It is surprising that the history of the gas engine presents a large gap in our technological history, when our present way of life is so dominated by the internal combustion engine. The Otto and Langen Free Piston Atmospheric Gas Engine (Fig.7), patented in 1866, was the world's first commercially successful internal combustion engine and what follows is a short history of how the engine came into being.
It could be argued that the first internal combustion engine was the cannon. Unfortunately, this had the serious drawback of throwing away its piston with each power stroke. Nevertheless, there were several serious attempts in the 1600's to use gunpowder as a fuel, to raise a piston in a vertical cylinder and then let gravity and atmospheric pressure return it. Basically, an identical action, albeit using a different fuel, occurs in the atmospheric gas engine and also in the Newcomen atmospheric steam engine. Christian Huygens (1629-95) was the principal experimentalist in the field of gunpowder fuelled engines, but his lead in internal combustion engine development was to lay dormant for many years, due to the rising and then much more favourable development of steam power.
Between 1791 and 1860 nearly fifty patents were taken out in England for what may generally be called gas or vapour engines (1). Only a few of these were made to work including an engine built by two Italian engineers Eugenio Barsanti (1821-64) and Felice Matteuci (1808-87) in the mid 1850's. This was a free piston atmospheric engine (Fig. 1) bearing a strong resemblance to the later Otto and Langen engine. It was used to power several machine tools in a railway works near Florence (2). However, the engine did not go into production, since it had a mechanical fault which Barsanti and Matteuci were unable to overcome. The problem was due to excessive friction in a simple ratchet and pawl arrangement, used to convert reciprocating motion into rotary movement. Furthermore, Matteuci died at the age of 42, after contracting typhus, and Barsanti was unable to carry on the development work alone.
The design of the worlds' first production internal combustion engine is attributed to Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir (1822-1900), who was born in Belgium, but moved to Paris at the age of sixteen where he became a metal enameller. He took out his first patent for a workable gas engine in January 1860 and constructed his first engine later in the same year. The engine resembled in construction a high pressure, double acting steam engine (Fig. 2). A gas and air mixture was admitted at both ends of the cylinder - drawn in by the piston during the first part of the stoke - then ignited by electrical spark and finally expanded during the remaining part of the stoke . Thus there were two explosions, one on each side of the piston, for each revolution of the crank, but there was no compression. Most of the engines were 3hp, although a range from 0.5hp to 6hp was specified. So great was the demand for them, that 300 to 400 were built in France, a further 100 were built in England, by the Reading Iron Works Limited, and an unknown small quantity were made in the America. An example can be seen at the Science Museum in London. Unhappily, the Lenoir engine failed to come up initial expectations and fell suddenly from popularity. This was due, partly to the troublesome electrical ignition system, but mainly to the high consumption of, what was then, expensive gas. In practice almost 100 cubic feet of gas were burnt per horsepower per hour. Also, the quantity of cooling water required was considerable and the heat generated was so great, that unless the bearings were copiously oiled, the engine seized. Hence it was cruelly gibed that the Lenoir engine ran oil and not gas. By the late 1860's production of the Lenoir non-compression engine had ceased. Furthermore, since electrical ignition systems were then unreliable, flame ignition became almost standard practice up to about 1888, when the incandescent or hot-tube igniter was introduced.
Nikolaus August Otto (1832-91) was a travelling salesman, without any formal technical training, selling tea, sugar and kitchenware to grocery stores along the German side of the Belgian and French border country, when he read an account of the gas engine built by Lenoir. Otto was very intrigued with the Lenoir engine and soon had a similar small engine of his own, with which he could experiment in his spare time. The engine was constructed by Michael Zons, a Cologne instrument maker and machinist. After about two years (1863) and much aggravation, Otto's experiments resulted in the construction of an atmospheric cycle gas engine employing a free piston, giving in theory unlimited expansion (Fig. 4). Unfortunately, this engine was not a success, it was not saleable, it was no advance over the Lenoir engine and may even have been a step backward from the Barsanti and Matteuci atmospheric gas engine.
