Herbert Akroyd Stuart
Encyclopedia
Hot bulb engine
The hot bulb engine, or hotbulb or heavy oil engine is a type of internal combustion engine. It is an engine in which fuel is ignited by being brought into contact with a red-hot metal surface inside a bulb....
, or heavy oil engine.
Life
Akroyd-Stuart had lived in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in his early years. He was educated at Newbury Grammar School
St. Bartholomew's School
St Bartholomew's School is a co-educational comprehensive school founded in 1466 in Newbury, Berkshire in the United Kingdom. It accepts students aged 11–18 and currently has approximately 1,600 students on roll including a sixth form of around 400...
and Finsbury Technical College
City and Guilds of London Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is a leading United Kingdom vocational education organisation. City & Guilds offers more than 500 qualifications over the whole range of industry sectors through 8500 colleges and training providers in 81 countries worldwide...
on Cowper Street. He was the son of Charles Stuart, founder of the Bletchley Iron and Tinplate Works, and joined his father in the business in 1887.
Oil engines
In 1885 Akroyd Stuart accidentally spilt paraffin oilKerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
(kerosene) into a pot of molten tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
. The paraffin oil vaporised and caught fire when in contact with a paraffin lamp
Kerosene lamp
The kerosene lamp is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. This article refers to kerosene lamps that have a wick and a tall glass chimney. Kerosene lanterns that have a wick and a glass globe are related to kerosene lamps and are included here as well...
. This gave him an idea to pursue the possibility of using paraffin oil (very similar to modern-day diesel) for an engine, which unlike petrol
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
would be difficult to be vaporised in a carburettor as its volatility is not sufficient to allow this.
His first prototype engines were built in 1886. In 1890, in collaboration with Charles Richard Binney, he filed Patent 7146 for Richard Hornsby and Sons
Richard Hornsby & Sons
Richard Hornsby & Sons was an engine and machinery manufacturer in Lincolnshire, England from 1828 until 1918. The company was a pioneer in the manufacture of the oil engine developed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart and marketed under the Hornsby-Akroyd name. The company developed an early track system...
of Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England. The patent was entitled: "Improvements in Engines Operated by the Explosion of Mixtures of Combustible Vapour or Gas and Air". One such engine was sold to Newport Sanitary Authority, but the compression ratio was too low to get it started from cold, and it needed a heat poultice to get it going.
Hornsby-Akroyd engine
Richard Hornsby & Sons
Richard Hornsby & Sons was an engine and machinery manufacturer in Lincolnshire, England from 1828 until 1918. The company was a pioneer in the manufacture of the oil engine developed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart and marketed under the Hornsby-Akroyd name. The company developed an early track system...
as the Hornsby Akroyd Patent Oil Engine under licence and were first sold commercially on 8 July 1892. It was the first internal combustion engine to use a pressurised fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
system.
The Hornsby-Akroyd engine used a comparatively low compression ratio, so that the temperature of the air compressed in the combustion chamber at the end of the compression stroke was not high enough to initiate combustion. Combustion instead took place in a separated combustion chamber, the "vaporizer" (also called the "hot bulb") mounted on the cylinder head, into which fuel was sprayed. It was connected to the cylinder by a narrow passage and was heated either by the cylinder's coolant or by exhaust gases while running; an external flame such as a blowtorch was used for starting. Self-ignition occurred from contact between the fuel-air mixture and the hot walls of the vaporizer. By contracting the bulb to a very narrow neck where it attached to the cylinder, a high degree of turbulence was set up as the ignited gases flashed through the neck into the cylinder, where combustion was completed. As the engine's load increased, so did the temperature of the bulb, causing the ignition period to advance; to counteract pre-ignition, water was dripped into the air intake.
Hot bulb engines were produced until the late 1920s, often being called "semi-diesels", even though they were not as efficient as compression ignition engines. They had the advantage of comparative simplicity, since they did not require the air compressor used by early Diesel engines; fuel was injected mechanically (solid injection) near the start of the compression stroke, at a much lower pressure than that of Diesel engines.
Oil-engined locomotive
Richard Hornsby and Sons built the world's first oil-engined railway locomotive LACHESISMoirae
The Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...
for the Royal Arsenal
Royal Arsenal
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England.-Early history:The Warren...
, Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, England, in 1896. They also built the first compression-ignition powered automobile.
Oil engines outside the UK
SwedenSimilar engines were built by Bolinder in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and some of these still survive in canal boat
Narrowboat
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
s.
United States
Hot bulb engines were built in the USA by the De La Vergne Company of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, later the New York Refrigerating Company - inventing the modern refrigerator
Vapor-compression refrigeration
Vapor-compression refrigeration is one of the many refrigeration cycles available for use. It has been and is the most widely used method for air-conditioning of large public buildings, offices, private residences, hotels, hospitals, theaters, restaurants and automobiles...
in 1930, who purchased a licence in 1893.
