Concept Engines
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Modeling a Free-Piston Engine Genset for Hybrid Applications
September 16, 2008
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| Cross-section of the FPLA. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers from Shanghai Jiaotong University in China have developed a new and more accurate computer model of the alternator component of the free-piston linear alternator (FPLA)—a two-stroke, free-piston engine combined with a linear alternator to generate electricity, with potential application in a hybrid electric vehicle. A paper on their work is scheduled for the 17 Sept. issue of the journal Energy & Fuels.
The free-piston engine offers a number of benefits, including optimization of the combustion process through variable compression ratios, making multifuel operation possible; reducing frictional losses because of fewer moving parts; and allowing homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) to be more easily achieved. A linear alternator can use the linear piston force without requiring additional mechanical components necessary in a rotary configuration.
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Concept: Moller International Designs a PHEV with Short Flight Capability
September 09, 2008
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| Model of the Autovolantor. |
Moller International has completed the design of a 2-passenger sportscar capable of lifting off vertically and flying for about 15 minutes. Called the “autovolantor”, it is designed to function on the road very much like a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) until one gets stuck in traffic. At that point, it can lift off vertically and fly at up to 150 mph for a short distance. Upon landing it can drive on the ground for up to 40 miles or longer using one of its eight Rotapower engines (earlier post) to generate electrical power.
Moller International received a request to design this vehicle from a wealthy foreign businessman who was unable to commute from the city to his country home due to the overcrowded streets of Moscow.
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Concept: Rotary Shaft Power Extraction from an Efficient, Free-Piston HCCI Engine
August 14, 2008
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| The mechanism for rotary power extraction uses a pair of one-way clutches (one clockwise, CW; the other counter-clockwise, CCW) attached to the power output end of the pivot shaft. Click to enlarge. |
Energy Transition Technology, Inc. (ETT) has devised a mechanism to extract direct rotary shaft power from its Free-Piston Floating Stroke (FPFS) engine—an Otto cycle, four-cylinder free-piston engine (FPE) featuring a continuously variable compression ratio and full-load-range homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion. ETT projects an FPFS engine simple cycle efficiency of 60% and, with turbo compounding, near Atkinson-cycle efficiency of ~65%.
Free piston engine (i.e., without a crank) power output is provided by an oscillating pivot shaft which can directly drive a compressor, hydraulic pump or electrical generator. However, with rotary shaft output, the free-piston engine is suitable for a broader range of applications than usually considered.
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Frost & Sullivan Names Sanderson Engine Development Emerging Company of the Year
August 12, 2008
Frost & Sullivan recently recognized Sanderson Engine Development, LLC (SED) with the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Emerging Company of the Year. Sanderson is the desinger of the Sanderson Rocker-Arm Mechanism (SRAM) for converting reciprocating motion into rotational motion without the use of a conventional crankshaft. (Earlier post.)
Frost & Sullivan called the SRAM an emerging core technology for an entirely new generation of engine-driven pumps, compressors, generators, and any other device for which current power systems deploy multiple components (as in a crankshaft engine and a swash plate hydraulic pump) to transfer power.
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Concept: VGT Developing “Plug-in” Gasoline/Compressed Air Hybrid Based on the RoundEngine
August 08, 2008
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| Basic design of a two-piston RoundEngine. Click to enlarge. |
Canada’s VGT Technologies, the developer of the RoundEngine, has started development of a “plug-in” compressed air hybrid vehicle using the RoundEngine technology. In this application, “plug-in” refers to connecting to an external air compressor to top off the storage tanks. The RoundEngine is a novel variable geometry toroidal (VGT) engine.
The gasoline/air hybrid vehicle is similar to a gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle but uses compressed air instead of electricity for an auxiliary drive. In the first phase of development VGT will focus on the air drive using the RoundEngine technology by modifying an AWD vehicle to incorporate the air drive on the rear axle. The front axle will be powered by the gasoline engine. The purpose is to prove the air drive in an automotive application and to demonstrate fuel and emissions savings. VGT is manufacturing a toroidal engine for this application.
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Concept: Zajac Motors Proposes Split-Cycle Engine with Separate Combustion Chamber; 15% Improvement on Diesel Fuel Economy
August 05, 2008
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| Basic elements of the Zajac engine. Click to enlarge. |
Zajac Motors is developing a split-cycle engine concept that significantly prolongs fuel burn time through the use of a combustion chamber external to the compression and expansion piston chambers. John Zajac, who presented a poster session on his concept at the Diesel Engine-Efficiency and Emissions Research (DEER) conference this week in Dearborn, Michigan, claims that his engine will deliver 15% better fuel economy than a diesel, run on any liquid fuel, and be essentially non-polluting.
The Zajac engine uses new head parts that are compatible with a standard diesel engine block. The in-block cylinders are split into compression and expansion roles, and connected by an external “hot wall” combustion chamber. The engine presumes the use of new rotary valves, also developed by Zajac. The combustion chamber, valves, and control systems are the core of Zajac’s IP.
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Concept Engine: Intermeshing Differential Rotors
May 23, 2008
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| The basic element of the IDR engine is two intermeshing rotors. Click to enlarge. |
A South African inventor has developed a new engine concept—the Intermeshing Differential Rotors (IDR) engine—intended to provide a better power-to-mass ratio, improved efficiency, reduced manufacturing cost and durability than current engines. The company commercializing the concept, IDR-Technology, introduced the IDR engine at the 2008 SAE World Congress last month in Detroit, where it won an AEI Tech Award.
