The Internal Combustion Engine: a Text-book for the Use of Students and Engineers

Abstract

IT is not surprising that a fourth edition of this valuable work should have been called for within thirteen years after its first publication. As is well known, the progress of the internal combustion engine during the war was very rapid, due largely to aviation. By rearranging some of the older matter, the author has been able to give an account of these advances, including recent experimental work on explosions in closed vessels, and modern fuels and fuel mixtures suitable for use in petrol engines. The chapter on the efficiency of petrol engines has also been brought up-to-date and now includes some matter referring to the loss of power at altitudes in aero engines. Two methods have been proposed for getting rid of this difficulty, namely, the production of an artificial atmosphere by means of a blower in the carburettor intake, or using an oversize engine, which is kept throttled down at low altitude. In either case, the object is to design an engine which can develop constant power up to a certain height. For altitudes up to 20,000 feet, the over-dimensioned engine appears to be considered the simpler solution.

The Internal Combustion Engine: a Text-book for the Use of Students and Engineers.

By H. E. Wimperis. Fourth edition (revised and enlarged). Pp. xvi + 320. (London, Bombay and Sydney: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1922.) 12s. 6d. net.