FUEL

FUEL

• HISTORY

Ever since the Industrial Revolution took off in the 18th century, vast quantities of fossil fuels have been used to power the economy and deliver unprecedented affluence to huge numbers of people. As we all know, fossil fuels are organic matter made from the remains of flora and fauna subjected to immense pressure and heat deep within the Earth over millions of years. Petroleum, coal, and natural gas are major fossil fuels.coal as a fuel source from early on to compensate for a lack of firewood and charcoal. Not only was a seemingly inexhaustible supply of coal available from easily exploited seams near the surface, but it could be used in its natural form. Japanese governments in the Meiji era (1868-1912), realizing that the use of coal was synonymous with industrialization, encouraged the development of coal mines.

ince the modest beginnings of the oil industry in the mid-19th century, petroleum has risen to global prominence. Initially, kerosene, used for lighting and heating, was the principal product derived from petroleum. However, the development of drilling technology for oil wells in mid-19th century America put the petroleum industry on a new footing, leading to mass-consumption of petroleum as a highly versatile fuel powering transportation in the form of automobiles, ships, airplanes and so on, applied to generate electricity, used for heating and to provide hot water supplies.
The usage of fossil fuels has been increasing in step with economic growth. 

• INVENTORS/discoverer

The theory that fossil fuels formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust over millions of years was first introduced by Georgius Agricola in 1556 and later by Mikhail Lomonosov in the 18th century.

Although fossil fuels are continually being formed via natural processes, they are generally considered to be non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form and the known viable reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being made.

• ELEMENT COMPOSITION

Petroleum and natural gas are formed by the anaerobic decomposition of remains of organisms including phytoplankton and zooplankton that settled to the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under anoxic conditions, millions of years ago. Over geological time, this organic matter, mixed with mud, got buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure caused the organic matter to chemically alter, first into a waxy material known as kerogen which is found in oil shales, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis. Despite these heat driven transformations (which may increase the energy density compared to typical organic matter), the embedded energy is still photosynthetic in origin

• GOOD/BAD EFFECTS

• A bio genic petroleum origin proposes that petroleum is not a fossil fuel
• Bio remediation
• Carbon bubble
• Environmental impact of the energy industry
• Fossil Fools Day
• Fossil fuel divestment
• Fossil fuel drilling
• Fossil fuel exporters
• Fossil fuels lobby
• Fossil fuel phase-out
• Hydraulic fracturing
• Liquefied petroleum gas
• Low-carbon power
• Peak coal
• Peak gas
• Petroleum industry
• Shale gas

Combustion of fossil fuels generates sulfuric, carbonic, and nitric acids, which fall to Earth as acid rain, impacting both natural areas and the built environment. Monuments and sculptures made from marble and limestone are particularly vulnerable, as the acids dissolve calcium carbonate.

Fossil fuels also contain radioactive materials, mainly uranium and thorium, which are released into the atmosphere. In 2000, about 12,000 tonnes of thorium and 5,000 tonnes of uranium were released worldwide from burning coal.^]It is estimated that during 1982, US coal burning released 155 times as much radioactivity into the atmosphere as theThree Mile Island accident.

OIL AND LUBRICANTS

OIL AND LUBRICANTS

• HISTORY

Lubrication technology has advanced significantly in recent times, but the roots of lubrication extend back further than you might imagine. Here are some lubrication milestones.

Lubrication dates back at least as far as this period in ancient Egypt, according to archaeological discoveries. During this time, olive oil is used as a lubricant to move large stones and other heavy objects.

14th Century BC

Ancient Egyptians use animal fats (tallow) to lubricate chariot axels.

1850s

The first oil well is successfully drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859. The well-publicized oil strike marks the dawn of the petroleum age. Until this time, lubricants had been made primarily from animal fats and vegetable oils.