The engine is based on two rotors that intermesh but turn at different speeds and alter the speed ratio between them. The rotors alternately drive the engine, with the combustion chamber forming between the intermeshing arms of the two rotors.
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Test of MUSIC Engine Shows 20% Improvement in Fuel Economy Over Conventional Gasoline Unit
May 17, 2008
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| MUSIC engine on the test bed. |
Recent testing of a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder implementation of the Merritt Unthrottled Spark Ignition Combustion (MUSIC) engine, initially developed at Coventry University, (earlier post) showed a 19.8% improvement in fuel economy compared to a baseline Ford 2.0L Duratec.
MUSIC is an un-throttled, high thermal efficiency, lean-burn, spark ignition system that uses an indirect combustion chamber to produce charge stratification by means of controlled air management.
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ChangAn Displays FlexDI Concept Engine at Auto China 2008
April 23, 2008
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| The ChangAn CA18 FlexDI Concept Engine. Click to enlarge. |
ChangAn Auto, China’s fourth largest automotive manufacturer, is displaying a concept engine developed with Orbital at Auto China 2008 (the Beijing International Motor Show).
The CA18 FlexDI concept engine, fitted with Orbital’s FlexDI combustion and direct injection systems (earlier post), was commissioned by ChangAn, with design and assembly by Orbital in collaboration with ChangAn.
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Virginia Tech and RIDE Partner on New Hydraulic Pump/Motor for Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles
April 03, 2008
Virginia Tech and RIDE Inc. are working together to develop a hydraulic pump/motor for hydraulic hybrids based on the RIDE (Rotational Inertial Dampening Engine) technology. (Earlier post.)
Al Kornhauser, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, who specializes in internal combustion engines, fuel cells, and other energy-conversion systems, is working with RIDE. Mechanical engineering students under Kornhauser’s guidance will design, build, and test a hydraulic pump/motor for use in a hydraulic hybrid vehicle.
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Concept: New Piston/Scavenging Loop Engine for Performance Boost
March 28, 2008
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| A 4-stroke cycle with the Creel Loop engine. Click to enlarge. |
A small engine company, Creel Loop LLC, based in Louisiana, is working with a new patented piston design that, in combination with a scavenging loop engine design, functions essentially as a low-cost, naturally-aspirated supercharger to enhance the overall performance of combustion by increasing power output, reducing engine wear, and by reducing the level of unwanted emissions.
In the Creel design, the piston and air diaphragm of the scavenging pump assembly are co-linearly aligned and rigidly connected, using an air diaphragm connecting member that passes through the crankcase. As the piston compresses a loaded air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, it causes the air diaphragm to simultaneously draw an air-fuel mixture into the air cylinder without interfering with or relying on the rotation of the crankshaft.
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Researchers Propose On-Board Fuel Processing with Carbon Capture for Zero-GHG, Hydrogen-Fueled Combustion Engine Vehicles
February 11, 2008
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| The vision of a sustainable carbon economy for transportation relies on the on-board conversion of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel with CO2 capture and recycling. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are exploring a conceptual strategy to capture, store and eventually recycle carbon dioxide emissions from mobile and small distributed stationary sources—such as automobiles, transportation vehicles and distributed industrial power generation applications (e.g., diesel power generators). Nearly two-thirds of global carbon emissions are created by such mobile and stationary sources.
Georgia Tech’s strategy involves using an on-board fuel processor to reform a liquid hydrocarbon fuel (fossil or synthetic) to produce hydrogen to power the vehicle or stationary source. The carbon in the original fuel is captured and stored on board in a liquid form, until it is disposed of at a refueling station.
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SwRI Full-Load Study of Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine Indicates Higher Power, Torque and Efficiency Than Conventional Engines of Equal Displacement
January 30, 2008
The first independent laboratory study of the Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine (earlier post) under full-load conditions indicates that a gasoline-fueled version of the engine will have higher power, torque and efficiency ratings than the current state-of-the-art turbocharged gasoline engines of equal displacement on the road today.
The Full Load (FL) Study by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is the first of three reports to be published by the laboratory prior to the assembly of the first prototype, which is scheduled for completion later this year. A Part Load Study and an Air-Hybrid Study will be published in early and mid-2008 respectively.
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Pintle-Regulated Venturi Induction Prototype Car Delivers 48.1 MPG in EPA Certified Highway Testing
December 17, 2007
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| The pintle-regulated venturi concept. Click to enlarge. |
Independent testing of PRV Performance’s Pintle-Regulated Venturi Induction prototype car (a Honda Civic, earlier post) delivered 48.1 mpg in the EPA highway test. Carbon dioxide emissions were 106 g/km. Testing was performed at Environmental Testing Corporation in Aurora, Colorado.
The company has worked through eight generations of prototype, installed and tested in a Honda Civic with a JDM D15B single overhead cam engine. (The JDM D15B was a 1.5-liter SOHC engine applied in the MY 1992-1995 Civics.) EPA fuel economy ratings for the 1995 1.5-liter Civic ranged from 33-41 mpg. EPA highway fuel economy rating for a current, conventional 1.8L 2008 Honda Civic with five-speed automatic is 36 mpg.
