mechanical engineer
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
and inventor. He was noted for introducing the constant pressure engine that is the basis for the
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...
, and which is now referred to as the
Brayton cycle
The Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the operation of certain heat engines that have air or some other gas as their working fluid. The original Brayton engines used a piston compressor and piston expander, but modern gas tu ...
.
Brayton's Ready Motor
In 1872 George Brayton patented a constant pressure internal combustion
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
, initially using vaporized gas but later using liquid fuels such as
kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
and
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, known as ''Brayton's Ready Motor'', The engine used one cylinder for compression, a receiver reservoir, and a separate power/expander cylinder in which the products of combustion expanded for the power stroke. The significant difference from other piston driven internal combustion engines is that the two cylinders are arranged so that the fuel/air mixture burns progressively at constant pressure as it is transferred from the compressor cylinder and reservoir to the working/expansion cylinder. In the original version a gas/air mixture was created by a vapor carburetor, then compressed and stored in a reservoir where it was ignited and then introduced into an expansion cylinder. A metal gauze/mesh was used to prevent the combustion running back to the reservoir. However at times the mesh failed, leading to flash-back or explosion. In 1874 Brayton filed a patent for a liquid fuel injection system. In this version, fuel was introduced as the air passed into the expansion cylinder, thus eliminating the explosion problem. Ignition remained a pilot flame. The principle was referred to as constant pressure combustion, and had been attempted without success by Sir William Siemens c1861 using a 4-cylinder engine with a separate combustion chamber. Brayton not only achieved success in making the constant pressure cycle work, but he also made and marketed a commercial product.
Brayton cycle engines were some of the first engines to be used for motive power. In 1881
John Philip Holland
John Philip Holland ( ga, Seán Pilib Ó hUallacháin/Ó Maolchalann) (24 February 184112 August 1914) was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Ho ...
used a Brayton engine to power the world's first successful self-propelled submarine, the Fenian Ram.
Also the Selden auto of 1878 used a Brayton cycle engine. This design never actually ran. When the Brayton engine was applied to an omnibus in 1878 as part of a project between Brayton and the engineers George and James Fawcett the latter described the attempt as a 'complete failure'.
The engine's cycle of operations including sectional drawings and indicator diagrams for both gas and petroleum fueled versions. Details of the way the liquid fuel was introduced are described over 11 pages of
Dugald Clerk
Sir Dugald Clerk (sometimes written as Dugald Clark) KBE, LLD FRS (1854, Glasgow – 1932, Ewhurst, Surrey) was a Scottish engineer who designed the world's first successful two-stroke engine
in 1878 and patented it in England in 1881. He wa ...
's book ''Gas and Oil Engines''.Dugald Clerk, ''Gas and Oil Engines'', Longman Green & Co, 1897. The petroleum engine in these tests was made by the "New York and New Jersey Ready Motor Company". This is followed by a similar analysis of Simon's engine which was an adaptation of the Brayton engine made by Louis Simon & Sons, in Nottingham, UK and marketed as ''The Eclipse Silent Gas Engine''. The Simon engine had an added complexity in that it injected some of the water/steam heated by the engine/exhaust into the engine. The indicator diagrams for this engine are also reported by
Dugald Clerk
Sir Dugald Clerk (sometimes written as Dugald Clark) KBE, LLD FRS (1854, Glasgow – 1932, Ewhurst, Surrey) was a Scottish engineer who designed the world's first successful two-stroke engine
in 1878 and patented it in England in 1881. He wa ...
and show that the addition of the water has little merit in terms of power production, the cooling of the gases and expansion of the steam compensating for each other.
Because the Brayton engine had a slow progressive burn of the fuel/air mixture it was possible to maintain a pilot flame, and so the engine, once lit, needed no form of ignition system. The measured efficiency of the gas engine was intermediate between that of the
Lenoir Lenoir may refer to:
Locations:
* Lenoir, North Carolina, United States
* Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States
* Lenoir City, Tennessee
In Universities:
* Lenoir-Rhyne University
* Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...
/Hugon engines, and the Otto & Langen atmospheric engine, but the liquid fueled Brayton engine had an advantage in not requiring a gas supply.
The early Brayton gas engine had the engine speed governed by varying the point of cut-off for the admission of the combusted gases into the power cylinder, and the admissions of gas and air to the pump was similarly regulated to maintain the reservoir pressure. The liquid fueled engine reported by Clerk only regulated the cut-off to the power cylinder, and used a pressure relief valve to limit the reservoir air pressure. The reservoir on the Brayton engine allowed it to be readily started if it remained pressurized, though Clerk states that "leakage and loss were so frequent that the apparatus was of little use."
Brayton's engine was displayed at the
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...
in Philadelphia in 1876, and the Simon variant was displayed at the 1878 Paris Exhibition, and for a few years was well regarded, but within a short time the
Otto engine
The Otto engine was a large stationary single-cylinder internal combustion four-stroke engine designed by the German Nicolaus Otto. It was a low-RPM machine, and only fired every other stroke due to the Otto cycle, also designed by Otto.
Typ ...
became more popular. However, it was considered the first safe and practical oil engine and also served as inspiration to
George B. Selden
George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.Flink, p. 51 ''Probably the most absurd action in the history of patent law was the granting ...
. As a production engine the design evolved over time, and according to Henry de Graffigny in ''Gas and Petroleum Engines'', it was available in both vertical and horizontal forms.
A Brayton Engine is preserved in the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in the American History museum, and a later Brayton engine which powered one of
John Philip Holland
John Philip Holland ( ga, Seán Pilib Ó hUallacháin/Ó Maolchalann) (24 February 184112 August 1914) was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Ho ...
's early submarines is preserved in the
Paterson Museum
Paterson Museum is a museum in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. Founded in 1925, it is owned and run by the city of Paterson and its mission is to preserve and display the industrial history of Paterson. It is loc ...
in the
Old Great Falls Historic District
The Old Great Falls Historic District is an area of Paterson, New Jersey between South Paterson and Hillcrest, Paterson. The area is a thin strip of neighborhoods and parklands around the Passaic River and Garret Mountain. This section of Paterso ...
History of the internal combustion engine
Various scientists and engineers contributed to the development of internal combustion engines. In 1791, the English inventor John Barber patented a gas turbine. In 1794 Thomas Mead patented a gas engine. Also in 1794 Robert Street patented an i ...
ASME
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...