STEAM ENGINE

Steam engine is the first engine type that use external combustion. Using boiling water to
produce mechanical motion goes back over 2000 years, but early devices were not practical.
In 1705 Thomas Newcomen develops his atmospheric engine and by 1712 ,commercial steam
engine by Newcomen were used for pumping in mine.Then in 1765 James Watt invents the
separate condenser, the key being to relocate the water jet, (which condenses the steam and
creates the vacuum in the Newcomen engine) inside an additional cylindrical vessel of smaller
size enclosed in a water bath; the still-warm condensate is then evacuated into a hot well by
means of a suction pump allowing the preheated water to be returned to the boiler. This greatly
increases thermal efficiency by ensuring that the main cylinder can be kept hot at all times,
unlike in the Newcomen engines where the condensing water spray cooled the cylinder at each
stroke. Watt also seals the top of the cylinder so that steam at a pressure marginally above that
of the atmosphere can act on top of the piston against the vacuum created beneath it.After
many improvements were made through the year,steam engine began to gain popularity mainly
in transportation field.
A steam engine usually consist of boiler where the water is converted into steam.There
are two types of boiler, fire tube boiler and water tube boiler.

In fire tube boiler,water flowing in a tube is heated and converted into steam when pasiing
through the furnace.

In fire-tube boiler,the opposite happens where heat from furnace is passed through the water
instead to change the water into steam.Most steam engine function by using steam to provide
the energy needed to p ush the piston to produce mechanical motion.

The diagram above shows the major components of a piston steam engine. This sort of
engine would be common in a steam locomotive. The engine shown is a double-acting steam

engine because the valve allows high-pressure steam to act alternately on both faces of the
piston.

HOW STEAM ENGINE WORKS

1.High pressure steam(red) enter and push the piston from the right side.The steam on the
left(blue) is pushed out through the exhaust pipe.

2.Next,the valve close the entrance on the right side and opens up a new entrance on the
left.The steam enter in the left space and push the piston back to the right.Then the steam on
the right will goes out through the exhaust pipe.The valve then moves back to the right and the
same process repeat again producing mechanical motion.
When

comparing

steam

engine

over

modern

engine,steam

engine

is

very

outmatched.Some of the disadvantage of steam engine are:

1.Steam engine is huge and heavy
2.It requires some time for the boiler to produce enough steam for the engine
3.It is unsafe due to high pressure steam inside the boiler.Any wrong move could result in an
explosion.
3.Steam engine has a low efficiency

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

Internal combustion engine is invented prior to the discovery of gasoline.This type of engine
employs internal combustion to produce mechanical motion and use fossil fuel as for the
combustion.In 1807,Nicphore Nipce installed his 'moss, coal-dust and resin' fueled
Pyrolophore internal combustion engine in a boat and powered up the river Sane in France.In
the same year Franois Isaac de Rivaz invented a primitive internal combustion engine.
powered by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen manually ignited by electric spark, but the
engine neither involved the in-cylinder compression, the crank, nor the connecting rod. A year
later, Isaac built an early automobile for his new engine to power. His engine was never
commercially successful.Next come Nikolaus Otto. He develops an improved internal
combustion engine. The four-stroke approach which is used in todays engine, is also known as
the Otto cycle in honor of Nikolaus Otto, who invented it in 1867. In May 1876, Nicolaus Otto
built the first practical four-stroke piston cycle internal combustion engine. He continued to

develop his four-stroke engine after 1876 and he considered his work finished after his
invention of the first magneto ignition system for low voltage ignition in 1884.

HOW INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WORKS

Most internal combustion engine today use the four stroke cycle concept.

First stroke- The induction stroke is the first stroke in a four-stroke internal combustion engine
cycle. It involves the downward movement of the piston, creating a partial vacuum that draws
(allows atmospheric pressure to push) a fuel/air mixture into the combustion chamber.

Second stroke- The compression stroke is the second of four stages in an otto cycle or diesel
cycle internal combustion engine.In this stage, the mixture (in the case of an Otto engine) or air
(in the case of a Diesel engine) is compressed to the top of the cylinder by the piston until it is
either ignited by a spark plug in an Otto engine or, in the case of a Diesel engine, reaches the
point at which the injected fuel spontaneously combusts, forcing the piston back
down.Compression serves to increase the proportion of energy which can be extracted from the
hot gas and should be optimised for a given application. Too high a compression can cause
detonation, which is undesirable compared with a smooth, controlled burn. Too low a
compression may result in the fuel/air mixture still burning when the piston reaches the bottom
of the stroke and the exhaust valve opens.
Third Stroke- A power stroke or third stroke is, in general, the stroke or movement of a cyclic
motor while generating force and thus power. It is used in describing mechanical engines. This
force is the result of the spark plug igniting the compressed fuel-air mixture.

Fourth Stroke- The exhaust stroke is the fourth of four stages in a four stroke internal
combustion engine cycle. In this stage gases remaining in the cylinder from the fuel ignited
during the compression step are removed from the cylinder through an exhaust valve at the top
of the cylinder. The gases are forced up to the top of the cylinder as the piston rises and are
pushed through the opening, which then closes to allow a fresh air/fuel mixture into the
cylinder so the process can repeat itself.

ADVANTAGES OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE OVER STEAM ENGINE

The internal combustion engine generally much better than steam engine.Some of its
advantages are:
1.Internal combustion engine can be started immediately by igniting the mixture of fuel inside
which ignite instantaneously.A steam engine needs to build up steam pressure first before it
can move.
2.Internal combustion engine is smaller and lighter compared to steam engine

3.It has higher efficiency than steam engine