1920s

In response to growing demands, particularly from the burgeoning auto industry, lubricant manufacturers begin processing their petroleum-based oils to improve lubricant performance (which previously had been rather poor). Various treatment processes, some more successful than others, are developed during the decade. Among them, solvent refining emerges to become one of the most viable methods.

1930s–1940s

Additives to inhibit oxidation, resist corrosion, enhance pour points, improve viscosity indexes, and more emerge in the 1930s. From the 1940s, they are widely used in lubricant formulations, especially to prolong the performance and service life of automotive engine oils. Prior to this time, engine oils without additives would typically provide only up to 80 to 100 hours of service. Also, the late 1940s marks the beginning of systematic oil analysis: The railway industry begins using it in an effort to avoid engine failures.

1950s

Synthetic lubricants are developed, primarily for use in the aviation and aerospace industries. Multigrade automotive engine oils are introduced.

1970s

Hydroprocessing technologies such as two-stage hydrocracking dramatically improve base oil purification and performance.

1990s

Modern hydroisomerization technologies (to dewax base oils by transforming wax molecules into high-quality base oil) become widely used. Base oils now known as “Group II” (widely available as of the 1970s) are officially classified as Group II by the American Petroleum Institute. The API subsequently classifies Group III, Group IV and Group V base oils.

2000s And Beyond

The lubricant evolution continues as increasingly advanced products are developed to meet the rising demands of modern machinery for better productivity, performance reliability, energy efficiency and environmental responsibility.

Isel has been at the forefront of the lubricant evolution since the company’s inception in 1992. Isel is an industry-leading lubricant developer and manufacturer with an innovative approach to lubrication. Our unsurpassed expertise, extensive research capabilities and unique production process ensure that you always receive the precise solution for your specific needs and the utmost in performance, protection and fluid life.

• INVENTORS

Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1844^[2] – October 10, 1929) was a Canadian-American inventor and engineer who was notable for his 57 U.S. patents, most having to do with the lubrication of steam engines. Born free in Canada, he returned as a five-year-old with his family to the United States in 1847, where he lived for the rest of his life and became a U.S. citizen.

In Michigan, McCoy could find work only as a fireman and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad. In a home-based machine shop inYpsilanti, Michigan McCoy also did more highly skilled work, such as developing improvements and inventions. He invented anautomatic lubricator for oiling the steam engines of locomotives and ships, patenting it in 1872 as "Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines.

• COMPOSITION 

These are primarily triglyceride esters derived from plants and animals. For lubricant base oil use the vegetable derived materials are preferred. Common ones include high oleiccanola oil, castor oil, palm oil, sunflower seed oil and rapeseed oil from vegetable, and Tall oil from tree sources. Many vegetable oils are often hydrolyzed to yield the acids which are subsequently combined selectively to form specialist synthetic esters. Other naturally derived lubricants include lanolin (wool grease, a natural water repellent).

•  GOOD EFFECTS

• Keep moving parts apart
• Reduce friction
• Transfer heat
• Carry away contaminants & debris
• Transmit power
• Protect against wear
• Prevent corrosion
• Seal for gases
• Stop the risk of smoke and fire of objects
• Prevent rust.
• Relatively high level of additives present. Burning generates both airborne pollutants and ash rich in toxic materials, mainly heavy metal compounds. Thus lubricant burning takes place in specialized facilities that have incorporated special scrubbers to remove airborne pollutants and have access to landfill sites with permits to handle the toxic ash.

Automotive safety Glass

WINDSHIELD

• HISTORY

The term windshield is used generally throughout North America. The term windscreen is the usual term in the British Isles and Australasia for all vehicles. In the US windscreen refers to the mesh or foam placed over a microphone to minimize wind noise, while a windshield refers to the front window of a car. In the UK, the terms are reversed, although generally, the foam screen is referred to as a microphone shield, and not a windshield.

