Timeline of heat engine technology
Encyclopedia
This Timeline of heat engine technology describes how heat engine
s have been known since antiquity but have been made into increasingly useful devices since the seventeenth century as a better understanding of the processes involved was gained. They continue to be developed today.
In engineering
and thermodynamics
, a heat engine performs the conversion of heat
energy
to mechanical work
by exploiting the temperature
gradient between a hot "source" and a cold "sink
". Heat is transferred
to the sink from the source, and in this process some of the heat is converted into work
.
A heat pump
is a heat engine run in reverse. Work is used to create a heat differential. The timeline includes devices classed as both engines and pumps, as well as identifying significant leaps in human understanding.
Heat engine
In thermodynamics, a heat engine is a system that performs the conversion of heat or thermal energy to mechanical work. It does this by bringing a working substance from a high temperature state to a lower temperature state. A heat "source" generates thermal energy that brings the working substance...
s have been known since antiquity but have been made into increasingly useful devices since the seventeenth century as a better understanding of the processes involved was gained. They continue to be developed today.
In engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
, a heat engine performs the conversion of heat
Heat
In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
to mechanical work
Mechanical work
In physics, work is a scalar quantity that can be described as the product of a force times the distance through which it acts, and it is called the work of the force. Only the component of a force in the direction of the movement of its point of application does work...
by exploiting the temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
gradient between a hot "source" and a cold "sink
Sink
A sink is a bowl-shaped plumbing fixture used for washing hands, for dishwashing or other purposes. Sinks generally have taps that supply hot and cold water and may include a spray feature to be used for faster rinsing...
". Heat is transferred
Heat transfer
Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the exchange of thermal energy from one physical system to another. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as heat conduction, convection, thermal radiation, and phase-change transfer...
to the sink from the source, and in this process some of the heat is converted into work
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
.
A heat pump
Heat pump
A heat pump is a machine or device that effectively "moves" thermal energy from one location called the "source," which is at a lower temperature, to another location called the "sink" or "heat sink", which is at a higher temperature. An air conditioner is a particular type of heat pump, but the...
is a heat engine run in reverse. Work is used to create a heat differential. The timeline includes devices classed as both engines and pumps, as well as identifying significant leaps in human understanding.
Pre Eighteenth century
- Prehistory - The fire pistonFire pistonA fire piston, sometimes called a fire syringe, is a device of ancient origin which is used to kindle fire. It uses the principle of the heating of a gas by its rapid compression to ignite a piece of tinder, which is then used to set light to kindling.-Description and use:A fire piston consists...
used by tribes in southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and the Pacific islandsPacific IslandsThe Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
to kindle fire. - c. 450 BC - Archytas of TarentumArchytasArchytas was an Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and strategist. He was a scientist of the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder of mathematical mechanics, as well as a good friend of Plato....
used a jet of steam to propel a toy wooden bird suspended on wire. - c. 200 BC - Temple fire anvil of Cestisibus used to magically open the temple doors. http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/Chapter1.html
- c. 200 BC - Hero of AlexandriaHero of AlexandriaHero of Alexandria was an ancient Greek mathematician and engineerEnc. Britannica 2007, "Heron of Alexandria" who was active in his native city of Alexandria, Roman Egypt...
's Engine. Demonstrates rotary motion produced by the reaction from jets of steam. - c. 900s - China develops the earliest fire lanceFire lanceThe fire lance or fire spear is one of the first gunpowder weapons in the world.- Description :The earliest fire lances were spear-like weapons combining a bamboo tube containing gunpowder and projectiles tied to a Chinese spear. Upon firing, the charge ejected a small projectile or poison dart...
s which were spear-like weapons combining a bamboo tube containing gunpowderGunpowderGunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
and shrapnel like projectiles tied to a spear. - c 1100s - China , the earliest depiction of a gun showing a metal body and a tight-fitting projectile which maximises the conversion of the hot gases to forward motion.
- 1120 - Gerbert, a professor in the schools at Rheims designed and built an organ blown by air escaping from a vessel in which it was compressed by heated water.