Around 1864 Otto was experiencing further difficulties, his engine was not running well, his application for a patent had been turned down and worse still he had run out of money. Fortunately, he met Eugen Langen (1833-95), a wealthy general entrepreneur with wide interests in Rhineland industry. From an education at Karlsruhe Polytechnic, where he failed to graduate because he did not take the required examinations in Latin, Langen became a partner in his family's sugar refining business, a director of a steel forging plant, an inventor and a design engineer. Being of a restless nature, Langen considered himself at the age of 30 to be lacking involvement and so he was looking for a new interest. Somehow he heard of the struggling Nikolaus Otto working on a new gas engine and although there were still technical problems to be solved, Langen was intrigued and quickly made up his mind to invest in the engine's future. The two men soon formed N.A. Otto & Cie., the world's first company to manufacture internal combustion (I.C.) engines. Today, after several name changes, the company still exists as Klockner-Humbolt-Deutz AG, who are not only the oldest company manufacturing I.C. engines, but are reputedly the worlds biggest manufacturer of air-cooled diesel engines.
Following several years of further development, the combined efforts of Otto and Langen produced a successful design, which bore little resemblance to Otto's engine of 1863. The arrangement finally adopted used the explosion of a gas/air mixture, to drive a heavy piston up a vertical cylinder without restriction and then let the gentler pressure of atmosphere plus the weight of the piston do the work on the way down. The engine was similar to a gun standing vertically with its open mouth pointing upwards, the explosive gas/air mixture replacing the powder and the piston representing the shot. It was noisy and a number of them working together, were often likened to a small artillery battery.
2. The charge is then fired by a small pocket of ignited gas contained in the slide valve. This had previously been lit by a pilot flame, situated in the valve cover, during a prior transient movement of the valve. Upon firing the charge, the piston moves rapidly to the top of its stroke. Due to the rapid expansion, together with the cooling effect of the cylinder walls, a partial vacuum is created below the piston.
3. Since the cylinder is open at the top, the excess of atmospheric pressure over the cylinder pressure below the piston, plus the effect of gravity, act on the piston causing it to descend.
4. The exhaust products, remaining below the piston, are evacuated through a non-return valve as the piston approaches the bottom of the stroke.
5. A centrifugal governor prevents over-speeding by releasing a ratchet
and pawl device, situated on the lay-shaft. This action allows the
flywheel to free-wheel, but stops the piston from rising and the slide
valve from moving, hence cutting off the charge of gas and air, until the
speed falls to normal.
The Otto and Langen Free Piston Atmospheric Gas Engine made its first
public appearance at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. Initially, this noisy
German contraption, with its Grecian column cylinder (Fig.
7), was not very well received by the judges at the exhibition, who
were mainly French and preferred to concentrate their attention on more
"local" products. However, a Berlin professor (Franz Reuleaux), representing
the Prussians on the judging panel, managed to persuade his colleagues
to make their award on the basis of efficiency. After tests lasting
several days, the panel concluded that the Otto and Langen engine consumed
less than half the fuel, for the same output, as its nearest rival.
Consequently, Otto and Langen were awarded the grand prize plus a gold
medal for their engine and subsequently more orders than they could realistically
manage.
These early attempts to introduce the atmospheric gas engine into Britain were not a complete waste of time, for Roosen and Able were not without influence and both had been alerted to current German developments in the field of small power units. Since nothing comparable was happening in Britain, it is not difficult to understand the enthusiasm that occurred when the improved Otto and Langen engine was awarded the gold medal at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. Consequently, negotiations with Roosen and Cornelsen were resumed during 1868, but, although Langen was prepared to send an engine, Roosen was experiencing some difficulty in finding someone with suitable premises who would receive it. Eventually, a Mr Butterworth who had premises in Manchester, was persuaded to take the engine and demonstrate it. However, the first German engine to arrive in England did not reach Mr Butterworth, for it would appear that at the last moment it was diverted to Messrs Louis Simon of Nottingham. Why Langen made this decision is now unclear, but what is certain is that a few months later, on 3 December 1868, an agreement between the firm Louis Simon & Son and N.A. Otto and Cie was signed , authorising Simon's to be responsible for the sales of atmospheric gas engines in Great Britain and Ireland. Under the terms of the agreement, Simon's were only the buyers of the engines from Cologne and were not allowed to manufacture them. Also, depending upon the success of demonstrations of the engine at their London premises, Simon's were obliged to find someone who would either buy the invention or manufacturer it against a royalty, in and for Great Britain and Ireland. In the event of a either a buyer or a manufacturer being found, a further clause safeguarded Simon's sales activities, enabling them to continue as sole sales agents (3).
