Etienne_lenoir

Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir
Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir
Born	January 12 1822
Died	August 4 1900
Nationality	French-Belgian
Field	engineer
Known for	Lenoir cycle , internal combustion engine

Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir (January 12 1822 - August 4 1900) was a French-Belgian engineer.

Born in Mussy-la-Ville, Belgium, by the early 1850s he had emigrated to France, taking up residence in Paris, where he developed an interest in electroplating. His interest in the subject led him to make electrical inventions including an improved electric telegraph.

Lenoir engine

Lenoir motor in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris

By , Lenoir\'s experimentation with electricity led him to develop the first internal combustion engine, a single-cylinder two-stroke engine which burnt a mixture of coal gas and air ignited by a "jumping spark" ignition system, and which he patented in 1860. The engine differed from more modern two-stroke engines in that the charge was not compressed before ignition. A company, Gauthier,Georgano, G.N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985) was formed to develop the engine, and a three-wheeled carriage constructed using it. Although it ran reasonably well, the engine was fuel inefficient, extremely noisy, tended to overheat and, if sufficient cooling water was not applied, seize up. Nevertheless, Scientific American advised in September 1860 that the Parisian newspaper Cosmos had pronounced the steam age over,Scientific American: p193, 1860-09-22 and by 1865, 143 had been built by Gauthier, along with some by Reading Gas Works for Lenoir Gas Engines in London.Georgano.

In 1863 Lenoir demonstrated a second three-wheeled carriage, powered by a 1.5 hp "liquid hydrocarbon" (petroleum) engine with a primitive carburettor which successfully covered the 18 kilometres from Paris to Joinville-le-Pont and back which took him 11 hours. This succeeded in attracting the attention of tsar Alexander II, and several were sent to Russia.Georgano

Most applications of the Lenoir engine were as a stationary power plant powering printing presses, water pumps and machine tools. Other engineers, especially Nikolaus Otto, began making improvements in internal combustion technology which soon rendered the Lenoir design obsolete. Less than 500 Lenoir engines of between 6 and 20 hp were built.

Lenoir died in 1900.

Notes

See also

• Lenoir cycle

External links

• History of the Motor Vehicle at newreg.co.uk

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