What mechanical engineering principles does Lennox International use in its HVAC products?
Lennox International Lennox International Inc. () is an intercontinental company. Through its subsidiaries, it is a provider of climate control products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets around the world. The Company was founded in 1895, in Marshalltown, Iowa, by Dave Lennox, the owner of a machine repair business for railroads. He designed and patented a riveted steel coal-fired furnace, which led to numerous advancements in heating, cooling and climate control solutions. The company was sold in 1904 to DW Norris who managed the company until his death in 1949, following which ownership devolved to his descendants who continued to hold a prominent position in the company in the following decades.
Pressure wave supercharger A pressure wave supercharger (also known as a wave rotor) is a type of supercharger technology that harnesses the pressure waves produced by an internal combustion engine exhaust gas pulses to compress the intake air. Its automotive use is not widespread; the most widely used example is the "Comprex", developed by Brown Boveri. Valmet Tractors of Finland were one of the first to use the device when they fitted it to the 411CX engine which powered their 1203 model of 1980. Although it provided a useful increase in performance it was considered too expensive to be incorporated into later models. Ferrari tested such a device during the development of the 126C Formula One car. The system did not lend itself to as tidy an installation as the alternative twin-turbocharger layout, and the car was never raced in this form. A more successful application was in the RF series diesel engine found in the 1988 Mazda 626 Capella; ultimately 150,000 Mazda diesel cars were fitted with a Comprex supercharger. Other users included Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz. The Greenpeace SmILE concept car uses a "Hyprex" pressure wave supercharger developed by the Swiss company Wenko AG. NASA uses wave rotors in experiments attempting to increase gas turbine efficiency. The wave rotor is placed between the compressor, combustor, and turbine sections in order to extract more energy from the combustion process.