PDA

View Full Version : 4lb Compact Rotary Engine


JJ_BPK
11-30-2014, 06:50
Opportunity,,

Think of all the uses for this little fellow in the field.


Compact Rotary engine is a petite powerhouse
By Gary Gastelu
Published November 24, 2014
FoxNews.com

There’s a new spin on the rotary engine.

Liquid Piston, a Connecticut-based engineering firm, has turned the classic Wankel engine design inside out to create a more efficient, and cleaner-burning motor.

The X Mini is a little powerhouse with a core that weighs just four pounds, is compact enough to fit inside a large cantaloupe, and pumps out 3.5 horsepower at 10,000 rpm. It’s envisioned as an alternative to a 50cc piston engines, but in a smaller, lighter package.

The Liquid Piston engine features a unique design that combines a roughly triangular housing, which looks something like a Venn diagram comprised of three circles, and an oval rotor. It’s basically the opposite of a Wankel layout, but Liquid Piston’s rotor also has combustion chambers built inside of it at each end. The only two moving parts are the rotor and output shaft, with intake and exhaust taking place through ports in the sides of the housing that are opened and closed by the movement of the rotor, with no valves necessary.

Company founder Alexander Shkolnik says his design allows for a different thermodynamic cycle than most internal combustion engines, and has the effect of maintaining the compression for longer than normal during combustion, then provides for over expansion of the gasses to extract more energy out of the process.


link: news (http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/11/24/compact-rotary-engine-is-petite-powerhouse/?intcmp=features)

link: developer (http://liquidpiston.com/technology/engine-benefits/)


IF it works..

MR2
11-30-2014, 09:36
Bravo!

JJ_BPK
11-30-2014, 09:57
Forgot, Here is a comparison of the rotary vs a Honda 50CC

Imagine, No more hand crank slave labor for your 18E. :lifter:D:lifter

mark46th
11-30-2014, 10:50
My thoughts exactly, JJ. No more cranking.

Peregrino
11-30-2014, 11:14
My thoughts exactly, JJ. No more cranking.

Especially if it can readily be converted to alternative fuels; e.g., alcohol, propane, kerosene, and diesel just to list a few.

Joker
11-30-2014, 18:03
And depending on how loud it is.

Badger52
11-30-2014, 19:29
Liquid Piston hasn’t landed a customer to license its innovative engine just yet, but Shkolnik is confident it could be in production within two to three years once an order is placed. If you have any ideas for possible applications it hasn’t thought of yet, the company is planning a contest for submissions next year.Neat stuff. Forgetting all the bo-ring possibilities moment, I wonder how a carbon-fiber or polymer based go-kart would fare with so little unsprung weight compared to the old Briggs & Stratton.
:D

mark46th
12-01-2014, 09:09
At 10,000 rpm, it's going to need some serious gear reduction. That will probably weigh 30 pounds, negating any weight advantage over the hand cranked generator...