Industrial History: Exotic Engine Designs

Until now, the most unique diesel engine design I have seen is the opposed-piston engines that Farbainks-Morse built. But in the last few days I've come across three more rare designs.

Sean Brady posted

A 12-cylinder Nordberg diesel radial engine. This engine displaced 29,556 cu in (484.3 L) and produced around 2,000 hp (1,500 kW). Note the fuel injector in the center of the cylinder head.

The Nordberg radial offered several advantages over the stationary inline engines that were the current standard. With its cylinders horizontal, the Nordberg radial’s output shaft was in a vertical position. Although the engine was built primarily to generate power for the electrolytic reduction of aluminum, its arrangement was perfect for pumping applications. In addition, the configuration of the radial made it more compact and much lighter than a comparative inline engine. The Nordberg radial took up about half the space of an equally powerful inline engine and could be installed on a much lighter foundation.

The Nordberg radial was first introduced in 1947. The first engines were spark-ignition natural gas burning units that quickly established themselves as reliable and economical. These engines had two spark plugs located in the cylinder head. A single cam on the crankshaft actuated a gas valve for each cylinder. This gas valve allowed the natural gas into the incoming scavenging air for the cylinder.

Nordberg continued to develop the radial as its use spread to central power stations and various pumping applications, primarily for flood control and at sewage treatment plants. Nordberg soon developed a diesel version of the engine and a version that could run on a mixture of diesel and natural gas, which Nordberg dubbed Duafuel. The Duafuel engine could run on 100% diesel or as little as 5% diesel and 95% natural gas. This flexibility allowed the engine to operate with the most economical fuel mixture possible. In the diesel and Duafuel engines, the single cam now actuated a fuel pump for each cylinder, and the diesel fuel injector was in the center of the cylinder head.

Frank Duncan: Long ago, in the early 1970s, in a place far away, I worked at the Kaiser aluminum plant in Chalmette, Louisiana for 18 months just before they shut it down. Lines 1&2 at the aluminum refinery used Norbergs like this! They ran continuously 24/7/365 and were REALLY quiet. They ALWAYS ran them at 105% capacity! I stood by the cylinder head of one and all you could hear was a muted chuff as it fired. They were on the second floor, and the generators that looked like huge green pears were under each one on the first floor. There was a huge bank of radiators to cool the lubricating oil on the outside of the building. I think we averaged about 1,100,000 pounds of aluminum every day. Good times and fond memories.

Sean Brady posted two photos with the comment:

A 12-cylinder Nordberg diesel radial engine. This engine displaced 29,556 cu in (484.3 L) and produced around 2,000 hp (1,500 kW). Note the fuel injector in the center of the cylinder head.
The Nordberg radial offered several advantages over the stationary inline engines that were the current standard. With its cylinders horizontal, the Nordberg radial’s output shaft was in a vertical position. Although the engine was built primarily to generate power for the electrolytic reduction of aluminum, its arrangement was perfect for pumping applications. In addition, the configuration of the radial made it more compact and much lighter than a comparative inline engine. The Nordberg radial took up about half the space of an equally powerful inline engine and could be installed on a much lighter foundation.
The Nordberg radial was first introduced in 1947. The first engines were spark-ignition natural gas burning units that quickly established themselves as reliable and economical. These engines had two spark plugs located in the cylinder head. A single cam on the crankshaft actuated a gas valve for each cylinder. This gas valve allowed the natural gas into the incoming scavenging air for the cylinder.
Nordberg continued to develop the radial as its use spread to central power stations and various pumping applications, primarily for flood control and at sewage treatment plants. Nordberg soon developed a diesel version of the engine and a version that could run on a mixture of diesel and natural gas, which Nordberg dubbed Duafuel. The Duafuel engine could run on 100% diesel or as little as 5% diesel and 95% natural gas. This flexibility allowed the engine to operate with the most economical fuel mixture possible. In the diesel and Duafuel engines, the single cam now actuated a fuel pump for each cylinder, and the diesel fuel injector was in the center of the cylinder head.

Bert Smith: https://oldmachinepress.com/2014/01/12/nordberg-stationary-radial-engine/

Steve McPhail: I find it interesting that this engine produces only 4.1 HP per litre , whereas typical car engines produce more like 100 HP per litre. I'm guessing it's rated for high reliability long service.

Ronald Harder: Horsepower is a function of torque and RPM. Presumably this motor operates at a fairly low rpm.

