Types of internal combustion engines

Types of internal combustion engines

1.  Types of internal combustion engines:

1.1. According to configuration

§  Reciprocating

§  Rotary

§  Continuous combustion

1.2. According to engine cooling method

§  Air cooled

§  Water cooled

1.3. According to fuel used

§  Gasoline engine

§  Diesel engine

§  Natural gas engine

2.  Types of reciprocating engines

2.1. According to number of strokes

§  Two stroke

§  Four stroke

§  Five stroke

§  Six stroke

2.2. According to cylinder arrangement

§  Inline engine

§  Radial V engine

§  W engine

2.3. According to number of valves per cylinder

§  Two valves per cylinder

§  Four valves per cylinder

2.4. According to swept volume

§  Fixed displacement engines

§  Variable displacement engines

3.  Types of rotary engines

§  Wankel engine

Comparison between natural gas, electric, and induction cooktops

This comparison is just qualitative and not quantitative with no numerical facts or typical values. This comparison is inspired by some videos on YouTube and some data in ElectroLuxAplliances.com.

	Natural gas cooktop	Electric cooktop	Induction cooktop
Electric supply	Optional for spark	Essential	Essential
Heating power	Small	High	Very high
Boiling time	Large	Small	Very small
Pan material	Any heat conductive material	Any heat conductive material	Heat conductive material which attracts to magnets
Cooktop components heating	Heated	Heated	Only pan is heated
Heating area	Constant. Different heating areas are provided by using different eyes.	Constant	Dependent on pan base area
Putting hand on cooktop’s surface	Burning hazard	Burning hazard	No burning
Heating power control	Control gas flow rate	Control electric current	Control electric current
	If flame is fade out, an external source is required to ignite the gas to continue heating	If electricity is out for certain time, the heater will continue heating when electricity is back	If electricity is out for certain time, the heater will continue heating when electricity is back
Mechanical maintenance	Difficult and required after small operating periods due to blocking of gas paths and galleries	Not required	Not required
Plug and play	Requires some setup. Difficult	Easy	Easy
Outdoor operation in strong winds, sandy environments, very cold places	No	Yes	Yes
Boil over effect	§  Kills flame §  Requires cleaning after boil over §  Requires re-ignition §  Hazardous	Continues heating when boil over takes place	Continues heating when boil over takes place
Cleaning and washing	Difficult	Easy	Easier
Flexibility to move cooktop to another place	Difficult	Easy	Easy
Effect on inhaling in closed rooms (places)	Dangerous due to emission of carbon dioxide and monoxide	No effect	No effect
Hazard propagation	Wide (global) due to propagation of natural gas when flame is killed and natural gas is fed to the cooktop	Local	Local
Operating cost (in Egypt)	Low	High	High
Maximum temperature	Low	High	Very high
Pan blackening	Yes, because of carbon content of exhaust gases	No	No
Burning of plastic handles	May be burnt due to direct flame	No	No
Direct visual inspection of heat power	Easy	Hard	Very hard

Electric water heater dimensions

Electric heater dimensions constraints for a given storage volume

Almost all electric water heaters used nowadays in our houses are of cylinderical shape.
May be this cylinderical shape has little artworks on it or some extra features on its surface, but it is still a cylinder. So how to estimate the dimensions of an electric water heater in a new design. The dimensions are simply radius and height of the cylinder. The following constraints may affect the dimensions of an electric heater with a given storage volume:

1. Minimal sheet metal surface area for a given sheet metal thickness... Cost criteria

2. Accessibility criteria.

3. Minimal insulation material criteria...cost criteria

4. Water head required criteria to provide satisfactory flow rate for washing or showering.

5. complete water consumption criteria. The heater tank should be placed in a position that when a faucet is opened the whole water inside the tank may be used, knowing that the height of a typical floor 2.9 meters.

6. Minimum area of the place where the heater will be placed

Linear guidance systems

v Shaft guidance system:

§  Shaft (solid or hollow)

§  Linear bearings (closed or open)

§  Shaft support blocks

v Monorail guidance system:

§  Guide rail

§  Monorail bearing

v Track roller guidance system (not used in CNC routers):

§  Track

§  Carriage with track roller

v Deep groove ball bearing in right angle configuration

Linear motion drives for CNC router

v Ball screw (problems: backlash, not self –locking, expensive)

v Lead screws/power screws/translations screws: (efficiency 25%-70% , higher pitches result in higher efficiencies)

§  Acme screw (cheap, small/no backlash. Small pitch and slow speeds)

§  Square screw (most efficient, least friction, most difficult to machine, and most expensive)

§  Metric V thread (lowest efficiency)

v Rack and pinion

The following table shows a quick comparison between lead screw and ball screw as they are almost used in hobby CNC routers

Point of view	Lead screw	Ball screw
Efficiency
Linear speed	Slow	High
Self-locking	In most	No
Cost	Relatively cheap	Expensive
Manufacturing	Easier	Difficult
Backlash	Small	Large
Backlash compensation	Using Anti-backlash nut	Using software
Pitch	Small	Large