To date, technology has stepped forward and turned primitive engines into a powerful ultra-modern unit. There are various types of engines on the market and each of them has its own characteristics. What are these modern devices and what are they?
First engines
The first engine was an ordinary water wheel, to which wooden blades were attached and lowered into the river, where the flow of water launched it into non-stop motion. With the help of various mechanisms attached to such a water engine, the peasants milled grain, irrigated fields, forged steel and performed other necessary work. The inventor of this engine remained unknown, however, water-powered installations were used in India as early as a thousand years BC.
The first hydraulic motor in the form of a wooden wheel was placed in the lower part in the water flow - such designs were called bottom-piercing.
A little later, wind turbines were also invented, which were a small wheel with huge wooden wings rotating under the gusts of wind. These devices were used to propel millstones, so they were built in hills and open spaces to maximize the force of the wind on the engine. Today, these motors convert wind energy into electricity through wind turbines.
Engine development
Unlike water and wind turbines, which depend on the actions of nature, their "heirs" - steam engines, are more independent. They work by heating the boiler with water, which, after boiling, turns into steam, which makes the mechanisms move. The steam engine allowed steam locomotives, steamboats, steam machines and many other mechanical devices to start working.
With the invention of the steam engine, industry began to develop, but it required too much fuel and was too cumbersome.
Over time, the steam engine replaced the internal combustion engine, the fuel of which was burned not in the furnace, but in the unit itself. This invention differed from its predecessors in efficiency, power and the absence of a heavy boiler. In addition, internal combustion engines run on gasoline and kerosene.
And, finally, the crown of engine building was the jet engine, invented by famous design engineers from Great Britain. It converted the internal energy of the fuel into kinetic energy, creating the thrust required for propulsion. This type of engine became the first turbojet aircraft unit, thanks to which the first jet aircraft took off into the sky.