Patent dispute with Rudolf Diesel
The modern Diesel engineDiesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
is a hybrid incorporating the features of direct (airless) injection and compression-ignition, both patented (No. 7146) as Improvements in Engines Operated by the Explosion of Mixtures of Combustible Vapour or Gas and Air by Akroyd-Stuart and Charles Richard Binney in May 1890. Another patent (No. 15,994) was taken out on 8 October 1890, which details the working of a complete engine, essentially that of a diesel engine where air and fuel are introduced separately.
Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Diesel
Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine.-Early life:Diesel was born in Paris, France in 1858 the second of three children of Theodor and Elise Diesel. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris. Theodor...
patented compression-ignition in 1892; his injection system, where combustion was produced isobarically
Isobaric process
An isobaric process is a thermodynamic process in which the pressure stays constant. The term derives from the Greek isos, , and barus,...
(the technique having been patented by George Brayton
George Brayton
George Brayton was born in Rhode Island, son of William H. and Minerva Brayton. He was an American mechanical engineer who lived with his family in Boston, and who is noted for introducing the continuous combustion process that is the basis for the gas turbine, and which is now referred to as...
in 1874 for his carburettor), was not subsumed into later engines, Akroyd-Stuart's injection system with isochoric
Isochoric process
An isochoric process, also called a constant-volume process, an isovolumetric process, or an isometric process, is a thermodynamic process during which the volume of the closed system undergoing such a process remains constant...
combustion developed at Hornsbys being preferred.
Akroyd-Stuart's compression ignition engine (as opposed to spark-ignition
Spark-ignition
The term spark-ignition engine refers to internal combustion engines, usually petrol engines, where the combustion process of the air-fuel mixture is ignited by a spark from a spark plug...
) was patented two years earlier than Diesel's similar engine; Diesel's only patentable idea was to increase the pressure. The hot bulb engine, due to the lower pressures used (around 90 PSI) as opposed to the Diesel engine's c. 500 PSI, had only about a 12% thermal efficiency
Thermal efficiency
In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, a furnace, or a refrigerator for example.-Overview:...
.
In 1892, Akroyd-Stuart patented a water-jacketed vaporiser to allow compression ratios to be increased. In the same year, Thomas Henry Barton (who later founded Barton Transport
Barton Transport
Barton Transport plc was a British bus and coach operator based in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire. It commenced its first service in 1908. Its fleet and operations were sold to Wellglade in 1989, and the combined operations later became Trent Barton...
) at Hornsbys built a working high-compression version for experimental purposes whereby the vaporiser was replaced with a cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
therefore not relying on air being preheated, but by combustion through higher compression ratio
Compression ratio
The 'compression ratio' of an internal-combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its smallest capacity...
s. It ran for six hours - the first time automatic ignition was produced by compression alone. This was five years before Rudolf Diesel built his well-known high-compression prototype engine in 1897.
Diesel was, however, subsequently credited with the innovation despite the adduced evidence to the contrary.
Death
In 1900, he moved to Australia and set up a company Sanders & Stuart with his brother Charles, latterly moving back to YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He died of throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
and was buried in All Souls church
All Souls Church, Halifax
All Souls Church, Halifax, is a redundant Anglican church in Haley Hill, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.-Early history:...
in Boothtown, Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
.
The University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
has hosted the Akroyd-Stuart Memorial Lecture on occasional years in his memory since 1928. One was presented by Sir Frank Whittle
Frank Whittle
Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Air Force engineer officer. He is credited with independently inventing the turbojet engine Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, CB, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907 – 9 August 1996) was a British Royal Air...
in 1946. Akroyd Stuart had worked with Professor William Robinson in the late 19th century, who was professor of engineering from 1890 to 1924 at University College Nottingham.
Akroyd-Stuart also left money to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
, Royal Aeronautical Society
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
and Institute of Marine Engineering
Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology is the international membership body and learned society for all marine professionals, operating in the spheres of marine engineering, science, or technology. It has registered charity status in the U.K...
, which provided for their respective bi-annual Akroyd-Stuart Prizes.
External links
- Biography
- Relation to the Ruston and Hornsby history.
- History of his Oil Engine at the Anson Engine MuseumAnson Engine MuseumThe Anson Engine Museum is situated on the site of the old Anson colliery in Poynton, Cheshire, England. It is the result of years of work by Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor who began collecting and showing stationary engines for a hobby. When the number and size of engines they collected...
- De La Vergne Oil Engine used for Marconi's first broadcast
- IMechE Herbert Akroyd Prize (sic)
- Immortalised by naming a range of bollards after him
- All Souls Church, Halifax
Patents
- US Patent 845140 Combustion Engine, dated 26 February 1907.
- US Patent 502837 Engine operated by the explosion of mixtures of gas or hydrocarbon vapor and air, dated 8 August 1893.
- US Patent 439702 Petroleum Engine or Motor, dated 4 November 1890.