Sports or racing cars would sometimes have aero screens, which were small semi-circular or rectangular windshields. These were often mounted in pairs behind a fold able flat windshield.^[3] Aero screens are usually less than 20 cm (8 in) in height. They are known as aero screens because they only deflect the wind. The twin aero screen setup often called Brook lands was popular among older sports and modern cars in vintage style.

A wiperless windshield is a windshield that uses a mechanism other than wipers to remove snow and rain from the windshield. The concept car acura tl features a wipeless windshield using a series of jet nozzle in the cowl to blow pressure onto the windshield. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windshield#Windshield_replacement  

INVENTOR

Laminated glass was invented in 1903 by the French chemist Édouard Bénédictus (1878-1930), inspired by a laboratory accident.Production of Triplex glass was slow and painstaking, making it expensive. It was not immediately widely adopted by automobile manufacturers, but laminated glass was widely used in the eyepieces of gas masks during World War I. In 1912, the process was licensed to The English Triplex Safety Glass Company. Subsequently, in the United States, both Libbey Owens-Ford and Du Pont de Nemours with Pittsburg Plate Glass produced Triplex.

USAGE

Windshields protect the vehicle's occupants from wind and flying debris such as dust, insects, and rocks, and provide an aerodynamically formed window towards the front. UV coating may be applied to screen out harmful ultraviolet radiation. However, this is usually unnecessary since most auto windshields are made from Laminated glass. The majority of UV-B is absorbed by the glass itself, and any remaining UV-B together with most of the UV-A is absorbed by the PVB bonding layer.^[1]

On motorbikes their main function is to shield the rider from wind, though not as completely as in a car, whereas on sports and racing motorcycles the main function is reducing drag when the rider assumes the optimal aerodynamic configuration with his or her body in unison with the machine, and does not shield the rider from wind when sitting upright.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windshield#Windshield_replacement

effects

 Modern automobile and truck windshields are part of the vehicle’s safety restraint system (SRS), which includes air bags and seat belts. The SRS is designed to keep vehicle occupants within the relative safety of the passenger compartment during accidents, head-on collisions and roll-overs. If any of these safety components are damaged or inoperable for any reason, the effectiveness of the entire SRS could be compromised. In order for the windshield to perform its safety function, one needs to properly care for it. Preventive care is the key to maintaining the safety of your vehicle. The following are some tips on maintaining the safety features of your windshield.

http://www.novusglass.com/ask-the-experts/preserving-the-safety-features-of-your-windshield/

composition

Glass is composed of numerous oxides that fuse and react together upon heating to form a glass. These include silica (SiO 2 ), sodium oxide (Na 2 O), and calcium oxide (CaO). Raw materials from which these materials are derived are sand, soda ash (Na 2 CO 3 ), and limestone (CaCO 3 ). Soda ash acts as a flux; in other words, it lowers the melting point of the batch composition. Lime is added to the batch in order to improve the hardness and chemical durability of the glass. Glass used for windshields also usually contains several other oxides: potassium oxide (K 2 O derived from potash), magnesium oxide (MgO), and aluminum oxide (AI 2 O 3 derived from feldspar).

Read more: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Automobile-Windshield.html#ixzz4K1VGdQAt

PISTON

PISTON

history

firepiston

The piston is originated to the fire piston ,A fire piston is a device of ancient origin which is used to kindle fire. It uses the principle of the heating of a gas (in this case air) by rapid and adiabatic compression to ignite a piece of tinder, which is then used to set light to kindling..Fire pistons have been used in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands as a means of kindling fire for years. Air gets very hot when it is compressed under high pressure.A firepiston it is done so quickly and efficiently that it can reach a temperature in excess of 800 degrees Fahrenheit.By 1865 European explorers had reached the jungles of Indonesia where they found firepiston use well established and widespread. Areas of distribution included Burma, the Malay Peninsula, French Indo-China and Borneo. From some of these areas it made its way to the East Island Archipelagos and the Philippines.

