Étienne Lenoir
| Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir | |
|---|---|
Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir
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| Born |
12 January 1822 Mussy-la-Ville, Luxembourg (now part of Belgium) |
| Died | 4 August 1900 (aged 78) La Varenne-Sainte-Hilaire |
| Citizenship | Belgian, French |
| Fields | Engineering |
| Known for | Lenoir cycle, internal combustion engine, Electro plating |
Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir also known as Jean J. Lenoir (12 January 1822 – 4 August 1900) was a Belgian engineer who developed the internal combustion engine in 1858. Prior designs for such engines were patented as early as 1807 (De Rivaz engine), but none were commercially successful. Lenoir's engine was commercialized in sufficient quantities to be considered a success, a first for the internal combustion engine.
He was born in Mussy-la-Ville (then in Luxembourg, part of the Belgian Province of Luxembourg since 1839). 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.
By 1859, Lenoir's experimentation with electricity led him to develop the first internal combustion engine which burned a mixture of coal gas and air ignited by a "jumping sparks" ignition system by Ruhmkorff coil, and which he patented in 1860. The engine was a steam engine converted to burn gaseous fuel and thus pushed in both directions. The fuel mixture was not compressed before ignition (a system invented in 1801 by Philippe LeBon who developed the use of illuminating gas to light Paris), which was quiet but inefficient, with a power stroke at each end of the cylinder. In 1863 the Hippomobile, with a hydrogen gas fueled, one cylinder, internal combustion,engine made a test drive from Paris to Joinville-le-Pont: top speed about 9 km in ~3 hours.
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