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Revision as of 15:24, 29 June 2006 by Mulad (talk | contribs) (brakes -> breaks)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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 breaks, 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.