- 1232 - First recorded use of a rocketRocketA rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
. In a battle between the Chinese and the Mongols. ( see Timeline of rocket and missile technologyTimeline of rocket and missile technology-15th Century:* 1448 - During the era of Sejong the Great, the 4th King of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, Koreans invented the World's first gunpowdered multi-missile launchers called Singijeon or Hwacha.-17th Century:...
for a view of rocket development through time.) - c. 1500 - Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
builds the ArchitonnerreArchitonnerreThe Architonnerre was a steam-powered cannon, a description of which is found in the papers of Leonardo da Vinci dating to the late 15th century, although he attributes its invention to Archimedes in the 3rd century BC....
, a steam-powered cannon. - 1551 - Taqi al-Din demonstrates a steam turbineSteam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
, used to rotate a spitRotisserieRotisserie is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit - a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This method is generally used for cooking large joints of meat or entire animals, such as pigs,...
. - 1629 - Giovanni BrancaGiovanni BrancaGiovanni Branca was an Italian engineer and architect, chiefly remembered today for what some commentators have taken to be an early steam engine.-Life:...
demonstrates a steam turbineSteam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
. - 1662 - Robert BoyleRobert BoyleRobert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
publishes Boyle's LawBoyle's lawBoyle's law is one of many gas laws and a special case of the ideal gas law. Boyle's law describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system...
which defines the relationship between volume and pressure in a gas. - 1665 - Edward SomersetEdward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of WorcesterEdward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester , styled Lord Herbert of Ragland from 1628–1644, was an English nobleman involved in royalist politics and an inventor...
, the Second Marquess of Worcester builds a working steam fountain. - 1680 - Christiaan Huygens publishes a design for a piston engine powered by gunpowderGunpowderGunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
but it is never built. - 1690 - Denis PapinDenis PapinDenis Papin was a French physicist, mathematician and inventor, best known for his pioneering invention of the steam digester, the forerunner of the steam engine and of the pressure cooker.-Life in France:...
- produces design for the first piston steam engine. - 1698 - Thomas SaveryThomas SaveryThomas Savery was an English inventor, born at Shilstone, a manor house near Modbury, Devon, England.-Career:Savery became a military engineer, rising to the rank of Captain by 1702, and spent his free time performing experiments in mechanics...
builds a pistonless steam-powered water pumpPumpA pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
for pumping water out of mines.
Eighteenth century
- 1707 - Denis PapinDenis PapinDenis Papin was a French physicist, mathematician and inventor, best known for his pioneering invention of the steam digester, the forerunner of the steam engine and of the pressure cooker.-Life in France:...
- produces design for his second piston steam engine in conjunction with Gottfried LeibnizGottfried LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
. - 1712 - Thomas NewcomenThomas NewcomenThomas Newcomen was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, England, near a part of the country noted for its tin mines. Flooding was a major problem, limiting the depth at which the mineral could be mined...
builds a piston-and-cylinder steam-powered water pumpNewcomen steam engineThe atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine , was the first practical device to harness the power of steam to produce mechanical work. Newcomen engines were used throughout Britain and Europe, principally to pump water out of mines,...
for pumping water out of mines - 1748 - William CullenWilliam CullenWilliam Cullen FRS FRSE FRCPE FPSG was a Scottish physician, chemist and agriculturalist, and one of the most important professors at the Edinburgh Medical School, during its heyday as the leading center of medical education in the English-speaking world.Cullen was also a central figure in the...
demonstrates the first artificial refrigerationRefrigerationRefrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. - 1759 - John HarrisonJohn HarrisonJohn Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age...
uses a bimetallic strip in his third marine chronometer (H3) to compensate for temperature-induced changes in the balance spring. - 1769 - James WattJames WattJames Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
patents his first improved steam engineSteam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be... - 1787 - Jacques CharlesJacques CharlesJacques Alexandre César Charles was a French inventor, scientist, mathematician, and balloonist.Charles and the Robert brothers launched the world's first hydrogen-filled balloon in August 1783, then in December 1783, Charles and his co-pilot Nicolas-Louis Robert ascended to a height of about...
