Innovation and ingenuity: the Pia Engine
The Pia Engine is a single-cylinder internal combustion engine designed by Enrico Bernardi, with an innovative mixed operating system, which combines the direct combustion and atmospheric cycle, thus optimizing its efficiency. This solution stands out from the direct combustion or atmospheric engines of the time and represents an example of motor innovation in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Among its main features, the Pia Engine has a displacement of 121.6 cm³ and a rotation speed of about 200 rpm, with a low consumption of gasoline at only 24 g/h. The operating cycle of the engine takes place in four phases, of which the two central ones exploit the compression and expansion of the piston, producing power continuously and ensuring optimal performance even at low revs. The configuration of the cylinder, covered by a jacket that allows water cooling, represents another advanced design solution for the time.
One of the variants of the Pia Engine was adapted to run on gasoline, then a rare fuel, which allowed the engine to operate in areas without access to illuminating gas. The Pia Engine is therefore equipped with a carburettor, of which Bernardi is one of the inventors and an automatic speed regulator that made the engine stable even with load variations.
The Pia Engine is now part of our collection and awaits you at the Museum, a place where Bernardi’s technical originality and ingenuity are also testified by other fundamental artifacts for understanding the evolution of modern engines.