Pelican Parts Forums - Really neat new engine

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The M1A1 tank has a turbine-electric drive but is a fuel hog with limited range. Granted, there are a few extra pounds of armor and weapons on that. Using that engine with electric assist in common daily driver transportation might or might not be beneficial. It it purely drove a generator it could be fine-tuned into something very efficient and even have cross-platform uses. idk.

It's efficiency might be "disruptive technology" to the existing otto-cycle industry. There are variable piston height(ie compression ratio) designs out there waiting to be used. The electric motor as a plate configuration instead of a cylinder is infinitely more efficient (think breaker bar). I always wanted to see lightweight dual opposing pistons and rotary valves. The perfect combustion chamber might exist yet. The rest of the power plant just has to be designed around it.

carnot has an issue with the 80% thermodynamic efficiency claim. even double and triple cycle power plants are not beating 50%.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeke (Post 12091817)

Ok. Fully understood. Thanks.

The list of benefits states no apex seals which I believe were the bane of the Wankel. Still, the mating surfaces have to see some wear, but not watching the first vid, IDK if that is addressed. Subsequent reading indicates 100,000 hours before overhaul. That's a long time as most of what it would be powering could be past its useful life well before that.

1000 RPM idle with a 25,000 redline. I rather think this is a low torque affair, but again a non-narrated video only serves to show exactly how the thing works, not how it performs.

There were never many details about Jocko Johnson's engine that was a circular affair called the Power Ring. His had 18 'cylinders' and it was supposedly a "3-cycle" operation. It was never actually built that I know of. His claims of power to size and weight were similar. 18 points of combustion suggests a lot of torque.

Johnson focused on the problems inherent to the reciprocal engine. Since he lived in the world of nitro powered piston engines, he wanted to eliminate cranks and rods. These things have worked for us for nearly a century and a half while many alternatives have never really changed anything. When you think about it, that isn't very logical.

The electric motor is perfect. The infrastructure and energy source is not.

I should bear the original video before commenting further.

There are no mating surfaces and no seals wrt air/fuel system, the prototype does have a bad oil leak, just like the crank seals on 911s that often leak

seal is kept by tight tolerances and use of low expansion Tii components

sure electric is attractive but the e-cars are all very heavy and charging can be a real issue

currently hybrid is the way o go but even they are awfully heavy Prius comes in at 3100 to 3200#s a BMW X5m 6100#, X% 50e 5573#

heck my 4 Runner V8 is a comparatively svelte 4500#

Quote:

Originally Posted by cockerpunk (Post 12091824)

carnot has an issue with the 80% thermodynamic efficiency claim. even double and triple cycle power plants are not beating 50%.

I love how investors fork out $$$ without checking in with Carnot. Was the compression ratio mentioned? It's all for the good - some engineers get to play around with the thing for a few years, that would be fun for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hcoles (Post 12091917)

I love how investors fork out $$$ without checking in with Carnot.

Shhh..."I want to believe!" :D

Sounds to me like the hecklers of Herr Disel back in 1893

Concentrate on the potential not the nits

I see no provisions for any method of cooling. That was the first thing that got me wondering.

Beyond that, not enough solid information from which to form any sort of an opinion. Like uncle billy said, the video is clearly aimed at a "certain kind" of audience. An audience that is easily impressed, and really doesn't know enough to even know what to ask. AI generated smoke and mirrors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins (Post 12092063)

Good point re. cooling. They don't need cooling because it is so efficient. ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins (Post 12092063)

I see no provisions for any method of cooling. That was the first thing that got me wondering.

There did appear to be a number of water lines, and a significant leak...might have been water.

Yup, it's leaking something all over the floor when it's "running". And the "running" example has more lines going to it that the CAD model used to generate the various exploded views. So, maybe...

Nothing labeled as such in any of their CAD views however, as well detailed as everything else seems to be. In the end, though, like I said - just not enough to really go on. Presentation appears targeted at an audience that won't ask inconvenient questions like that.

if anyone paid attention they did mention 'air-cooled"

There was another pretty neat new engine technology when I was a youngster reading HotRod magazine; the Hot Vapor engine being developed by Smokey Yunick. A lot of magazines gave this engine a lot of editorial space, (Yunick had a great gift for self-promotion) and apparently it came pretty close to production in 1990. There's a ton of internet on this invention and the problems both technological and political that kept if from seeing widespread use.

This story has been repeated time and time again during the industrial age and it's against this backdrop that I think the idea of a radical new engine will always fight for existence. Yes, someday a radical breakthrough may happen, but for way over a century, for the entire lifespan of the automobile as practical and useful transportation, the ICE using reciprocating rod technology has been the easiest to control and produce. (and seal).

http://www.motortrend.com/how-to/hrdp-1009-what-ever-happened-to-smokeys-hot-vapor-engine/

With regards to pre-heating:
The Civic CVCC https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/1974-honda-civic-cvcc-review-drive-history-price used a (third-valve small richer chamber) to ignite the (larger) lean mixture. Lean burns hotter so this was perfect for the bottom of the stroke. It used any kind of gas with no cat and got great mileage. My dream car as well.