formulates Charles's lawCharles's lawCharles' law is an experimental gas law which describes how gases tend to expand when heated. It was first published by French natural philosopher Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1802, although he credited the discovery to unpublished work from the 1780s by Jacques Charles...
which describes the relationship between as gas's volume and temperature. He does not publish this however and it is not recognised until Joseph Louis Gay-LussacJoseph Louis Gay-Lussac- External links :* from the American Chemical Society* from the Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th Edition * , Paris...
develops and references it in 1802. - 1791 - John BarberJohn Barber (engineer)John Barber was an English coalmaster and inventor. He was born in Nottinghamshire, but moved to Warwickshire in the 1760s to manage collieries in the Nuneaton area. For a time he lived in Camp Hill House, between Hartshill and Nuneaton, and later lived in Attleborough...
patents the idea of a gas turbine. - 1799 - Richard TrevithickRichard TrevithickRichard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
builds the first high pressure steam engine.
Nineteenth century
- 1802 - Joseph Louis Gay-LussacJoseph Louis Gay-Lussac- External links :* from the American Chemical Society* from the Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th Edition * , Paris...
develops his law which describes the relationship between a gas's pressure and temperature. - 1807 - Nicéphore NiépceNicéphore NiépceNicéphore Niépce March 7, 1765 – July 5, 1833) was a French inventor, most noted as one of the inventors of photography and a pioneer in the field.He is most noted for producing the world's first known photograph in 1825...
installed his 'moss, coal-dust and resin' fuelled PyréolophorePyréolophoreThe Pyréolophore was probably the world's first internal combustion engine. It was invented in the early 19th century in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, by the Niépce brothers: Nicéphore Niépce and his brother Claude....
internal combustion engine in a boat and powered up the river SaoneSaôneThe Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the River Rhône. Rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department, it joins the Rhône in Lyon....
in France. - 1807 - Franco/Swiss engineer François Isaac de RivazFrançois Isaac de RivazFrançois Isaac de Rivaz was a French politician, chancellor, Deputé , entrepreneur and inventor. In retirement, as a Swiss citizen, circa 1807, he invented a hydrogen powered internal combustion engine with electric ignition...
built an engine powered by the internal combustion of hydrogen and oxygen mixture and used it to power a wheeled vehicle. - 1816 - Robert StirlingRobert StirlingThe Reverend Dr Robert Stirling was a Scottish clergyman, and inventor of the stirling engine.- Biography :Stirling was born at Cloag Farm near Methven, Perthshire, the third of eight children...
invented his hot air Stirling engineStirling engineA Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work.... - 1824 - Nicolas Léonard Sadi CarnotNicolas Léonard Sadi CarnotNicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot was a French military engineer who, in his 1824 Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, gave the first successful theoretical account of heat engines, now known as the Carnot cycle, thereby laying the foundations of the second law of thermodynamics...
developed the Carnot cycle, a hypothetical engine that is the basic theoretical model for all heat engines. This gives the first early insight into the second law of thermodynamicsSecond law of thermodynamicsThe second law of thermodynamics is an expression of the tendency that over time, differences in temperature, pressure, and chemical potential equilibrate in an isolated physical system. From the state of thermodynamic equilibrium, the law deduced the principle of the increase of entropy and...
. - 1834 - Jacob PerkinsJacob PerkinsJacob Perkins was an Anglo-American inventor, mechanical engineer and physicist. Born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Perkins was apprenticed to a goldsmith...
