Russian Diesel Engines. Marine Engines for the Russian Imperial Navy
Even before the start of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Nobel repeatedly approached the Naval Department with a very practical proposal to equip auxiliary coal transports, which usually accompany a squadron of warships on a voyage and supply them with fuel, with engines from his plant.
He also emphasized the undeniable advantages of equipping all warships with oil-fueled engines: the absence of high-rising black smoke and large smokestacks (essential for steamships) allowed for a low-profile vessel and less visible to the enemy; the crew size was reduced; the fuel range was significantly increased; and, most importantly, the issue of fuel loading was remarkably simple. Fuel reserves could be replenished quickly and directly at sea by pumping it into the ships' tanks from oil barges.
These proposals, which were important for the defense capability of the state, were met with approval by the command. fleet With indifference bordering on sabotage, Nobel persistently pressed the naval dignitaries, at times enlisting prominent figures from high society to resolve the emerging difficulties. But progress was slow, and only after the humiliating defeat of the Russian fleet in battle with a Japanese squadron did the admirals finally deign to approve the "trial" installation of high-compression engines on eight Shkval-class gunboats, built by the Baltic Shipyard and destined for the Amur Flotilla.
At the time, this was a very large and important government order, so the engines were manufactured according to Nobel's designs at two plants—Nobel and Kolomenskoye. Each ship was equipped with four high-speed engines, each producing 250 horsepower at 350 rpm. They were of a non-reversible design, so they were equipped with an electric transmission to four propeller shafts using the Del Proposto system, enabling reverse propulsion.
These were the first Russian four-cylinder, high-compression engines housed in a single crankcase (housing). Another distinctive feature of the ships' design was the use of propellers housed in semi-tunnels, which protected them from damage and ensured safe navigation in shallow waters. The gunboats' combat service clearly demonstrated the advantages of using domestically produced engines on warships and gave a powerful impetus to the important transition of the Russian navy from steam engines to internal combustion engines.
Meanwhile, the chief engineer of the Ludwig Nobel plant, the Swede Nordstrom, with the participation of those not included in history Russian engineers and technicians grappled with the daunting task of designing a high-compression, reversible engine. At the same time, the world's finest engineering minds were working on a similar problem, but they couldn't solve it. Who ever heard of running an engine in reverse?
But the talented designer was able to achieve this, and in the summer of 1908, he designed and patented the world's first reversible engine of this type, thereby once again demonstrating the global leadership of the Ludwig Nobel plant's design bureau.
It's interesting to note that E. L. Nobel didn't hinder his engineers' inventive work, rightly believing that knowledge was valuable, and he had no problem with their desire to patent their inventions, thus stimulating his employees' initiative to introduce useful innovations. Therefore, in the summer of that same year, he bought Nordström's patent without any hard feelings or complaints (as he had previously bought Del Proposto's) and immediately ordered the assembly of this new experimental engine. The engine was manufactured and tested, performed excellently, started easily, and ran smoothly throughout its entire operating speed range.
In 1908, the Ludwig Nobel plant began production of the world's first mass-produced 3-cylinder, high-compression, reversible engines producing 120 hp at 400 rpm. The first two production engines were installed on the submarine "Minoga," and others, a little later, on the submarine "Akula."
The plant didn't stop there and, after much effort, soon developed and launched production of special, lightweight, high-speed, twin-cylinder, new-generation engines with 160 hp at 450 rpm and a weight of approximately 20-25 kg per hp, designed for submarines. To reduce weight, bronze, aluminum, and chromium-nickel steels were widely used in the engines.
In 1910, the plant developed a new reversing method and applied it to 6-cylinder, 500 hp engines installed on the gunboats Kars and Ardahan.
In 1911, the Nobel plant designed a lightweight V-shaped 8-cylinder engine with a specific weight of about 10 kg/hp, which was made of aluminum, steel and bronze (photo in the title of the article).
In 1913-1914, the plant began mass production of high-compression two-stroke engines. The first of these, four-cylinder engines producing 500 hp at 180 rpm (low-speed), were installed to replace the steam engines on the cargo and passenger ship "Empress Alexandra," which plyed the Caspian Sea.
