Introduction
The advent of internal-combustion engines relying on the heat of compression to ignite the fuel dates back to almost a century ago. in 1893, a German engineer, Rtydolf Diesel, disclosed his invention a thermal engine designed to burn pulverized coal as fuel. However, the first model he built in 1895 appeared to be inoperative.
In 1897, having elaborated on the design, R. Diesel produced a water-cooled engine utilizing kerosene which was atomized with the aid of compressed air. Combustion occurred at a constant pressure, with air fed into the cylinder under a pressure of 294 X 104 N/m2 (30 kgf/cm2). The new engine developed 14.7 kW (20 hp), consuming kerosene at a rate of 327 g/kW h (240 g/hp h). However, the high cost of kerosene and obvious shortcomings of the design handicapped a wide-spread recognition of Diesel's engines. The introduction of internal combustion engines into industrial applications could be practical only in the case where they would utilize a variety of cheap fuels.
Aware of the drawbacks inherent in the engine invented by R. Diesel, the Mechanical Works of St. Petersburg (nowadays known as the Russky Diesel Works), that acquired his patent in 1897, had to redesign the engine completely. Burning crude oil at a rate of 300 g/kW h (221 g/hp h), the new Russian engine appeared to be capable of developing 18.4 kW (25 hp) in spite of being projected as a 14.7-kW (20 hp) propulsion installation.
In 1903, the Sormovo shipyard launched the world's first motor ship "Vandal" of 800 tdw, propelled by three three-cylinder engines made by the Russky Diesel Works, each rated for 106 kW (120 hp) at 240 rpm. Her propeller shafts were driven by electric motors. The 1000 tdw twin-screw tanker "Sarmat" launched from the same shipyard in 1904 was powered by two four-cylinder engines each developing 132 kW (180 hp) at 240 rpm. To economize on weight, space and cost, "Sarmat's" propulsion system employed electric motors to run astern and diesel engines to run ahead.
In 1907, the first system of gearing a diesel engine to paddle wheels was developed at the Kolomna Works to be installed in the motor tug "Mysl" with a 220-kW (300 hp) geared engine. An electromagnetic clutch invented by R.A. Koreivo, the Works' designer, was used for reversing and maneuvering the motor tug.
In 1908, the world's first four-stroke reversible diesel engine of the Russky Diesel Works design was built to propel the "Minoga" submarine. The starting and reversing gear operated trouble-free, enabling a reversing to be completed in 10 to 12 seconds.
1910 witnessed the manufacture of diesel engines to be installed on board the gunboats "Kars" and "Ardagan", and the development of an opposed-piston engine at the Kolomna Works.
In 1911, a V-type 148-kW (200 hp), 800 rpm engine was designed and manufactured at the Russky Diesel Works. 1914 saw the production of a 37-kW (50 hp) two-stroke engine with uniflow scavenging by way of ports with valves following suit.
Early internal combustion engines were ali of the air-injection type in which fuel was injected and atomized in the cylinders by means of the air compressed to 588 X 104 N/m2 (60 kgf/cm2) in a special compressor. Yet in 1897 a Russian engineer G.V. Trinkler developed and patented an engine that dispensed with the compressor as a means of fuel atomization. it used a valve-closed injector in conjunction with a high-pressure fuel-injection pump for the fuel delivery and atomization. Nowadays, with the advent of advanced fuel-injection equipment, the simple, dependable airless injection diesel engine has gradually gained recognition, finally ousting the air-injection engines.
A real breakthrough has occurred after 1917 when a gamut of two-and four-stroke diesel engines with a power output ranging from 37 to 4 400 k W (50-6000 hp), a speed of 125 to 600 rpm, have made their appearance in this country. They have paved the way to launching a fleet of the "Kooperatsia"-class cargo-and-passenger motor ships and ;a fleet of the "Skumbria"-class fishing vessels in the 1930s. Simultaneously, work was initiated on programmes aimed to develop highv-power and light-weight uprated diesel engines to be used on ships and aircraft.
Much headway has been made in the theory and practice of engine building in this country, any research institute, design centre and works being a beehive of activity. Far and wide are known the researchers V.A. Wanscheidt, A.S. Orlin, M.G. Kruglov, N.N. Ivan-chenko who have come up with the theory of internal-combustion engines and have probed into the process of fuel injection, combustion and gas exchange in the cylinders of a diesel engine. The engines created by V.M. Yakovlev, V.A. Konstantinov, I.P. Matveev and other designers fully meet all the modern requirements. Being not inferior to foreign makes of diesels in point of performance and economy, in some aspects they compare favourably with them.
Recent development programmes are aimed at upgrading internal-combustion engines in terms of dependability, durability, economy, dimensional and weight characteristics.
