Development of the Oil Engine

Abstract

THE millions of compression-ignition oil engines in use to-day have all sprung from the initial work of Herbert Akroyd Stuart (1864–1927) and Rudolph Diesel (1858–1913), whose outstanding patents were taken out in 1890 and 1892 respectively. Vast sums of money have been spent by Governments, firms, institutions and individuals in experiments with oil engines, but just as the first successful Diesel engine was the outcome of the work during 1893–97 of the Maschinenfabrik-Augsburg-Nurnberg, so the success of the engine invented by Akroyd Stuart—known as the “Hornsby-Akroyd” engine—was due to the pioneering work of Messrs. Hornsby and Sons, Ltd., of Grantham, now Ruston and Hornsby, Ltd., of Lincoln. Having offered his patents to various gas engine makers, Stuart approached Messrs. Hornsby, and in 1891 they agreed to take up the development of Stuart's engine on a royalty basis. The necessary experimental work was entrusted to Mr. J. W. Young, who in a paper entitled “Notes on the Practical Development of the Oil Engine” read to the Newcomen Society on March 17, gave an interesting account of the difficulties which had to be overcome before the “Hornsby-Akroyd” engine could be placed on the market.