Internal combustion engines use controlled explosions to generate mechanical energy, powering trains, planes, and cars. They have components that vary depending on the engine type, and can generate high levels of pollution. Before internal combustion, external combustion engines like steam engines were used.
Internal combustion is literally the driving force behind trains, planes and cars. It is a method of power generation in which combustion takes place in one or more controlled chambers within an engine to generate mechanical energy. Internal combustion engines were developed in the 1800s and are widely regarded as an important mechanical innovation. Many people use or benefit from an internal combustion engine every day, whether they’re taking the bus to work, using a gasoline generator to power a house, or going to the beach.
There are several ways to use the energy generated by internal combustion. In all cases, the technology involves the use of a fuel-air mixture to create controlled explosions. Explosions create a large amount of energy that drives a piston, turning the force of the explosion into mechanical energy that can be converted into motion, such as the rotation of wheels in a car or the motion of a turbine in a jet engine. The more pistons an engine has, the more energy it can generate.
Engines that use internal combustion for power have a number of components, which can vary slightly, depending on the nature of the engine and its age. Most engines follow a two or four stroke cycle, which means that the piston within the cylinder moves through two or four positions in each engine cycle. Four-stroke engines tend to be more common; automobiles, for example, use a four-stroke method, while lawn mowers are commonly two-stroke engines.
One of the problems with internal combustion is that it generates high temperature, high pressure exhaust fumes that must be vented away from the engine. These fumes commonly contain pollutants generated by the combustion of fuel in the cylinder. Many engines have filter systems designed to trap pollutants, and internal combustion design has been refined to increase efficiency and minimize pollutant output. Even with these measures, however, large amounts of pollution from boats, planes, cars, trucks, buses and trains are generated each year.
Before the internal combustion engine, people used external combustion to generate mechanical energy. One of the classic examples of an external combustion engine is a steam engine such as was historically used to power trains and some types of factory equipment. While internal combustion is generally preferred today, external combustion engines can still be seen at work in various corners of the world, sometimes as novelties and sometimes as actual working engines.
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