History
Further information: History of the steam engine Further information: History of the internal combustion engineAn early known example of rotary to reciprocating motion can be found in a number of Roman saw mills (dating to the 3rd to 6th century AD) in which a crank and connecting rod mechanism converted the rotary motion of the waterwheel into the linear movement of the saw blades.
The reciprocating engine developed in Europe during the 18th century, first as the atmospheric engine then later as the steam engine. These were followed by the Stirling engine and internal combustion engine in the 19th century. Today the most common form of reciprocating engine is the internal combustion engine running on the combustion of petrol, diesel, Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) and used to power motor vehicles.
One of the most advanced reciprocating engines ever made was the 28-cylinder, 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" radial engine. It powered the last generation of large piston-engined planes before jet engines and turboprops took over from 1944 onward. It had a total engine capacity of 71.5 L (4,360 cu in).
The largest reciprocating engine in production at present, but not the largest ever built, is the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine of 2006 built by Japan’s Diesel United, Ltd. It is used to power the largest modern container ships such as the Emma Mærsk. It is five stories high (13.5 m/44 ft), 27 m (89 ft) long, and weighs over 2,300 metric tons (2,500 short tons) in its largest 14 cylinders version producing more than 84.42 MW (114,800 bhp). Each cylinder has a capacity of 1,820 L (64 cu ft), making a total capacity of 25,480 L (900 cu ft) for the largest versions.
Read more about this topic: Reciprocating Engine
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It is the true office of history to represent the events themselves, together with the counsels, and to leave the observations and conclusions thereupon to the liberty and faculty of every man’s judgement.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Social history might be defined negatively as the history of a people with the politics left out.”
—G.M. (George Macaulay)