Kind Of Engine Research Articles

A History of the Oil Engine

A large gathering of the Press saw No. 3 in Shell's ‘Industrial Notebook’ series of films, A History of the Oil Engine last month and acclaimed it as one of the most interesting films ever produced for anyone with some slight knowledge of or interest in oil engines. This is a documentary film of importance to recorded history because many of the ‘shots’ have never been seen by the general public before, having lain in archives and museums only. The history is traced from an original sketch of Christian Huygen's gun‐powder engine in the 17th century, through 1861 when Otto first conceived the idea of building a new kind of engine, and James Robson, Ackroyd Stuart, Rudolf Diesel, James McKechnie and others right book ‘An outline history of the oil engine and its lubrication’, and whether one sees the film or not, the book is a ‘must’ for every student of engineering, and for everyone with any interest in oil engines. Many of the stills from the film are reproduced here, the older ones without retouching, and there are reproductions of drawings from old patent specifications of two and four‐stroke gas engines of the 1870/1880 period. In fact wo found that after the film had whetted our appetites and shown us how little we really knew about the early history of the oil engine, this book has enabled us to follow up with confirmation of facts, figures and dates.

Power for the Long‐Range Supersonic Airliner

IN investigating what powerplants will best meet the needs of the long‐range supersonic airliner we have to postulate that there will be such an aircraft and we need further to have some idea of its nature to match the engines to it, while equally, if we think about it, the kind of engines which could be available will react on the design of the airframe. So it appears that we must look at these two fields at first separately and then jointly in order to evolve a design specification for the complete aircraft. Moreover, the whole conception of a modern commercial aircraft has become so complex, in meeting a great diversity of operational requirements, that even in the fairly narrow process of matching the airframe and its engines a wide range of factors must be taken into consideration.

The Military Aero-Engine-is it Suitable for Civil Aviation?

In the past, the majority of civil aircraft have been powered by engines which have been developed primarily for the Royal Air Force. Their development costs have been borne by the Service departments, and then they have been converted for civil use at comparatively small extra cost.It has always been questionable whether these converted engines have been really suited to their civil role, and it will become even more doubtful the farther the design and performance of civil aircraft depart from those of military aircraft.In this paper, an attempt has been made to coyer the more important requirements for the two kinds of engines, and to see how they compare. If it appears that too little has been said concerning the gas turbine, that is because there is as yet no experience of its commercial operation.The opinions expressed in the paper are the author’s and have no official significance.

What Kind of Engineers?

What Kind of Engineers?

A Suggestion for the Engineering Profession

The engineer of today traces his ancestry along two distinct lines; one practical, the other theoretical. The development of the modern type of engineer has been along a great variety of special lines; even college courses and degrees have reflected this tendency towards specialties. As a result there is no united engineering profession, but instead a variety of engineering professions. This lack of unity has prevented the engineering profession from exerting its proper influence in the solution of economic problems, and has also prevented the profession having the standing that it ought to have among the learned professions. Colleges and technical schools will undoubtedly be effective in introducing this desirable unity, but the process will of necessity be a very slow one. Suggestons have been offered in the past for the formation of an American engineering society which would include all kinds of engineers. For very many reasons this has always been found impracticable. A suggestion is here offered for the formation of an American Engineering Association in which there would be no personal membership, but in which present national engineering associations would participate by electing representatives annually. No business, commercial or trade organizations would be included.

Physics and Engineering at the Mcgill University, Montreal

SO long ago as 1855, Sir William Dawson pointed out the importance to the McGill University of a department of practical science. But though some attempt was made to carry out the suggestion, little success was obtained until l878, when the department was constituted a Faculty of Applied Science, with Prof. H. T. Bovey as Dean. The Faculty passed through many vicissitudes, but it was placed on a firm basis at the beginning of last year, by the opening of well-furnished workshops and laboratories equipped with the best and most modern apparatus for scientific investigations in all kinds of engineering and physics. A description of the opening ceremonies has lately been published in a souvenir volume, together with descriptions of the main features of the laboratories. We are indebted to this volume for the following information, and to Dean Bovey for the accompanying illustrations.

XXVI. Of the degrees and quantities of winds requisite to move the heavier kinds of wind machines. In a letter from John Stedman, M.D. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh, to the Reverend Samuel Horsley, LL.D. Secretary to the Royal Society

Sir, The irregularity and uncertainty of winds in this country have been found a considerable discouragement to erect wind machines. It hath frequently happened, that the proprietors of coal and other works, after having reared these kinds of engines, and having found them insufficient for the intended work, have been obliged to open mines, or to erect fire machines. This is chiefly owing to the undertakers reckoning upon more winds of a sufficient power to move these machines, than we commonly have in this country. These machines are rarely erected with us, unless where a considerable moving power is necessary. This is always the case where the larger kind of pump-work is to be kept in motion, or where water is to be extracted from deep pits. Having enquired of many people concerned in such works, what may be the proportion of time in which wind machines may be kept in motion, to that in which they cannot move from a defect of wind, I found these people differing widely in their conjecture.