Metallic printing, or bronzing, was started in Furth, Bavaria, around 1750, but the basic techniques have changed very little over the years, apart from the introduction of mechanisation. The early 19c process consisted of mixing burnt umber with varnish and then adding a large quantity of gilder's size, to produce a very tacky ink. This was used for printing in the normal manner, followed by hand dusting the tacky print with bronze or silver powder. The most celebrated use of the process was the production of a hand bronzed special issue of the Sun newspaper, for the Coronation of Queen Victoria. It was an enormous task and the hair of those involved turned green from the flying particles of bronze powder (6).
There are two reasons to suggest how Louis Simon came to be involved with the introduction of Otto's atmospheric gas engine into Britain. One is the common nationality and the other is Simon's involvement with the printing industry - printers were amongst the most popular users of the atmospheric engine for driving their printing presses and ink making machinery. Simon's did not take up the manufacture of the gas engine themselves, probably because they were concerned only with the driving of print machinery (4). Also it is unlikely that they possessed, at the time, the expertise or machine tools necessary to enter into such a venture and therefore chose only to market the engine.
Louis Simon was born in Prussia in 1815 he came to Britain around 1852 and eventually became a nationalised British subject. His wife Augusta was also born in Germany where they had four children, Richard, Conrad, Robert and George, all of them born in Hamburg. For some time the family lived at 5 Wellington Circus (now the site of Nottingham Playhouse) and later they moved to 4 Western Terrace - still existing (7). Louis died on 15 August 1811, aged 66. He is buried in the General Cemetery, Canning Circus, Nottingham, along with his wife, youngest son George and eldest son Richard.
In the 1870's in addition to their metallic printing business, Simon's were also acting as sales agent for the Bullock printing machine, the Brayton gas engine, the Gilles atmospheric gas engine and a combined gas, steam and air engine. In the "Engineer" (8), which describes the latter engine, Louis Simon and Son are described as engineers. Also, Donkin (12) mentions major improvements to the American Brayton gas engine carried out by Messrs. Simon of Nottingham. The "Son" was Richard, and it may have been his interest in engineering that influenced this change in the company's activities. This is born out by the fact that, after his father had died, Richard formed the Trent Gas Engine company in the 1880's with premises on Duke Street, New Basford, Nottingham, where he produced a horizonal gas engine known as the Trent Engine. This company went out of business in 1894, but Richard founded another company called Richard Simon and Sons Limited, which was registered in January 1908. The company still exists - although as a division of Clyde Blowers plc of Glasgow - with premises on Park Lane, Basford, Nottingham, where they produce weighing, packing and systems control equipment.
Although the agreement allowed Crossley's to manufacture the Otto and Langen engine, significant clauses protected Simon's interests. This meant that any engine produced by Crossley's had to be sold through Simon's who would then receive payments from the customer, deduct their commission and forward the balance in due course to Crossley Brothers. This was not entirely to Crossley's liking and in October 1869, after further negotiations, Crossley's became sub-agents for Simon's. This situation lasted until June 1870, when new contracts were signed establishing Crossley's as the sole manufacturers and sales agents for Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, on 24 May 1871 an agreement between Langen, Otto and Roosen and Simon's was signed, which in effect dispensed with the services of the latter, revoking all former agreements both verbal and written (3).
For about ten years following its introduction, the Otto and Langen engine had virtually a monopoly of the market for engines of any type up to 3hp and its uses were endless. Printers found them to be a cleaner source of power than steam engines; warehouses used them to drive hoists; in workshops they were used to drive lathes and other machinery; the food industries such as bakeries, sugar refiners, breweries and sausage makers used them; in gas works they were used to drive scrubbers, washers and extractors and many smaller industries including sewing, spinning, weavers, joiners and toolmaker used them (3). The engines were made in five sizes of ¼, ½, 1, 2 and 3hp and a total of 2649 engines were built in Germany, with a further 1300 estimated to have been constructed by Crossley's. The engines continued to be improved and after several modifications, some by Crossley's, the free piston was abandoned in 1878 when at the Paris Exhibition of that year, Otto exhibited his Silent Gas Engine. This engine, which had its first public demonstration in Liverpool in 1877 (Fig. 8), superseded all other internal combustion engine designs and created a revolution in the construction of gas engines. It incorporated the most important operation in the working cycle of the internal combustion engine, that of compressing the gas/air mixture prior to ignition of the charge.
Crossley, W., "On Otto and Langen's atmospheric gas engine and some other gas engines", Proc Inst Mechanical Engineers, 1875 pp 191-216.
Barlow, K. A., "Nikolaus August Otto and the Four-Stroke Engine", Trans of the Newcomen Society, Vol 66, 1995, Supplement no.1, pp 19-42.