direct (airless) injection patented by Akroyd-Stuart in 1890 and compression ignition, patented by Rudolf Diesel in 1892. Akroyd-Stuart's compression ignition engine (compared to spark-ignition) was invented two years earlier than Diesel's similar engine.

Hot bulb engines were commonly used to power fishing boats, saw mills, pumps and tractors. The engines were usually one cylinder, two stroke.

To start the engine the bulb needs to be heated. Originally it was done manually using a blowtorch, something that could take 15-20 minutes. Later also electric heating or pyrotechnics was used.

The main advantages of the hot bulb engine is that it has few moving parts, it seldom brakes, it has no electrical or complicated components and it can run on just about anything that burns; like gasoline, kerosene, diesel, crude oil, coal dust, natural gas, vegetable oil and so on. This has led to an interest in using hot bulb engines in developing nations where they can be run on locally produced biofuel.

External links

Category: