Technologies that shaped the Business World - The Combustion Engine

The internal combustion engine is a crucial asset in nearly, if not all forms of business and for the last century has played a key role in daily business operations around the world. The purpose of this paper is to report on the global effects of the combustion engine and accommodate a brief history of the product. This essay will present and analyse the impact of the combustion engine’s design, innovation, development, users and overall impact. Early designs and conceptualisations by a number of engineers, mathematicians and inventors lead to one of the greatest developments in human history.

Although the initial idea of a compression-less gas was conceptualized by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1509, it seems that his idea was not developed any further. In the late 17th century, English inventor Sir Samuel Morland used gun powder to drive water pumps supplies to Windsor castle, leading him to experiment with the idea of a steam engine (New World Encyclopaedia, ND). “In around 1764, James Watt was given a Newcomen engine to repair and after realising that it was hopelessly inefficient he began to work on improvements to the design. In 1769, the world was presented with the new and improved steam engine.” (BBC History, ND). The invention of the steam engine sparked the exponential growth of the industrial revolution, first in the United Kingdom then worldwide. Its inception had a worldwide effect thus validating the steam engine as the literal driving force behind the industrial revolution, shifting from hand production manufacturing methods towards machine based production.  “The first internal combustion engine was pioneered in the late 19th century by Belgian engineer Jean Lenoir. Shortly after, the Otto cycle was developed in 1859 by Nikolaus Otto” (Wikipedia, ND).

The internal combustion engine is responsible for the subsequent inventions of the motor car, aeroplane, ships and locomotive. It is needless to say that the internal combustion engine has had a massive social and economic impact on the world since its first iteration in the late 19th century. The combustion engine has had an immense impact on society on a global scale. It is needless to say that internal combustion engine has played a major part in the majority of people’s lives. Developments over the years led to smaller engines whilst simultaneously producing more power. The reduced power to weight ratio in the new engines allowed them to drive a variety of motor vehicles (aircraft, tractors, submarines and tanks) proving invaluable to the shipping and logistics industries. During the 20th century motor vehicles replaced railways as the most common form of land transport (Rochelle Forrester, 2006) and lead to the development of roads, motorways, railways and airports i.e. 21st century infrastructure. Since then the applications and following innovations have impacted the world further especially with regards to transportation and logistics.

The development of the internal combustion engine was driven by the need to employ a smaller and more powerful engine. Although steam power was enabling the continuation of the first industrial revolution by powering trains, tractors and ships, it required large amounts high pressure steam to function which is unsafe for the everyday person (Preservearticles.com, ND). In addition to being a safety hazard it was only 20% effective in converting steam to power, in comparison to the internal combustion engine   which is 40 % efficient.

The two main types of internal combustion engine are the spark ignition engines, or petrol engines (where fuel is ignited by a spark) and compression injection engines, or diesel engines (where the increased pressure and temperature inside the chamber is powerful enough to ignite the fuel). This paper is taking a particular interest in the petrol engine as it has made a larger impact in the world however the cannot be neglected. The diesel engine was invented in 1894 and 1897 diesel engines were ready for efficiency testing and production and by 1904 they were powering Frances’s submarines. (Stone, 2012). By 1950 it was not uncommon to see or own a diesel-powered car and the long-term benefits of owning a diesel-powered vehicle would be a better fuel efficiency despite the dearer initial investment. After WWII and developments in diesel technology, more diesel-powered vehicles were available for consumer car market.

The combustion engine works by igniting the fuel, in this case petrol, in the combustion chamber. This exothermic reaction crates a high temperature, high pressure gas. This pushes the pistons in and out which drives a crankshaft turning the engine (Wikipedia.com, ND). The first internal combustion engine was pioneered by Samuel Brown in 1823, patented the first internal combustion engine to be applied industrially”, despite “Lenoir’s engine, this was the first internal combustion engine to be produced in numbers.” (Encyclopaedia.com, ND). So, it is safe to say that the combustion engine was not designed or developed by one person, more so a number of engineers and scientists over a period of about 100 years.

The position of the internal combustion engine in the value chain is invaluable. This is because nearly all motor vehicles rely on an internal combustion engine to power them. Although there has been a large increase in the size of the UK electric car market from 1.1% (September 2015) to 2.2% in 2 years, it is still insignificant to the petrol and diesel engine market (Nextgreencar, ND).

The development of aircraft technology was crucial in the First World War, but had devastating consequences; the loss of millions of lives and shook the world’s economy. Even today there are huge military benefits to the applications of engines to military procedures. On the other side of the coin, the combustion engine is vital to 21st century human existence and has served the human race well in terms of production and transportation. Obviously, there are negative effects as a result of the development of the combustion engine such as global pollution, otherwise known as global warming.

“The economist Brian Arthur describes the rise of the internal combustion engine over the past century as path dependence - a cycle in which existing investments in infrastructure results in continuing certain processes, only doing them differently if we were able to start from scratch (Tim Harford, 2016).

The internal combustion engines main purpose was to replace other engine designs, namely steam engines, and improve the efficiency of such designs. In addition to meeting its original obligation, the internal combustion engine   has evolved both in design and application. As a result of the Otto cycle, there are now 2stroke engines, V and W format engines (e.g. V6 and W12 engines), rotary engines, rocket engines and many other iterations of the internal combustion engine. Modern day applications of the internal combustion engine have led to the developme
nt of motor vehicle racing competition (e.g. Formula 1, NASCAR and even lawnmower racing).

It is hard to think of an industry that has not adopted or does not depend on the combustion engine at some point in the supply/manufacturing chain. Therefore, it has integrated itself permanently into the value chain of all industries. Thousands of businesses everyday all over the world need to ship their products to their customers or receive goods from their suppliers (90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea (Business.un.org, ND). Petrol engine vehicles are often slated for being environmentally unfriendly, however the automotive industry is lucrative as the majority of the human race today depends on petrol engine vehicles on a daily basis. Although it is evolving toward a more fuel efficient (and therefore more environmentally friendly) industry, it is currently responsible for 814000 jobs and £77.5bn revenue in 2016 the UK automotive industry alone (SMMT motor industry facts, 2017). This figure only grows in relation to the revenue of the motor industry worldwide. There is no viable existing replacement for the internal combustion engine, however as scientific breakthroughs are made there is an increased possibility that there will be a new engine to replace the internal combustion engine by the end of the century.
The purpose of the internal combustion engine was to deliver more power in a smaller physical footprint. It is also safer, far quieter and 20% more fuel efficient, therefore proving successful and exceeding the expectations of its inventors/developers and has been reinterpreted and repurposed for a number of different applications.

At some point in the future the human race will approach a tipping point at which there will be a shift from petrochemical fuel to alternative methods (e.g. hydrogen, electricity, solar energy), thus possibly sparking the next industrial revolution.


Submitted as an assignment in 2017 by JL

References:
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