, obtained the first patent for a vapor-compression refrigeration system. - 1850s - Rudolf ClausiusRudolf ClausiusRudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius , was a German physicist and mathematician and is considered one of the central founders of the science of thermodynamics. By his restatement of Sadi Carnot's principle known as the Carnot cycle, he put the theory of heat on a truer and sounder basis...
sets out the concept of the thermodynamic systemThermodynamic systemA thermodynamic system is a precisely defined macroscopic region of the universe, often called a physical system, that is studied using the principles of thermodynamics....
and positioned entropyEntropyEntropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
as being that in any irreversible process a small amount of heat energy δQ is incrementally dissipated across the system boundary - 1859 - Etienne LenoirEtienne Lenoir-Sources:* Georgano, G.N. Cars: Early and Vintage 1886-1930. London: Grange-Universal, 1990 . ISBN 0-9509620-3-1....
developed the first commercially successful internal combustion engineInternal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
, a single-cylinder, two-stroke engine with electric ignition of illumination gas (not gasoline). - 1861 - Alphonse Beau de Rochas of France originates the concept of the four-stroke internal-combustion engine by emphasizing the previously unappreciated importance of compressing the fuel–air mixture before ignition.
- 1861 - Nikolaus Otto patents a two-stroke internal combustion engine building on Lenoir's.
- 1872 - Pulsometer steam pumpPulsometer steam pumpThe Pulsometer steam pump is a pistonless pump which was patented in 1872 by American Charles Henry Hall. In 1875 a British Engineer bought the patent rights of the Pulsometer and it was introduced to the market soon thereafter. The invention was inspired by the Savery steam pump invented by...
, a pistonless pump, patented by Charles Henry Hall. It was inspired by the Savery steam pump. - 1873 - The British chemist Sir William CrookesWilliam CrookesSir William Crookes, OM, FRS was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, London, and worked on spectroscopy...
invents the light mill a device which turns the radiant heat of light dirrectly into rotary motion. - 1877 - Theorist Ludwig BoltzmannLudwig BoltzmannLudwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics...
visualized a probabilistic way to measure the entropy of an ensemble of ideal gas particles, in which he defined entropy to be proportional to the logarithm of the number of microstates such a gas could occupy. - 1877 - Nikolaus Otto patents a practical four-stroke internal combustion engine
- 1883 - Samuel GriffinSamuel GriffinSamuel Griffin was a lawyer and politician from Virginia. He represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.-Biography:...
of Bath UK patents a six-stroke internal combustion engine. - 1884 - Charles A. Parsons builds the first modern Steam turbineSteam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
. - 1886 - Herbert Akroyd StuartHerbert Akroyd StuartHerbert Akroyd-Stuart was an English inventor who is noted for his invention of the hot bulb engine, or heavy oil engine.-Life:...
builds the prototype Hot bulb engineHot bulb engineThe 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....
, an oil fueled Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition engine similar to the later diesel but with a lower compression ratioCompression ratioThe '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...
and running on a fuel air mixture. - 1892 - Rudolf DieselRudolf DieselRudolf 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...
patents the Diesel engineDiesel engineA 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...
where a high compression ratio generates hot gas which then ignites an injected fuelFuel injectionFuel 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....
.
Twentieth century
- 1909, the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh OnnesHeike Kamerlingh OnnesHeike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He pioneered refrigeration techniques, and he explored how materials behaved when cooled to nearly absolute zero. He was the first to liquify helium...
develops the concept of enthalpyEnthalpyEnthalpy is a measure of the total energy of a thermodynamic system. It includes the internal energy, which is the energy required to create a system, and the amount of energy required to make room for it by displacing its environment and establishing its volume and pressure.Enthalpy is a...
for the measure of the "useful" work that can be obtained from a closed thermodynamic system at a constant pressure. - 1913 - Nikola TeslaNikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
patents the Tesla turbineTesla turbineThe Tesla turbine is a bladeless centripetal flow turbine patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. It is referred to as a bladeless turbine because it uses the boundary layer effect and not a fluid impinging upon the blades as in a conventional turbine...
based on the Boundary layerBoundary layerIn physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is that layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface where effects of viscosity of the fluid are considered in detail. In the Earth's atmosphere, the planetary boundary layer is the air layer near the ground affected by diurnal...
effect. - 1926 - Robert Goddard of the USA launches the first liquid fuel rocket.
