Gadgets Philippines – July 2019

92 JULY 2019 http://www.gadgetsmagazine.com.ph

RELIC

CARBURETOR

The very word carburetor itself seems like a relic of the ancient past. However, the carburetor is a pretty

recent invention. It was used in cars for much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A carburetor is a

device that mixes air and fuel for the internal combustion engine to create a proper air to fuel ratio for

combustion. A carburetor works using Bernoulli’s principle: the faster the speed of air, the lower its static

pressure, and the higher its dynamic pressure. The throttle actuates caburetor mechanisms and meters

the flow of air being carried into the engine. The speed of the flow and its static pressure determines the

amount of fuel drawn into the airstream itself.

Words by Jose Alvarez

The inventor of the carburetor was Samuel

Morey, who created the device in 1826.

However, the first person to file a patent

for a carburetor for a specific use (a

petroleum engine) was Siegfried Marcus

in 1872. Marcus was also the first person

to propel a vehicle using petroleum in

the 1870s. Karl Benz (of Mercedes-Benz

fame) developed internal combustion

engines and their components, and also

filed a patent for a carburetor in 1888.

Carburetors in the late 19th century

combined air with fuel by passing it over

the surface of gasoline.

Wilbert Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler

utilized a float carburetor based on

an atomizer nozzle in 1885. So many

people used their model that there were

numerous patent lawsuits. British courts

rejected their claim in favor of Edward

Butler, who made a spray carburetor in 1884

on his petrol cycle (largely considered one of

the precursors of the modern motorcycle). By

1893, carburetors were considered for stationary

engines that are typically used in factories,

generators, pumps, and more. Frederick

William Lanchester, an Englishman, used a wick

carburetor, which was an improvement over the

atomizer nozzle. The wick carburetor filtered

out impurities, making the automobile more

efficient.

Caburetors were largely used in cars all

throughout the 20th century. However, fuel

injection would take its place, but it would be

decades before fuel injection became preferred

over carburetors. Adams Farwell invented a fuel

injection system in 1910, but it was generally

used for diesel engines. A 1949 issue of

Automotive Digest praised fuel injection, saying,

“Some automotive men feel that fuel injection

for passenger automobiles is nearing the

climax in experimentation and may soon

make its bow to the driving public.”

The carburetor took another 30-plus years

to fade out of automobiles. By 1986, all

gasoline engines had fuel injection systems.

Some notable cars that still had carburetors

include the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser

(1990), Jeep Grand Wagoneer (SUV, 1991),

Isuzu (light trucks, 1994), and some cars in

other countries, such as Australia, continued

to use carburetors as late as 2003.

Carburetors still have a use in small

engines today, such as in lawn mowers

and rototillers. They are also used in some

aircraft. However, the need of this device has

propelled technological innovation in the

automotive industry to fuel injection, which

is the standard in automotive engines.