During the same period, the Ludwig Nobel plant developed and built excellent 8-cylinder, high-speed, two-stroke engines with a capacity of 1320 hp at 350 rpm, intended for submarines.
According to Soviet designer G.V. Trinkler, "The Nobel plant exhibited certain distinctive characteristics in its work: it did not strive for mass production of uniform products, but constantly sought new types of machines and expanded their applications. Being a kind of research laboratory for expanding and deepening the use of diesel engines, the plant did not suffer losses, since its research was beneficial and fulfilled a number of important assignments for Russian government agencies."
The above allows us to draw a reasonable conclusion: in February 1898, Russian entrepreneur Emmanuel Ludvigovich Nobel acquired a patent from Rudolf Diesel, which contained a description of a high-compression engine conceived by Diesel but never built in metal. The theoretical portion of this patent subsequently proved of no practical use to Russian engine manufacturing.
In addition to the patent, Diesel gave Nobel drawings of a prototype engine built at the Augsburg plant, the design of which did not match the patent specifications. These drawings served as the basis for the Ludwig Nobel plant's engineers to design their own engines of this type, running on crude oil and kerosene. As a result, they created engines with an original design of key components that ensured trouble-free operation. Subsequently, their design was continually refined, and soon the engines produced were significantly different from the Augsburg prototype.
For example, the reversible, two-stroke, and other engines from the Nobel plant were similar to the Augsburg engine only in their general principles: fuel ignition by compression, the use of an injector, and the use of a compressor to inject fuel into the cylinder. However, the design of most of the components and mechanisms was original Russian.
Thus, it's not entirely accurate to call the high-compression, self-ignition engines developed and produced in Russia by the Ludwig Nobel plant "diesel." But since this name has stuck, it's worth noting that they were a special type of engine—a Russian diesel. Therefore, after the 1917 Revolution, the Nobel plant rightfully received a new name—"Russian Diesel"—and subsequently became part of the Leningrad Machine-Building Trust.
The plant reached its peak in 1913, when 64 diesel engines with a total capacity of 11840 hp were assembled in its workshops. Of the products manufactured between 1900 and 1913, 33,5% were used in power plants, and 31,4% in shipbuilding. Among the large installations, a 4-cylinder, 800-hp engine, delivered in 1910 to the Tsaritsyn Steam Mill Partnership, is worth mentioning.
At the start of World War I, the plant, diverted to various military orders, cut diesel engine production by almost half. But in 1916, production returned to almost its previous level, producing 33 engines with a total output of 11490 hp.
The revolution that broke out the following year, followed by the Civil War and devastation, quickly reduced engine production to virtually nothing. All Nobile assets in Russia were nationalized. And Emmanuel Ludvigovich, who had spent those turbulent times in Yessentuki, managed with great difficulty to secretly leave Russia in 1918.
All the foreign engineers left, and the experienced workers went off to fight in the Civil War, where many died fighting for equality and brotherhood. Thus, the world leadership of this famous enterprise, once the pride of a mighty nation, was lost forever.
During the Soviet era, it took the struggling plant a long ten years to reach its 1916 production levels. During these years, engine manufacturing in other countries had advanced significantly, but the plant fell hopelessly behind in terms of technical design, producing engines of an older type, and ultimately went from being a leader in global engine manufacturing to an outsider.
In short, the hurricane of social upheaval that swept over Russia in those years dealt a painful blow to the rapidly advancing Russian diesel engine industry, after which the former Nobel plant spent the rest of its life content with the modest role of playing catch-up...
And the new hurricane of "great achievements" in the transition from socialism to capitalism that broke out at the end of the 20th century finally finished off the once world-famous enterprise, burying even the hope for a revival...
Sources:
- Güldner, G. Gas, Oil, and Other Internal Combustion Engines. Moscow, I.N. Kushnerev & Co. Printing House, 1907.
- Gumilevsky, L. Rudolf Diesel. His Life and Work. State Energy Publishing House, Moscow, 1934.
- Internal Combustion Engines in the USSR. Joint-Stock Company "PROMIZDAT", Moscow, 1927.
- Trinkler G.V. Engine engineering over half a century. Leningrad, 1958.
Information