Are there secrets about Internal Combustion engines?

[Andrew Falconer]

Are there secrets about Internal Combustion engines?

Is it harder or easier to make them operate than is normally mentioned?

Do they run on anything else besides Diesel?

Andrew Falconer

[arkosel]

it depends on what type of internal combustion engine you are talking about, there are 2 types: compression ignition (a diesel), or a spark ignition (a gas engine). As a general rule, an engine of either type will technically run on a lot of things, but getting them to run efficiently and safely and provide a reasonable amount of output power is another story.

I know some of the fuels currently in use for a compression ignition engine besides petroleum based diesel are:

Biodiesel, made from vegetable oils like corn and soybeans, and also from animal fats when the non-edible remains are processed. Bio is usually mixed with varying percentages of petro based depending on location/application/equipment involved.

 Methane, a gas that is captured from large amounts of decaying matter, most popular locations for this is landfills.

I know there are a few others as well but can't think of them at the moment.

Spark ignition engines are easier to fuel but still present challenges. With this type of engine you are creating an ignition source rather than relying on the rapid compression of air to create enough heat for ignition as with the compression ignition engine. Because of this, if it is explosive it can pretty much be used as a fuel. The down side is that the fuel delivery needs to be designed in a way that will allow enough fuel into the engine for burning but keep the burn out of the fuel source.

 There are many fuels in use in spark ignition engines but I will name a few.

Gasoline, petroleum based, most common.

LPG aka Liquid Propane Gas, very common in use is small forklifts, other industrial engines, and even some vehicles-usually local delivery trucks.

Many others.

Hope some of this makes sense but the short answer is this: There are no "secrets" about internal combustion engines, but depending on the ignition type, getting an engine to run safely and efficiently while maintaining an acceptable life expectancy, pollution output, and power output is truely a science.

 

Adam

[JonathanS]

A diesel engine can run on any combustible matter you can inject into the cylinder.  Not only liquids and gasses but solids have been successfully used.  The US DOE ran a Sulzer engine on powdered coal for a number of years as a demonstration.  It ran well, but had quite a bit of wear around the valves as you would expect.

There is no reason a diesel engine would not run on flour, corn starch, pulverized newspapers, sawdust, or ...  The fuel just needs to be cheap enough to warrent the cost of developing the delivery and injection system.