 In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine. The force is applied typically to pistons, turbine blades, rotor or a nozzle.To make the vehicle move distance at the same time,the engine change the chemical energy into mechanical energy.

STEAM ENGINE PISTON

The first engine is the steam engines ,one form of valve used to control the flow of steam within a steam engine or locomotive.The example of a steam engine is the rail way vehicle  or the train.The usual locomotive valve gears such as Stephenson, Walschaerts, and Baker valve gear, can be used with either slide valves or piston valves. Where poppet valves are used, a different gear, such as Caprotti valve gear may be used, though standard gears as mentioned above were used as well, by Chapelon and others.The Swannington incline winding engine on the Leicester and Swannington Railway, manufactured by The Horsely Coal & Iron Company in 1833, shows a very early use of the piston valve.Piston valves had been used a year or two previously in the horizontal engines manufactured by Taylor & Martineau of London,

Composition

The casting of motorcycle piston was carried out using metallic mold. The prepared piston sand core was positioned in the mold to provide casting with contours and cavities. The molten metal of required composition was poured into the metallic mold, allowed to solidify and take the desired shape of the cavity. Aluminium silicon piston scraps were used as the casting material. Melting of the aluminium piston scraps was achieved using local crucible furnace and finally pouring the molten metal into the metallic mold having the prepared piston sand core in place to obtain the piston. After feting and cleaning, the casting was found to be good.

Advantages of cast iron over aluminum: 

• Wear strength of cast iron piston is more.
• Cast iron pistons have higher strength. As temperature increases, the strength of aluminum alloy piston decreases rapidly. Due to higher strength, it is possible to provide thin sections for the parts of cast iron piston.
• Because of higher coefficient of thermal expansion aluminum, aluminum alloy pistons need more clearance between the cylinder wall and piston rings

• The typical cast piston is made of a lower grade aluminum which is molten and flowed into a mold having the shape of the finished product. Piston molds are permanent dies, intricately made of multiple-piece steel shapes. The molten aluminum is vacuum drawn into the mold. So accurate is the process that the resulting casting requires minimal machining. Cast pistons, costing less, are more brittle than hypereutectic or forged pistons so they are not well suited for high performance applications.

//www.quora.com/What-is-a-suitable-material-for-the-piston-of-an-IC-engine

http://lejpt.academicdirect.org/A21/get_htm.php?htm=082_092

INVENTORS/DISCOVERER

Various scientists and engineers contributed to the development of internal combustion engines.The first person to experiment with an internal-combustion engine was the Dutch physicist Christian Huygens, about 1680, But no effective gasoline-powered engine was developed until 1859, when the French engineer J. J. Étienne Lenoir built a double-acting, spark-ignition engine that could be operated continuously. In 1862 Alphonse Beau de Rochas, a French scientist, patented but did not build a four-stroke engine; sixteen years later, when Nikolaus A. Otto built a successful four-stroke engine, it became known as the "Otto cycle" The first successful two-stroke engine was completed in the same year by Sir Dougald Clerk, in a form which (simplified somewhat by Joseph Day in 1891) remains in use today. George Brayton, an American engineer, had developed a two-stroke kerosene engine in 1873, but it was too large and too slow to be commercially successful.

In 1885 Gottlieb Daimler constructed what is generally recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine: small and fast, with a vertical cylinder, it used gasoline injected through a carburetor. In 1889 Daimler introduced a four-stroke engine with mushroom-shaped valves and two cylinders arranged in a V, having a much higher power-to-weight ratio; with the exception of electric starting, which would not be introduced until 1924, most modern gasoline engines are descended from Daimler's engines.

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/internal-combustion-engine-evolution-internal-combustion-engine.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_internal_combustion_engine

EFFECTS

In this context certain climate forcing agents—the most important one being carbon dioxide—which otherwise cause no harm to living organisms, should be added to the list of “classic” pollutants, along with such compounds as oxides of nitrogen or sulfur. On the other hand, climate research has linked certain compounds long recognized as air pollutants (for instance black carbon) to the warming of climate, thus providing one more reason for their control.

