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external-combustion engine: Definition from Answers.com

Dictionary:

external-combustion engine

  (ĭk-stûr'nəl-kəm-bŭs'chən) pronunciation

n.

An engine, such as a steam engine, in which the fuel is burned outside the engine cylinder.


Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a heat engine in which ignition occurs outside the chamber (cylinder or turbine) in which heat is converted to mechanical energy

An external combustion engine (EC engine) is a heat engine where an (internal) working fluid is heated by combustion of an external source, through the engine wall or a heat exchanger. The fluid then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism of the engine produces motion and usable work.[1] The fluid is then cooled, compressed and reused (closed cycle), or (less commonly) dumped, and cool fluid pulled in (open cycle air engine).

"Combustion" refers to burning fuel 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.

The working fluid can be a gas as in a Stirling engine, or steam as in a steam engine. The fluid can be of any composition; gas is by far the most common, although even single-phase liquid is sometimes used. In the case of the steam engine, the fluid changes phases between liquid and gas.

See also

References

v • d • e

Thermodynamic cycles
Cycles normally with
external combustion

Gas cycles without phasechange -
hot air engine cycles

Bell Coleman cycle · Brayton/Joule cycle; (Externally heated) · Carnot cycle · Ericsson cycle · Ported constant volume cycle[1] · Stirling cycle · Pseudo Stirling cycle (same as Adiabatic Stirling cycle) · Stoddard cycle · Vuilleumier cycle

Cycles with phasechange

Kalina cycle · Rankine cycle (encompasses Organic Rankine Cycle) · Regenerative cycle · Two phased Stirling cycle[2]
Cycles normally with
internal combustion

Atkinson cycle · Brayton/Joule cycle · Diesel cycle ·

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition

 · Lenoir cycle · Miller cycle ·

Otto cycle
Cycle mixing
Not categorized

Claude cycle [3] · Fickett-Jacobs cycle · Gifford-McMahon cycle [4] · Hirn cycle · Humphrey cycle · Siemens cycle · Hampson-Linde cycle · Linde dual-pressure cycle · Heylandt cycle · Kleemenko cycle

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