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The Otto cycle is a four-stroke internal combustion engine used in most cars, invented by Nikolaus Otto. It involves four stages: intake, compression, ignition, and exhaust. Diesel cycles are similar but use compression instead of spark to create power.
Otto cycle and Otto engine are common terms used interchangeably to represent a four-stroke internal combustion engine as seen in most automobiles. The term arose from the inventor of the original engine, Nikolaus Otto. He created an engine that would evolve into the mass produced four-stroke engine for most vehicles. Running in an ideal state, the motor must be thermally efficient, which means that it produces a low amount of heat and waste in proportion to the material it consumes. The key features that define Otto engines are the use of cylinders and spark plugs to ignite the gaseous mixture that will propel the vehicle forward.
In 1862, a man named Alphonse Beau de Rochas obtained a patent for the invention of the four-stroke engine. He had the ideas and design for it, but never built a real working engine. The German inventor Nikolaus Otto began to expand on the ideas of Alphonse Beau de Rochas, and 14 years later, in 1876, he assembled the first four-stroke internal combustion engine together with the help of two gentlemen named Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler. Otto’s original engine used only one cylinder and various parts were mounted on the outside of the engine, causing problems due to dirt and grime buildup interfering with engine performance.
What makes the Otto cycle special is the use of internal combustion to power it. The engine runs smoother than earlier engines, converts power efficiently, and does not constantly misfire or break down as earlier engine types frequently did. The Otto cycle involves four steps, which is where the term “four times” comes from. The first stage is the intake stage, in which air and gasoline fill the engine’s cylinders. Next, in the compression phase, pressure is applied to the gas mixture.
The next phase, the ignition phase, is what differentiates the Otto cycle from the diesel cycle. In the ignition phase, a spark fired from a spark plug causes the fuel-air mixture to ignite and spin the wheels to push the vehicle forward. Finally in the exhaust phase, the cylinder opens and releases the excess mixture through the vehicle’s exhaust system.
Diesel cycles are similar to the Otto cycle in that it also uses a similar four-stage cycle, however diesel engines use compression instead of a spark to create the explosion that powers the vehicle. The engine compresses the air in the diesel engine’s cylinder and adds heat. Combustion of fuel creates heat in the cylinder, and under the intense pressure, the mixture starts combustion and forces the cylinder to recede, which in turn spins the vehicle’s wheels. Although similar, the key difference is the lack of spark of the diesel cycle which sets it apart from the Otto cycle.
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