Damage to plants, crops, and man-made products. Human health impact.Most common greenhouse gas.Destruction of stratospheric ozone.Human health impact.Reduced atmospheric visibility. Human health impact. Black carbon particulates contribute to global warming.

TIRES AND WHEELS

TIRES AND WHEELS 

history 

One of the reasons why the wheel was invented only at this point in history is due to the fact that metal tools were needed to chisel fine-fitted holes and axles. This leads to the next reason – the wheel was not just a cylinder rolling on its edge. It was a cylinder that was connected to a stable, stationary platform. This wheel-axle concept was a stroke of genius, but making it was a challenge. The ends of the axle, as well as the holes in the centre of the wheels had to be nearly perfectly smooth and round. Failing to achieve this would result in too much friction between these components, and the wheel would not turn. Although the axle had to fit snugly in the holes of the wheels, they had to have enough room to allow them to rotate freely. Given the complexity of the wheel-axle combination, it may be unsurprising that the wheel was not initially invented for transportation purposes. Instead, it has been claimed that wheels were first used by potters. Remember the 5,500-year-old wheel for Mesopotamia? It seems that it was a potters’ wheel (the use of wheels for pottery making may date even further back into the Neolithic). It seems that the use of wheels for transportation only happened 300 years later.

The wheel is probably the most important mechanical invention of all time. It’s hard to imagine any mechanized system that would be possible without the wheel or the idea of a symmetrical component moving in a circular motion on an axis.A wheel with spokes first appeared on Egyptian chariots around 2000 BC, and wheels seem to have developed in Europe by 1400 BC without any influence from the Middle East. Because the idea of the wheel appears so simple, it’s easy to assume that the wheel would have simply "happened" in every culture when it reached a particular level of sophistication.

DISCOVERER/INVENTOR

John Dunlop/Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear(inventor)

In 1837, Charles Goodyear received his first patent (US patent #240) for a process that made rubber an easier product to work with.However, this was not the patent Charles Goodyear is best known for.

In 1843, Charles Goodyear discovered that if you removed the sulfur from rubber then heated it, it would retain its elasticity. This process called vulcanization made rubber waterproof and winter-proof and opened the door for a enormous market for rubber goods.

On June 24, 1844, Charles Goodyear was granted patent #3,633 for vulcanized rubber.A natural substance that had been used for centuries before being rediscovered by Columbus and introduced to western culture. Caoutchouc came from the Indian word “cahuchu,” which meant “weeping wood.” Natural rubber was harvested from the sap that oozed from the bark of a tree. The name "rubber" comes from the use of the natural substance as a pencil eraser that could “rub out” pencil marks and is the reason that it was then re-named “rubber.”

http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/CharlesGoodyear.htm

http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/rubber.htm

John Dunlop(inventor)

 Charles Goodyear, who in 1844 -- more than 50 years before the first rubber tires would appear on cars -- patented a process known as vulcanization. This process involved heating and removing the sulphur from rubber, thus making the rubber water-proof and winter-proof and allowing it to retain its elasticity. While Goodyear's claim to have invented vulcanization was challenged

In 1895, André Michelin and his brother Edouard, who had previously patented a removable bike tire, were the first to use pneumatic tires on an automobile.

