Typical Gas Engines' and 'Vapour Engines'
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Charon Engine
RELATED CONTENT
Mr. Charon sought to prolong the duration of the expansion by
means less complicated than those devised in the first instance by
Mr. Atkinson. His gear consists of a shaft having a double-stepped
cam controlled from the governor.
One half of the double cam operates the admission, and the other
half a special valve, through which a portion of the explosive
mixture is driven into a large pipe or reservoir during the
compression. The compression of the portion of the charge in the
cylinder is thus reduced, while the expansion is more complete, and
is, at the same time, entirely under the control of the governor.
As a result of this increased expansion a very satisfactory
consumption was obtained.
Letombe Engine
Messrs. Mollet Fontaine, of Lille, built the Letombe engine,
which embodies several novel and interesting features. The engine
is double-acting, and the stages in the action on the two faces of
the piston follow one another at intervals of half a revolution, so
that during each revolution of the shaft there is one driving
impulse. As a result of this the uniformity of the motion is equal
to that obtained with two-stroke cycle engines, and the economy is
also increased to an important degree by the lengthening of the
expansion, as in the Charon engine.
VAPOUR ENGINES Durand Engine
It is claimed for this engine that it is able to work equally
well on gas or petroleum and that it works regularly without
attention, and is not costly although strongly constructed. To a
certain extent these claims are justified by results; but the
mechanism is somewhat complicated, and the design is not carried
out on well-proven lines. It is a four-cycle engine with electric
ignition, the spark being produced by the interruption of the
current from a small magneto machine driven by the engine itself,
Fig. 368. Governing is done by throttling the gas supply at the
admission valve, and the air supply is sucked directly by the
piston over a sieve heated by a special arrangement in which the
exhaust gases circulate. From this initial heating of the air a
certain economy of gas results. The carburetor is automatic and
self-regulating. It consists of a hermetically-sealed cylindrical
vessel filled with the oil supply. On the surface of the oil there
floats a mass of cork, into the centre of which the air to be
carbureted is led through a pipe in the cover. The cork acts as a
sponge and soaks in the volatile spirits which are thus brought
into close contact with the air. The evaporation is always
superficial, and the impurities remain in the bottom of the vessel.
Petroleum having a specific gravity of about .7 is used, as it not
only costs somewhat less than gasolene, but is also more readily
procurable. As already stated, the one serious defect of the Durand
engine consists in the number and the complication of the parts. In
the case of gas engines, which are subjected to continual severe
shocks, the fewer of the working parts the better, as otherwise the
wear becomes very considerable and the difficulty of efficiently
lubricating the working surfaces and the cylinder is increased.