Gas Engine - History

History

There were many experiments with gas engines in the 19th century but the first practical engine was built by the Belgian engineer Étienne Lenoir in 1860. His work was further researched and improved by a German engineer Nikolaus August Otto, now recognised as the inventor of the first 4-stroke internal-combustion engine to efficiently burn fuel directly in a piston chamber. In August 1864 Otto met Eugen Langen who, being technically trained, glimpsed the potential of Otto's development, and one month after the meeting, founded the first engine factory in the world, NA Otto & Cie. At the 1867 Paris World Exhibition their improved engine was awarded the Grand Prize

The best-known builder of gas engines in the UK was Crossley, but there were several other firms based in the Manchester area as well. Tangye Ltd. sold its first gas engine, a 1 nominal horsepower two-cycle type, in 1881, and in 1890 the firm commenced manufacture of the four-cycle gas engine.

The Anson Engine Museum in Poynton, near Manchester, England, has a collection of engines that includes several working gas engines, as well as the first UK-built diesel engine by Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day.

British engines mentioned above were of the slow-speed type—less than 1000 rpm—and used pilot diesel injection for ignition. Modern gas engines are of the high-speed type—1500 rpm—and use spark ignition. British manufacturers did not invest in developing the technology and were superseded by more forward-thinking suppliers.