Alternative Engines & ICE Developments

[Carlos]

A very simple laser multiplexing scheme .... a flippin' mirror

[checkered]

Fuel cell racing to multiply



Images linked from formulazero.nl

FORMULAZERO - link

Formula Zero is the new zero-emission race class for hydrogen and fuel cells vehicles. The race class will commence with karts, and as the car industry moves to mass production of fuel cell vehicles, Formula Zero will scale up to being a full size racing class.

[checkered]

The Japanese Charge


This is something Ogami could perhaps help us/me with. It's not the easiest of tasks to find very in-depth information about Japan EV Club. There are of course a lot of ongoing electric car efforts, but JEVC seems to be one of the few who have a focus on racing, so it's good to highlight their effort.

In 2006 already they had about 250 vehicles racing in what I understand to be three to five different categories. These range from bespoke formula type cars and formula rebuilds (Class 1), other converted cars (Class 2), EV Karts (Class 3), commercial EVs (Class 4) to commerial fuel cell cars (Class 5). Presently I don't know of JEVC's industry or academic connections, nor their relationship with nat'l or internat'l motor racing federations.


Formula EV X-01 (bespoke, Class 1)
Yokohama tyres
1322 lbs/ 600 kg, plus batteries 582 lbs/ 264 kg
Panasonic EV Energy, NiMH, 275V - link
Café Electric Zilla Z1K-EHV controllers - link
Twin Advanced DC Motors XP-1227-A (209kW/284 hp) - link
Top speed 168 mph/ 270 kph


Electric Friends 1 (FJ-1600 conversion, Class 1)


Daihatsu Volunteer (FK-4 EV, don't know if it's bespoke or a conversion, there seem to be many teams with this solution, Class 1)


Mitsubishi Lancer EVO MIEV (guess it's Class 2 or 4)


Daihatsu Challenge kart (Class 3)

An automatically translated link to JEVC website, so don't expect too much as far as legibility goes. There are links to individual chapters of JEVC which I haven't visited as of yet.

[checkered]

Silence of the Bangs:
Agent Stirling


TEDOM Stirling car engine, Image linked from engine.stirling.cz

There's much that

can be said and/or linked about Stirlings. They've been around for a while and never really caught on as preferred car engines. Why? Well, I'd be a fool if I tried to offer a complete answer, so I took an angle: US efforts over the last three decades or so. Arguably the high point, true enthusiasm and all, was in mid '80's when NASA fitted a Mod II Stirling to a Chevy celebrity (of all cars!). Here's the link to the design report; nice sections and photos of the engine, system schematics & charts, a thorough technical presentation of the concept and technology in 54 pages.

Automotive Stirling Engine, Mod II Design Report, Noel P. Nightingale, MTI, NASA for DOE, 1986, Chevrolet Celebrity conversion - link, PDF (very large)
(I experienced some trouble in downloading, it might or might not take a couple of tries.)

What happened after that was more of a struggle. I've found a couple of sites that document some of the perceptions and pitfalls after the optimism of the '80's. You can draw your own conclusions of those.

GM & US DOE joint stirling project from the '90's, part of the PNGV effort, Chevrolet Lumina conversion - link, PDF

Automotive Stirling Engine Development Project, abstract and summary of the final report, NASA Glenn Research Center, Thermo-Mechanical Systems Branch - link

Energy research at DOE: Was it worth it? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Research 1978 to 2000 (2001), the National Academies Press open book, read pages 151 through 153, "Stirling automotive engine program" - link

And just to show that there are even contemporary examples of car stirlings, here's a link to a fairly new Czech project, the TEDOM Stirling. They're basically developing an alternative to the Skoda EA 111 ICE. There's quite a bit of numerical data on the site, though it's clear that they've still got some way to go with test and R&D - they aren't anywhere near a competitive output compared to the EA 111 as far as I can tell.

TEDOM Stirling engine, a recent automotive effort - link


Image linked from Wikipedia.

[checkered]

Brayton meets Gerotor - StarRotor joins the jetset


Image linked from starrotor website

The StarRotor engine uses the Brayton cycle. Air is compressed and then sent through a recuperator where it's preheted before a combustor. The pressure change transforms into mechanical energy in the expander, a driveshaft conveying the energy to do whatever work the engine is supposed to do and also turning the compressor end. Part of the exhaust heat is transferred into the intake air in the recuperator. Both the compressor and expander are gerotors. Water injection is said to increase efficiency. I guess this could be categorised as a "quasi-turbine". The company has a range of working compressors already, but whether they have working engines too, I don't know.

