Mythbusters. Buster was the test-pilot, and ended up crispy-crittered. At least, the bits of him that they could find.
I do seem to recall something about an early design for an internal combustion engine that used gunpowder for fuel. Unsuccessful, if it was even tried, as gunpowder would cause about the world's worst case of engine knock. Atomized petroleum distillates obviously work better.
My thought: you don't want to be standing downrange of this when it blows. Or anywhere within the blast radius, for that matter.
Christian Huygens, 1680; he experimented with a single-cylinder engine driven by gunpowder. Denis Papin later improved it.
The first known IC engine driven by liquid fuel (turpentine) was patented by Robert Street in England in 1794. Lebon, in France, patented a coal-gas IC engine in 1801. Not much was done until the 1860s, when several different inventors, among them Nikolaus Otto, devised two-stroke IC engines that ended up as stationary powerplants due to weight. They were common in industry decades before the gasoline engine and the automobile came along in the 1890s.
Data courtesy of "The History of Invention; From Stone Axes to Silicon Chips" by Trevor I. Williams.
4 comments:
Why am I reminded of the Chinese folk tale about Wan-Hu and his "rocket chair"?
My guess is, this did not end well.
cheers
eon
Mythbusters. Buster was the test-pilot, and ended up crispy-crittered. At least, the bits of him that they could find.
I do seem to recall something about an early design for an internal combustion engine that used gunpowder for fuel. Unsuccessful, if it was even tried, as gunpowder would cause about the world's worst case of engine knock. Atomized petroleum distillates obviously work better.
My thought: you don't want to be standing downrange of this when it blows. Or anywhere within the blast radius, for that matter.
One may want to watch when M Poirier pushes the button but from a distance old boy...
Old? I knew the Dead Sea before it even reported sick!
TTFN :)
Sergej;
Christian Huygens, 1680; he experimented with a single-cylinder engine driven by gunpowder. Denis Papin later improved it.
The first known IC engine driven by liquid fuel (turpentine) was patented by Robert Street in England in 1794. Lebon, in France, patented a coal-gas IC engine in 1801. Not much was done until the 1860s, when several different inventors, among them Nikolaus Otto, devised two-stroke IC engines that ended up as stationary powerplants due to weight. They were common in industry decades before the gasoline engine and the automobile came along in the 1890s.
Data courtesy of "The History of Invention; From Stone Axes to Silicon Chips" by Trevor I. Williams.
cheers
eon
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