• In 1911, Philip Strauss invented the first successful tire, which was a combination tire and air filled inner tube. Strauss' company the Hardman Tire & Rubber Company marketed the tires. 
• In 1903, P.W. Litchfield of the Goodyear Tire Company patented the first tubeless tire, however, it was never commercially exploited until the 1954 Packard. 
• In 1904, mountable rims were introduced that allowed drivers to fix their own flats. In 1908, Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires with improved road traction. 
• In 1910, B.F. Goodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon to the rubber. 
• Goodrich also invented the first synthetic rubber tires in 1937 made of a patented substance called Chemigum.
• 
  
• http://inventors.about.com/od/famousinventions/fl/John-Dunlop-Charles-Goodyear-and-the-History-of-Tires.htm

composition

A car tires is made up of synthetic rubber,Natural rubber is found as a milky liquid in the bark of the rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis. the liquid latex is mixed with acids that cause the rubber to solidify. Presses squeeze out excess water and form the rubber into sheets, and then the sheets are dried in tall smokehouses,The other primary ingredient in tire rubber is carbon black. Carbon black is a fine, soft powder created when crude oil or natural gas is burned with a limited amount of oxygen, causing incomplete combustion and creating a large amount of fine soot. So much carbon black is required for manufacturing tires that rail cars transport it and huge silos store the carbon black at the tire factory until it is needed.

Sulfur and other chemicals are also used in tires. Specific chemicals, when mixed with rubber and then heated, produce specific tire characteristics such as high friction (but low mileage) for a racing tire or high mileage (but lower friction) for a passenger car tire. Some chemicals keep the rubber flexible while it is being shaped into a tire while other chemicals protect the rubber from the ultraviolet radiation in sunshine.The main ingredient in tire rubber is a synthetic polymer called styrene-butadiene, which is a big, stable chemical that doesn't break down easily. It's often assumed that chemicals like these are not as toxic because they don't leach easily into the environment. But Draper and her colleagues have studied chunks of rubber that are left in water, and they've noticed that some of the chemicals do, in fact, leach into the water. And if anything, that same amount of rubber would probably release more chemicals into the water if it were in the form of small particles, because smaller particles have much more surface area in direct contact with the water. 

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Tire.html#ixzz4MU01ufYA

CONTRIBUTION TO PEOPLE/USERS

Tire rubber pollution is just one of many environmental problems in which the research is lagging far behind the damage we may have done. Tire rubber has been used continuously for a whole century, but Draper's research is only just beginning. The longer we wait to study problems like these, the more effort we may have to expend in order to correct them in the future. 

STRUCTURE OF A TIRES

 tires comes from carbon black, a readily-available material that provides greatly improved wear characteristics and heat-dissipation capabilities when added to rubber compounds.it helps to contact to the road and help maintain a healthy tire temperature.Chinese manufacturer, and are mostly intended for show use (these likely use standard plastic pigments along with silica filler -- similar compounds are used for sneaker soles -- this provides good traction but much poorer wear characteristics than carbon black).  carbon black increases the strength and durability of the tyres, which is understandably seen as a desirable trait for tyre manufacturers and car drivers. Any car driver, passenger or pedestrian knows that tyres are typically black. But, have you ever wondered why? Why does everyone go for the generic black look instead of something more exciting such as red or green?

While the very first tyres were created from bands of iron placed on wooden wheels of carts and wagons, the first rubber car tyres which were invented in 1895, were in fact white. So why are these white tyres not around today?

Although the natural colour of rubber is a milky white, the black colour we see was originally caused by soot. The soot was thought to increase the durability of the tyre along with cotton threads, which were inserted in order to reduce heat and increase stability.

However, the main reason for black tyres on cars today, is the chemical compound ‘carbon black’. It is used as a stabilising chemical, which is combined with other polymers to create the tread compound of a tyre. Once added to the rubber, carbon black increases the strength and durability of the tyres, which is understandably seen as a desirable trait for tyre manufacturers and car drivers. One way carbon black expands the lifespan of tyres is by conducting heat away from parts of the tyre that tend to get particularly hot when driving, such as the tread and belt areas. Carbon maintains the quality of tyres by protecting them from UV light and ozone, which are known to deteriorate tyres.

Not only do the black tyres increase strength and durability, they also largely affect the safety of your driving. Having stronger, long lasting tyres means you will have a more reliable drive. Tyres could be considered the most important part of your vehicle as they affect almost every performance factor from handling and acceleration to braking and ride comfort.