ICE and it’s Impacts
1.1 Introduction
We can feel, see, and experience the miniature explosions. They travel through metal, and can cause not only damage, but also generate thrust. The internal combustion engine (ICE) is commonly used to generate thrust in every day transportation methods such as cars and airplanes. This engine has slowly developed through the years, with every development the explosions that take place in the engine become more efficient and safer. The internal combustion engine has changed the way we transport goods and humans around the globe. The first “effective internal combustion engine was made in 1859” [3]. This engine was simply the two-stroke internal combustion engine, and by 1862 there was already a four-stroke version of this engine made. Today, this form of engine can also be applied to engines with upwards of 24 cylinders, which create the most amount of power out of all the ICE engines. Without the internal combustion engine, the transportation business would not be where it is today.
2.1 ICE Mechanics
The internal combustion engine is a complicated piece of equipment which generates power by heat and pressure into energy which generates thrust. The piece of equipment contains four simple steps in the cycle to complete the process of generating power. These steps are: “intake, compression, combustion and power stroke, and exhaust” [1]. These steps are applicable to the most common type of internal combustion engine, which is the four-stroke engine. Each step requires a piston, which is where four-strokes comes from, to complete the process. The first piston to move is the intake piston.
2.2 Steps of the ICE
The intake step of the basically allows the fuel and air to be put into the internal combustion engine. This step is completed by opening the intake valve, which draws “past the valve and into the combustion chamber and cylinder from the intake manifold located on top of the combustion chamber” [1]. After this step is completed the intake valve is closed allowing the compression step of the process to take place. The compression step basically lowers the volume of the gas by compressing it, hence the compression stage. This step is completed by a piston moving to the right which reduces the volume in which the fuel source is in [1]. During this time, all valves are closed for none of the fuel to escape from the engine. The next step of the process takes the compressed gas and heats it up and generates thrust. The power stroke is the next step in the process, and it is when the piston moves back to the left which causes a spark. The spark will ignite the fuel in the small amount of space it is in which generates heat [1]. The combustion of the fuel will generate the heat, which is needed to generate the thrust. After the fuel combusts to create energy, exhaust is created which takes us to our final step. The final step of the quick process of one rotation in an internal combustion engine is the exhaust step. The exhaust step is when the burned fuel is burned out and needs to be disposed of. This is completed by simply opening the exhaust valve allowing the spent fuel to exit from the engine system [1]. After this step is completed it will repeat from the first step which is intake of the fuel. With all these steps we get the ICE, which creates a huge impact on our society and the transportation business.
3.1 Impacts of the ICE
The internal combustion engine has had a huge impact on the transportation business in our world. Today, this technology “has more than more than 250 million highway transportation vehicles in the United States relying on it” [2]. In 1913, there was a world total of 606,124 total motor vehicles on our roads [5]. This number slowly rose from the early 1900’s and today is the most commonly used engine in cars. Another huge impact this engine has had on society are the different resources it can use. The internal combustion engine can utilize renewable or alternative fuels as well as gasoline such as natural gas, propane, and ethanol [2]. This engine has also has huge advantages compared to other engines such as “requiring less space and being much more compact” [4]. They also “start easily in the cold because of its high volatile fuel” [4]. These advantages have all played a huge part in making the engine the preferred engine in almost every car on the road. Other huge impacts the ICE has made so far is also increasing mobility in other aspects of the transportation not including automobiles. The ICE also is used in airplanes and plenty of other transportation methods. The transportation developments the internal combustion has made on our society have been monumental, and will continue to develop as well. A huge reason for these developments as well are what people have done to the engine.
4.1 People’s Impact on the ICE
The internal combustion engine has developed from a 2-cylinder engine to up to a 24-cylinder engine [3]. With each cylinder added the engine gains more power, efficiency, and torque in the engine. Basic modifications to the ICE has created better designed engines. People have found different ways to make it more efficient, and the most monumental discovery was finding how the engine should be shaped.
[6]
In the figure displayed, there are three different designs for the ICE. A, is called an in-line engine where all the cylinders are lined up in a straight line. B, is a VR engine, and C, is the typical vee engine [3]. The ICE began as a simple in-line design which was extremely inefficient. After working around the engine and trying different designs, and building off the in-line engine, the vee engine was created [3]. The vee engine is the most efficient design. A huge advantage was the vee engine, is “typically more compact than the in-line engine [3]. This allows for a lighter, much more efficient engine than the in-line engine offers. This technology continued to build off that, and more cylinders were added which eventually led to the 24-cylinder engine. Society has had huge impacts in developed the internal combustion engine, and without these developments, the transportation business wouldn’t be where it is today.
5.1 Conclusion
The internal combustion engine innovated the transportation world that we have today. The ICE works in a four-step process to achieve the final goal of creating thrust. The ICE has had monumental impacts on our society today, speeding up the pace in which we travel across the state, country, or world. The reason this was all possible is because of small developments in the engine to make it more efficient and compact. Our transportation world relies on this piece of technology and has for many years now. Future advancements in the ICE will continue to make it more efficient and better, making transportation in the future faster, and easier.
Bibliography
[1] “4-Stroke Internal Combustion Engine.” NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/K-12/airplane/engopt.html
[2] “Internal Combustion Engine Basics.” Energy.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/internal-combustion-engine-basics
[3] “V Engine.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Mar. 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_engine
[4] “What Is Engine? What Are Main Types of Engine?” Mech4study. Mech4study, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.
http://www.mech4study.com/2014/03/what-is-engine-what-are-main-types-of-automobile-engine.html
[5] History.com Staff. “Automobiles.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.
http://www.history.com/topics/automobiles
[6] “V Engine.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 Mar. 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_engine#/media/File:L_V_VR6_engines.svg
