air engine

British  

noun

1. an engine that uses the expansion of heated air to drive a piston

2. a small engine that uses compressed air to drive a piston

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Example Sentences

The essentials of the air engine are extremely simple: a "hot space" heated by an external firebox, a "cold space" cooled by water or air, and two pistons.

From Time Magazine Archive

Cuming & Knight 186,312 Hay tedder and side rake, Huber & Snell 186,346 High pressure hot air engine, O. Stenberg 186,377 Hook for drawrods, M.B.

From Scientific American, Volume XXXVI., No. 8, February 24, 1877 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures. by Various

The hot air engine, although theoretically recognized for some time past as the most economical means of converting heat into motive power, has up to the present met with little success.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 623, December 10, 1887 by Various

Which will be best, hot air engine or steam engine?

From Scientific American, Volume XLIII., No. 25, December 18, 1880 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures. by Various

One Smith concrete mixer, 1 cu. yd. capacity, driven by attached air engine.

From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The Site of the Terminal Station. Paper No. 1157 by Clarke, George C.