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Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023


Flame Ignition A Historical Account of Flame Ignition in the Internal Combustion Engine by Wayne S. Grenning

cover photo

For those who do not know, Flame Ignition was an early type of ignition system that used an arrangement to allow an external flame to ignite the fuel mixture in the engine.

This book is a scholarly work describing flame ignition as applied to reciprocating engines, from early experiments to later successes such as the Deutz and Crossley versions of the four stroke cycle perfected by Otto in 1876. Wayne discusses problems encountered by the early entrants into the gas engine industry, highlighting solutions discovered by the various players. He also goes into more arcane subjects like the constant pressure cycle introduced by Brayton that survives today in the gas turbine engine, to a look at toy non-compression engines produced during the same early days as their full size brethren.

In eight chapters, Wayne shows details of engines built by Clerk, Sombart, Forest and others, gives technical details on the construction and operating features unique to flame ignition engines, and highlights the struggles other manufacturers endured to avoid infringing the Otto patents. The section on the four-stroke-cycle engines is by itself over 300 pages long, covering 30 different companies. It has 67 pages describing the activities of Crossley Brothers in Manchester, England and another 53 pages dedicated to Gasmotoren Fabrik Deutz from Cologne, Germany.

The book is printed in color on semi-gloss paper for enhanced picture reproduction. Book size is 8½ x 11 inches with dust jacket.

About the Author: Wayne Grenning has been interested in engines for decades and has restored many early engines, flame ignition and otherwise, as well as creating operating scale and full size models of a variety of early flame ignition and non-compressing engines. A fixture at Coolspring during the shows, Wayne has gathered all of his knowledge together into this book as a technical and historical reference to this important chapter in internal combustion engine history.

Code No. 017537, 788 pages, ISBN 9781938184222, $195.00

This item is listed under the following subjects:

Engine  
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