StarRotor expects the following benefits:

- projected to be very efficient (45-60%)
- very low pollution
- multi-fuel capability
- inexpensive to mass produce
- no vibrations
- quiet
- expected to have a long life and low maintenance
- smaller than conventional internal combustion engines
- high turn-down ratio
- easily scalable

StarRotor engine website - link
StarRotor DARPA white paper - link, PDF

I guess AVEC's axial vector engine is roughly similar, I don't quite remember nor had the tenacity to go through the website and their concept in any detail (I found them in my favourites list closeby each other). In any case, they do have a working example of their engine at this time, though it's employed to run a generator.

AVEC Axial Vector Engine - link

[checkered]

Mazda: "It's Miller time - again!"

Once again the company has crafted its own approach in engine design. For the 2008 Mazda2/Demio, they're bringing back a Miller Cycle engine in what seems to be a highly evolved form compared to the first attempt. The predecessor was a higher-end market Millennia 2.3L quad cam V6, that proved to have the efficiency of a 2L and outperformed a 3L Otto Cycle engine.


Image linked from the Mazda website.

Already with the Millennia, Mazda managed to reduce frictional losses, reduced NOx and knock, managed an improvement in fuel efficiency of 13%, gained more power, a better torque curve and achieved better cylinder intake characteristics. This didn't come easy, the costs of building the engine were comparable to a 3L unit and the economics weren't enhanced by the need of a supercharger and twin intercoolers. But the Mazda2/Demio's MZR powerplant is naturally aspirated with a puny displacement of 1.3L. Clearly they've made some fairly significant advances in developing the concept. Some models come with a CVT, btw. The new model has a fuel economy 20% better than its direct predecessor with a conventional Otto engine.

So what's different about the Miller cycle? Compression ratio is decreased, but for a good reason. Basically, intake valves remain open for far longer reducing pumping losses associated with a more "symmetric" Otto cycle. The lighter compression also reduces heat loss. The expansion stroke is the same as in Otto so power delivery is very similar to more conventional cycles. In Mazda's first commercial Miller engine, the supercharger compensated for the loss in volumetric efficiency. What has been done with the normally aspirated MZR (Water-cooled in-line four cylinder DOHC 16-valve), that I haven't found out yet.

Mazda press release: The new 2/Demio with the MZR Miller cycle engine - link ... pretty detailed information.

It's not all torque: The inside story on the Miller-cycle engine - link ... a nice recap on the Millennia, with lots of technical info and Miller cycle theory well presented.

[checkered]

Go figure out a GoEngine , the "cranky eccentric"

Originating from the

Netherlands, this design claims to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions anywhere from 30 to 50% due to its unique crankshaft design replicating a sequence of 720 degrees. This is achieved by a gear driven eccentric between the crankpin and the big end of every conrod. The expansion stroke is increased while the intake stroke is reduced, the company claiming that this will yield 5 to 10 % more force, an equal gain in efficiency and a reduction in operating temperatures of around 100C.


Image linked from the GoMecsys website

Not only is the crank cycle out of the ordinary, apparently it also enables variable compression ratios. The company website indicates CR changing from around 15 at lower speeds to 8 in higher speeds. The VCR technology is said to have the advantages of turbo- or supercharging without the tradeoff in efficiency. The engine also reduces pumping losses and NOx in part load via an exhaust gas recirculation - like effect that apparently is also scalable with the eccentric geometry. Piston crown design can be combustion optimised without the need for valve pockets.

GoMecsys website - link
Prodrive is also involved in this project, btw - link

-----------

Ps. I don't quite know where this thread is going, actually. It hasn't got to do with F1 in any other sense than through negation, pointing out where F1 engine design can't go in the next 10 years. I started this to make a point with a couple of examples, hoping that perhaps new perspectives on F1 engine design and the timescales involved could emerge in a wider context. I fully expected any such discussion to revolve and remain around F1 despite the wider scope.

