Jezreel Lyka Decinal

COMBUSTION ENGINEERING
Assignment 1

Differentiate internal combustion from external combustion engine. Give five examples
of each.

Both internal and external combustion engines are types of heat engine, where it
converts chemical energy (can be fuel, gasoline, diesel, etc.) into thermal energy and
eventually into mechanical work.
Internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion (the act of burning the
fuel) takes place literally inside a confined combustion chamber, cylinder, or container.
The burning of fuel occurs inside. In contrary to this, external combustion engine is
which the heat source can be found outside. It also uses a working fluid (can be a liquid,
gas, or both) that is heated by a fuel burned outside the engine.
Long before, early inventors used external combustion engines for steam engines. But
today, IC engines are used for improvement, practicality, and efficiency. We use it in our
vehicles and other fuel-generated engines.

Image Source: school.net/engine-function-type-overview

Examples of Internal Combustion Engine
1. Gasoline engines – the one we mostly use nowadays in our vehicles.
2. Diesel engines – some vehicles today still use diesel engine. Generators and diesel
power plants also use this.
3. Gas-turbine engines – It is used in large applications
4. Rocket Propulsion Systems
5. Aerodynamic Engines

Examples of External Combustion Engine

1. Coal-fired Power Plants – coals are used as the heat source and they are outside the
chamber.
2. Natural Gas Power Plants
3. Nuclear Power Plants
4. Stirling Engine
5. Steam Engine