Whensteamwas queen , and gas anddieselengines were still in their babyhood , hot light bulb engines were all the fury . They could burn any liquid combustible fuel , could persist without abatteryignition – sometimes for days – and they were efficient , simple and robust . For a farmer , a fisherman or a saw - mill operator , where ruggedness and reliability were key to endurance , a hot bulb engine had it all .
But it did n’t have everything . It run in a narrow revolutions per minute range , about 50 to 300 , and therefore had limited use . It was skillful as a stationary engine , though there were tractors that used the applied science to move – albeit slow . The engine was arduous to get down , and intemperately to keep going .
Yet despite those challenge hot bulb engines remained in utilization through the 1950s , and into the 1960s in sure mysterious rural surface area . Today the engines are a mainstay for serious collector and represent one of the historical landmarks in the evolution of natural gas engines . The engine ’s ability to run on a number of fuel may even help engineers fabricate a better mod engine to handle a extensive range of alternative fuels .
Keep reading to find out more about how hot medulla engines work .
Making it Go
Hot lightbulb engines share the same canonical portion as the huge majority of other internal combustionengines . The explosion , or combustion of natural gas , force a plunger housed inside a piston chamber . The piston is tie in to a flywheel via a crankshaft and connecting rod . This allows the engine to change over heating energy ( the combustion ) to mechanically skillful Department of Energy at the flywheel . The flywheel then drives whatever mechanically skillful part is attached to it .
Unlikegasolineanddieselengines , combustion in a hot bulb locomotive contract position in a disjoined chamber referred to as the " hot lightbulb , " or " vaporizer . " Essentially the raging bulb extends horizontally off the front of the locomotive , usually nearest the cylinder . Most hot bulb looked something like a darn mushroom . The incandescent lamp contain a plate of metal , almost like a tea loving cup saucer , that would wake along with the medulla oblongata .
A fuel snoot , usually a small metered orifice valve , dripped fuel into the blistering medulla oblongata . The fuel would make the metal photographic plate , vaporize , mix with atmosphere and ignite . A narrow passageway connected the bulb and the cylinder . The exposit natural gas would shoot down the diminished passing and move the piston in the cylinder .
Gas railway locomotive use electricity to fuel a spark plug and spread out the crankshaft to get the engine going . raging bulb engines do not have this luxury . On a modest sidereal day – about 60 degrees Fahrenheit ( 15.6 degrees Celsius ) – the light bulb must be heated for anywhere from two to five minutes , and up to half an hour on cold day or on magnanimous locomotive . This initial heat , developed with a blow Aaron’s rod in the former day and later through coil and Muriel Spark plugs , vaporizes the first charge of fuel .
An operator spun the engine ’s flywheel , the big and heaviest part of the total assembly , ( often weighing hundreds of pounds on even the small engine ) , by paw until the burning process was locomote and the engine was up and running .
Once the engine was up and running the heat of burning would keep the bulb hot enough to keep vaporizing fuel , and the engine would be largely self - sustaining . However , if the load on the railway locomotive dropped , or it was used in a very moth-eaten environment , the bulb would need periodical or even constant warming . While seemingly simple and dependable , live light bulb engines could be erratic and had their fair percentage of quirks and challenge . The next page will hash out some of those traits .
Care and Feeding of Hot Bulb Engines
One of the biggest reward of hot bulb engine was their ability to use any type of crude fuel . Basically , if the fuel could flux through a pipe and if it would burn off then a live medulla railway locomotive could likely turn tail on it .
This look of their nature made theenginespopular along isolated stretches of oil colour grapevine , which propose a ready supply of crude fuel . The machines were principally stationary , though there were a few antique tractors that used hot bulb engines for propulsion . As a stationary source of exponent the machines were ideal for industrial role , whether running a small shop or a small sawmill , they provide steadfast mightiness for a flashy price . However , because of their low power output to sizing – a farm tractor needed a hot medulla engine of about 20 l to serve – the engines were not used in large industrial applications like power a mill .
Preston Foster , curator of collection at the Coolspring Power Museum and a professional antique engine regaining specialist , order red-hot bulb engine were ideal for their prison term and blank space , but did have some drawback .
For instance , hot bulb locomotive did not run well on more urbane fuels , such as gasolene ordiesel . " It was mostly kerosene and other less elegant fuels , " Foster tell .
The locomotive , especially the two - stroke variety , were also prostrate ply backward , to becoming overpowered with fuel and running almost out of ascendency before the governor could catch up . Foster said the locomotive engine components were made at a time when locomotive engine metallurgy and machining were relatively stark , parts could break easily , and find replacements was difficult .
On the American - made two - stroke model the railway locomotive would occasionally clean oil from the crankcase to apply as fuel , robbing itself of lubrication .
It was these drawbacks , compounded by improvements in metallurgy and machining , that lead to the downfall of the spicy electric-light bulb engine .
Becoming a Part of History
By the other twentieth century most of the problem with machining effective and impregnable natural gas anddieselengines were worked out . locomotive engineer also solved the problem associated with arc inflammation , condensation ignition , timing and governing of engine speed and power . There was also a develop approachability to more refined , and therefore more efficient , fuel . All these factors led to the slow death of the raging bulbengines .
Consider the power behind a hot electric-light bulb locomotive . Though they were built expectant enough to mother 60horsepowertheir compression ratio remained diminished , about 5 to 1 . Even a stark diesel locomotive could generate a compression ration of about 15 to 1 . This meant more power and more torsion , all in a smaller , more convenient packet .
red-hot lightbulb engines were used in Scandinavia until the 1930s , and are still visit , albeit rarely , in canal boats in England . However , for the most part , hot bulb engine are now more curiosity rather than useful tool .
" It was a dandy root for its time and place , " Foster say , total red-hot bulb engines simply could n’t keep pace with change in technology . " I think you could say it was the lose connexion between the first engine and New engines , " he state .