I actually looked it up and found that these motors ran at 400 rpm. So that explains it.

Terry Trump posted
This cutaway illustration of the Napier Deltic diesel engine by illegible, shows the triangular arrangement of the piston banks and the opposed-piston design.
TJ Ziegler: That looks like a lubrication system nightmare waiting to happen, and i cant even imagine doing internal engine repairs on that.
[A comment indicated it was used by the Navy, and it was started with an explosive cartridge.]
Paul Jackson: Cummins is developing an opposed piston diesel for military applications. Pretty interesting concept.
Geoff Rodwell: Paul Jackson Cummins need to get along to the Air and Space museum at Dulles airport, D.C. and have a look at the "Napier Nomad" thats on display there (smile). A very nice compound diesel that acts as a gas generator for its turbine, depending on operating condition - old technology, lightweight and powerful.
Chris Rust: Paul Jackson very common on big (I mean big as a house) marine diesels in the past, I sailed with Doxford and Burmeister and Wain engines in the 1960s. I even saw some with different size bore for the top and bottom cylinders.

TheDrive
INNengine of Granada, Spain is developing an 85lb engine with 500cc that can generate 120hp as a range extender for EVs.
[This is from an animation. It is worth clicking the link to see this in action.]

I need to research the Nordberg company. I'm going to "park" this photo here in the meantime.

Sean Brady posted
Turning 44’ long, 80,000 lbs Hoist shaft on 60” engine lathe at Nordberg Plant Milwaukee, 1930s. Pond lathe is from the 1800s.

Stephen Marshall commented on Sean's post
Another old Nordberg. This one located in the powerhouse, Broken Hill, New South Wales.

I removed "diesel" from the title because the radial engines for aircraft always amazed me.

Warbird_Experience posted
What 4360 cubic inches and 3000HP looks like!!

This appears to be the same engine.

PlaneHistoria posted
Not saying it is complicated or anything, but the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major is an American 28-cylinder four-row radial piston aircraft engine designed and built during World War II. First run in 1944, at 4,362.5 cu in (71.5 L), it is the largest-displacement aviation piston engine to be mass-produced in the United States, and at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) the most powerful.
It was the last of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp family, and the culmination of its maker's piston engine technology.
Richard Bunn: Changing spark plugs at two per cylinder could take a while.
Clint Royce: Thats my baby. Four mags and 56 plugs. A great sound with 14 cylinders firing on every revolution.
Jack Alexander: Love to see a cutaway of this.
Richard Miller: Jack Alexander, historic Pratt & Whitney hanger in East Hartford, CT has a sample of each engine it made and several amazing cutaways!
Clint Royce: Jack Alexander there is a cutaway 4360 at the Hill AFB air museum.
George Kujanski: There is a motorized, cutaway view of one at The Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson. Very cool!
Paul Smith: What about a 36-cyliner engine, 4 x 9?
Fraser Ralston: Paul Smith there was one. The Lycoming XR-7755, a 36 cylinder water cooled radial. 4 rows of 9 cylinders, the cylinder banks were inline as they were water cooled instead of staggered like the air cooled engines. 7,756.3 cubic inches (127.1 litre) displacement producing around 5,000hp. They only made two units before the project was cancelled in 1946, the rapid development of the jet engine that emerged during WW2 made this engine obsolete whilst it was still being developed.
Ian Cameron: The R-4360 was designed to force air to the rear cylinders when in a standard tractor engine installation. However, in a pusher engine installation (e.g. the Convair B-36 and Northrop XB/YB-35), cooling the cylinders took a long time to get right as the air had to be fed to the engine.
Keith Laird: Bruce Caron One of the other things that adversely affected cooling in the B-36 was the high operating altitude of the B-36. Even though the air was extremely cold up there, it was so thin, it couldn’t absorb much heat from the engine. In the pusher configuration, there actually was an auxiliary fan mounted to the other end of the crankshaft to provide cooling air.
Andrew Nickeas: 71.489 litres for the rest of the world. The Rolls Royce Merlin was , nominally, 27 litres.
Mike Gozia: Six powered the B-36 + 4 small jets for take off. [I one time heard someone comment that the plane had 6 turning and 4 burning. Now I know what was turning.]
Robert Downie Sr: The number of airplanes that used the 4360 is a who’s who of airplanes. B-36, the plane the 4360 was developed for, the B/KB-50, C/KC-97, C-74, C-124, one model of the C-119, and Howard Hugh’s Spruce Goose!