External Combustion Engines (EC Engines)

What is an External Combustion Engine (EC Engine) and How Does it Work?

Practically, you will not find these engines on automotives. Just take a theoretical knowledge on an external combustion engine from this passage. Hopefully, this study will help you a lot to differentiate your automotive engine from others.

External Combustion Engine (EC Engine)

Generally, an external combustion engine is defined as the engine, where combustion of air-fuel mixture takes place to an external or secondary part. In this type of engine, the product of air-fuel combustion transfers the heat energy to a secondary fluid. Then, this secondary fluid works as the working fluid of that engine and completes the engine cycle.

Steam turbine, steam engine, closed cycle gas turbine, and Stirling engines are best examples of external combustion type engines. If you think about a steam turbine plant or steam engine, then it can be said that heat generated from the combustion product of air-fuel mixture is directly applied to generate steam from a boiler. Then, this steam is used in a piston type engine or in a turbine, which gives the desired mechanical output.

Let us think a bit different with a gas turbine, where air-fuel mixture is combusted in a secondary or external part, and the combustion output is transferred to the air. Then, it is used directly to the turbine to get mechanical output.