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I see some maintenance issues with this design:
ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) technologies
- Thread starter cmartinez
- Start date
I don't think the future of gas ICEs will be significantly affected just by making the engine shorter for a given displacement and cylinder count.
Oh, come on! Imagine how many Yugos could be sold if only they had a Ferrari engine!I don't think the future of gas ICEs will be significantly affected just by making the engine shorter for a given displacement and cylinder count.
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While it's not hard to imagine applications where a shorter engine of the same displacement and cylinder count would be an advantage, I don't see how such applications are so critical as to let something like this rewrite the future of gas engines. I would imagine that the cost to produce such engines, and possibly reliability and maintenance concerns, would keep these limit to applications in which engine length was a non-negotiable constraint and the disadvantages would have to be accepted.
The problem of shortening an engine while maintaining displacement and cylinder count was much more effectively and elegantly addressed a century ago -- it was called the radial engine. It also had a very good power to weight ratio. None-the-less, it had disadvantages that resulted in it falling by the wayside once the need for large, powerful aircraft engines was supplanted by gas turbines.
Going 100 mph on ice isn't much of an achievement. Stopping on ice after going 100 mph on it might be, though.
Did the guy win any of his races? Seemed like he got his butt kicked in all but perhaps one of the ones they showed.
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musicalavtech
- Joined Mar 23, 2012
- 82
A long time ago I drew up a camless motor design. Not a great one, but it was posted to YT. I cannot find that video anymore.
Another technology I thought was all that is the microwave spark plug. Very efficient indeed.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160265502A1/en
From AI...
AI Overview
Microwave spark plugs represent an innovative approach to internal combustion where microwave energy is utilized alongside—or instead of—a traditional electrical spark to ignite fuel in an engine. This technology promises significant fuel efficiency improvements and reduced emissions. [1, 2, 3, 4]
How Microwave Ignition Works
- The Process: Microwave-assisted ignition typically initiates a plasma using a standard spark discharge from an ignition coil, then expands the plasma and increases electron energy by emitting microwaves (often at 2.45 GHz) into the combustion chamber. [1]
- Efficiency: Because the microwaves energize molecules to expand the flame speed and ignite the fuel evenly, it creates a more complete burn than traditional spark plugs. [1]
- Benefits: This complete combustion can lead to up to a 26% to 30% reduction in fuel consumption and allows engines to run safely on leaner fuel-to-air mixtures. [1, 2]
Potential Applications & Challenges
- Engine Adaptability: Proponents suggest microwave spark plugs could be threaded into standard boreholes and used in existing internal combustion engine architectures without requiring major design overhauls. [1, 2]
- Industrial and Commercial Use: While passenger vehicles are transitioning to electric powertrains, microwave ignition holds strong potential for mass transit, trains, marine vessels, and large industrial engines that are not as easily electrified. []
- Adoption Hurdles: Despite the promised benefits, widespread commercial adoption has been slow due to high implementation costs, the immaturity of the technology, and the complexity of accurately modeling microwave combustion. []
