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External combustion engine
 
 
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An external combustion engine (EC engine) is a heat engine
Heat engine

A heat engine is a physical or theoretical device that converts thermal energy to mechanical output. The mechanical output is called Mechanical work, and the thermal energy input is called heat....
 where an (internal) working fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
 is heated by combustion of an external source, through the engine
Engine

An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input.An engine whose purpose is to produce kinetic energy output from a fuel is called a Wiktionary:prime mover; alternatively, a motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from a preprocessed "fuel" ....
 wall or a heat exchanger
Heat exchanger

A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another, whether the media are separated by a solid wall so that they never mix, or the media are in direct contact....
. The fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
 then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism
Mechanism

Mechanism may refer to:*Mechanism , explaining how a feature is created.*Reaction_mechanism , explaining a reaction pathway.*Mechanism , a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes...
 of the engine produces motion and usable work
Mechanical work

In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force acting through a distance. Like energy, it is a scalar quantity, with SI of joules....
. The fluid is then cooled, compressed and reused (closed cycle), or (less commonly) dumped, and cool fluid pulled in (open cycle air engine).

"Combustion
Combustion

Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames, appearance of light flickering....
" refers to burning fuel
Fuel

Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy and to heat or to move an object. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion....
 with an oxidizer, to supply the heat.






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Encyclopedia


An external combustion engine (EC engine) is a heat engine
Heat engine

A heat engine is a physical or theoretical device that converts thermal energy to mechanical output. The mechanical output is called Mechanical work, and the thermal energy input is called heat....
 where an (internal) working fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
 is heated by combustion of an external source, through the engine
Engine

An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input.An engine whose purpose is to produce kinetic energy output from a fuel is called a Wiktionary:prime mover; alternatively, a motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from a preprocessed "fuel" ....
 wall or a heat exchanger
Heat exchanger

A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another, whether the media are separated by a solid wall so that they never mix, or the media are in direct contact....
. The fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
 then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism
Mechanism

Mechanism may refer to:*Mechanism , explaining how a feature is created.*Reaction_mechanism , explaining a reaction pathway.*Mechanism , a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes...
 of the engine produces motion and usable work
Mechanical work

In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force acting through a distance. Like energy, it is a scalar quantity, with SI of joules....
. The fluid is then cooled, compressed and reused (closed cycle), or (less commonly) dumped, and cool fluid pulled in (open cycle air engine).

"Combustion
Combustion

Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames, appearance of light flickering....
" refers to burning fuel
Fuel

Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy and to heat or to move an object. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion....
 with an oxidizer, to supply the heat. Engines of similar (or even identical) configuration and operation may use a supply of heat from other sources such as nuclear, solar, geothermal or exothermic reactions not involving combustion; but are not then strictly classed as external combustion engines, but as external thermal engines.

The working fluid can be a gas
Gas

In physics, a gas is a state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion....
 as in a Stirling engine
Stirling engine

A Stirling engine is a device that converts heat energy into mechanical power by alternately compressing and expanding a fixed quantity of air or other gas at different temperatures....
, or steam
Steam

In physical chemistry, and in engineering, steam refers to vaporized water. It is a pure, completely invisible gaseous phase . At standard temperature and pressure, pure steam occupies about 1,600 times the volume of an equal mass of liquid water....
 as in a steam engine
Steam engine

File:Steam-powered fire engine.jpgA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines have a long history, going back at least 2000 years....
. The fluid can be of any composition; gas
Gas

In physics, a gas is a state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion....
 is by far the most common, although even single-phase liquid
Liquid

Liquid is one of the principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material....
 is sometimes used. In the case of the steam engine
Steam engine

File:Steam-powered fire engine.jpgA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines have a long history, going back at least 2000 years....
, the fluid changes phase
Phase (matter)

In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of space , throughout which all physical properties of a material are essentially uniform. Examples of physical properties include density, refractive index, and chemical composition....
s between liquid and gas.

Research, development and innovation

A Spanish engineer has patented the design of a cold external combustion engine, which he claims can be cleaner, more powerful and with higher fuel economy than the current Internal Combustion engines. The engine has been developed by Alba Montecristo based in Daimiel
Daimiel

Daimiel is a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 17,342.The Tablas de Daimiel National Park, a well-known natural reserve, lies partly within the boundaries of the town....
 (Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real

Ciudad Real is a city in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain with a population of 73,124. It is the capital of the provinces of Spain of Ciudad Real . It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid....
, Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
) and Air Car Factories , and will be used as an external accessory to power conventional engines. The engine does not need any oil for operation, but uses a new solid-liquid fuel, which the maker claims costs much less than oil. It can also use compressed air
Compressed air

Compressed air is air which is kept under a certain pressure, usually greater than that of the atmosphere. In Europe 10 % of all electricity used by industry is used to produce compressed air....
 . A fully functional prototype is expected to be around by 2011 .

See also