A 25 HP Serpollet carbonic acid engine was used by the Romanian Trajan Vuia in Paris in his Vuia plane No. 1 in 1906.

Traian Vuia was born in the Timis region in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Romania. He studied to be an engineer, but he also studied law at university.

-The operating principle seems to be the same as those used in model airplanes, carbonic acid.

-See Vuia. For some more details about the engine.

“The Vuia of 1906”

-It is said that carbonic acid was in a liquid state and was heated to obtain more quantity and maintain the necessary pressure.

“Difficult detail”

-The manufacturers of the engine that was used by Vuia (see) had a pressure generation by original means. Previously they were dedicated to building cars with steam engines, that had instant steam generators (Flash boilers).

-These are the brothers Leon and Henri Serpollet (the cars were Gardner-Serpollet).

-We have located one of these engines, the four horizontally-opposed cylinder engine with two valves per cylinder.

“Serpollet 4-cylinder, 12 CV”

“1:1 model of the Vuia in the MAE”

-The Serpollet of the Vuia ran on carbon dioxide generated on the aircraft itself.

-It could also work with compressed air or steam.

-In fact, they were offered with an instantaneous steam generation boiler. (flash boiler)

“Serpollet schematic drawings”

-The instantaneous generation of steam could be produced using a special boiler and a spiral water conduit, as we see in the examples below.

“Flash boiler”

“Serpollet engine”

-Vuia used carbon dioxide as a pressurized gas.

-The same engine using steam had an instantaneous steam generation system (Flash boiler).

“Steam generation circuit”