While maintaining a sort of "tech watch" database can perhaps be justified (barely), I didn't mean this to be a monologue/blog type of thingy. If you have an opinion solely about the viability of this thread and nothing else, please send a pm. Any other type of contribution is of course welcome right here in public. My previous experience is that good ideas soon start to live their own lives. Right now I have my doubts about this thread.

[joseff]

So what's different about the Miller cycle? Compression ratio is decreased, but for a good reason. Basically, intake valves remain open for far longer reducing pumping losses associated with a more "symmetric" Otto cycle.

Sounds like the Prius' "Atkinson Cycle" engine. Same thing, different marketing team? Hmmm...

[Carlos]

The Pivotal Engine
http://www.pivotalengine.com/index.html

Flash animation
http://www.pivotalengine.com/flashversion.html

The 'piston' looks like a shovel, the connecting rod ataches to a 'piston platform' that has a pivot at one end.

[Belatti]

...

Ps. I don't quite know where this thread is going, actually. It hasn't got to do with F1 in any other sense than through negation, pointing out where F1 engine design can't go in the next 10 years. I started this to make a point with a couple of examples, hoping that perhaps new perspectives on F1 engine design and the timescales involved could emerge in a wider context. I fully expected any such discussion to revolve and remain around F1 despite the wider scope.

While maintaining a sort of "tech watch" database can perhaps be justified (barely), I didn't mean this to be a monologue/blog type of thingy. If you have an opinion solely about the viability of this thread and nothing else, please send a pm. Any other type of contribution is of course welcome right here in public. My previous experience is that good ideas soon start to live their own lives. Right now I have my doubts about this thread.

Check, Carlos, everyone, I´m deeply grateful for all the links and info you are posting in this thread. Sorry I don´t have enough time to read them all or even post something right now, as I´m limited to read the forum 20 min at work and then all my free time available is for studying (hopefully at the end of this summer I´ll be an engineer )

Just for me, maintaining this sort of "tech watch" database is justified cause it can be the start point of someones better engine design. History of evolution tells that second by second "the thing" evolves a little bit till a radical change motivated by those tiny improvements takes place [that cycle would be from Newton (starter) to Einstein (finisher), for ex.]

[checkered]

Selbstverständlich habe ich einen Kugelmotor:
Eigentlich, habe ich zwei!
Dies ist, wie die neuen Verbrennungsmotoren in der Schweiz funktionert, es ist eine 3Dimensionale Bewegung.

Two spherical engines in the works in Switzerland. And no, they haven't gone "cuckoo"! I'll let you work out the finer details, in short both sport a very unconventional three dimensional operating cycle.



Peraves Kugelmotor - link



Hüttlin Kugelmotor by Innomot - link


Peraves Monotracer

[rjsa]

I seem to remember that back in the 1980's a ceramic engine was developed, that required no coolants/lube by a japanese manufacturer I think?

what ever happened to them? is it that the ceramic is too difficult to mass produce for sustained use?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsbett AKA Elko
German technology, which I remmember almost making to cargo trucks and steady diesel engines here in Brazil. Shares the same concept of low thermal loss and was burning veg oil in the early 80's.

[Belatti]

A new promising engine design... and counting...

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/indu ... #more-5515

Would appreciate if someone knows more technical features from this engine than the ones mentioned in this article.

Tomba, maybe you can merge the Split cycle engine thread with this one.
Checkered, thanks

[modbaraban]

Sorry for the OT.



even the rims are similar!

[Carlos]

The Hüttlin Kugelmotor's toriodal shaped piston lobes would probably be a real challenge to machine at a competitive price considering how much more complex they are than a conventional piston, it would certainly be a time consuming production cycle, then again I like any design that doesn't have poppet valves and is distantly related to the 2 stroke, which were the first engines I encountered, so I may be prejudiced by nostalgia. Then I could make the usual comments, which are quite valid, commenting on the problem and expense os seals, but basically - I like the novel design, it looks as if it would be a very smooth engine, free of vibration considering it's 4, 3 dimensionally balanced piston lobes. It reminds me of both an Escher print and a bucket of fish
http://www.allposters.com/-st/M-C-Esche ... 78701_.htm

The Jonova Motor is worth a look, a 'rotor/shaft' design:
http://www.engr.arizona.edu/newsletters ... onova.html