- 1929 - Felix WankelFelix WankelFelix Heinrich Wankel was a German mechanical engineer and inventor after whom the Wankel engine was named. He is the only twentieth century engineer to have designed an internal combustion engine which went into production.-Early life:Wankel was born in Lahr, Baden, in the upper Rhine Valley...
patents the Wankel rotary engineWankel engineThe Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that...
- 1933 - French physicist Georges J. Ranque invents the Vortex tubeVortex tubeThe vortex tube, also known as the Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube, is a mechanical device that separates a compressed gas into hot and cold streams. It has no moving parts....
, a fluid flow device without moving parts, that can separate a compressed gas into hot and cold streams. - 1937 - Hans von OhainHans von OhainHans Joachim Pabst von Ohain was a German engineer, one of the inventors of jet propulsion.Frank Whittle, who patented in 1930 in the United Kingdom, and Hans von Ohain, who patented in 1936 in Germany, developed the concept independently during the late 1930s...
builds a gas turbineGas turbineA gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between.... - 1940 - Hungarian Bela KarlovitzBela KarlovitzBela Karlovitz was a Hungarian physicist who pioneered research into the generation of electricity directly from a body of hot moving gas without any mechanical moving parts...
working for the Westinghouse company in the USA files the first patent for a magnetohydrodynamic generatorMHD generatorThe MHD generator or dynamo transforms thermal energy or kinetic energy directly into electricity. MHD generators are different from traditional electric generators in that they can operate at high temperatures without moving parts...
, which can generate electricity directly from a hot moving gas - 1942 - R.S. Gaugler of General Motors patents the idea of the Heat pipeHeat pipeA heat pipe or heat pin is a heat-transfer device that combines the principles of both thermal conductivity and phase transition to efficiently manage the transfer of heat between two solid interfaces....
, a heat transfer mechanism that combines the principles of both thermal conductivity and phase transition to efficiently manage the transfer of heat between two solid interfaces. - 1950s - The PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
company develop the Stirling-cycle Stirling Cryocooler which converts mechanical energy to a temperature difference. - 1962 - William J. Buehler and Frederick Wang discover the Nickel titanium alloy known as Nitinol which has a shape memory dependent on its temperature.
- 1992 - The first practical magnetohydrodynamic generators are built in Serbia and the USA.
Twenty first century
- 2011 - Michigan State University builds the first wave disk engineWave disk engineA wave disk engine is a type of pistonless rotary engine being developed at Michigan State University and Warsaw Institute of Technology. The engine has a spinning disk with curved blades. Once fuel and air enter the engine the rotation of the disk creates shockwaves that compress the mixture...
. An internal combustion engine which does away with pistons, crankshafts and valves , and replaces them with a disc-shaped shock wave generator.
See also
- Timeline of rocket and missile technologyTimeline of rocket and missile technology-15th Century:* 1448 - During the era of Sejong the Great, the 4th King of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, Koreans invented the World's first gunpowdered multi-missile launchers called Singijeon or Hwacha.-17th Century:...
- Rockets can be considered to be heat engines. The heat of their exhaust gases is converted into mechanical energy. - History of thermodynamicsHistory of thermodynamicsThe history of thermodynamics is a fundamental strand in the history of physics, the history of chemistry, and the history of science in general...
- History of the internal combustion engineHistory of the internal combustion engineAlthough various forms of internal combustion engines were developed before the 19th century, their use was hindered until the commercial drilling and production of petroleum began in the mid-1850s...
- Timeline of motor and engine technologyTimeline of motor and engine technologyTimeline of motor and engine technology* – Hero of Alexandria describes the first documented steam-powered device, the aeolipile.* 1698 – Thomas Savery builds a steam-powered water pump for pumping water out of mines....
- Timeline of steam power
- Timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technologyTimeline of temperature and pressure measurement technologyTimeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology A history of temperature measurement and pressure measurement technology.-1500s:* 1592-1593 — Galileo Galilei builds a device showing variation of hotness known as the thermoscope using the contraction of air to draw water up a...