Posted on 05/21/2011 2:18:29 PM PDT by Windflier
Despite shifting into higher gear within the consumer's green conscience, hybrid vehicles are still tethered to the gas pump via a fuel-thirsty 100-year-old invention: the internal combustion engine.
However, researchers at Michigan State University have built a prototype gasoline engine that requires no transmission, crankshaft, pistons, valves, fuel compression, cooling systems or fluids. Their so-called Wave Disk Generator could greatly improve the efficiency of gas-electric hybrid automobiles and potentially decrease auto emissions up to 90 percent when compared with conventional combustion engines.
The engine has a rotor that's equipped with wave-like channels that trap and mix oxygen and fuel as the rotor spins. These central inlets are blocked off, building pressure within the chamber, causing a shock wave that ignites the compressed air and fuel to transmit energy.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
From another forum I frequent:
The wave disk generator came up in discussion this past weekend with an old friend of mine, an MSU engineering graduate of some 30 years ago (my vintage as well...), he is still well connected with the MSU engineering community and I consider him to be brilliant. He knows some fellows who do contract machine work for many of MSU’s engineering projects, and apparently his friends have done some machine and fabrication work for the wave disk generator.
When I asked him if he thought it was a real breakthrough, or just another “revolutionary ICE design that never goes anywhere...”, I believe I’m quoting him correctly as saying “...I believe it is complete and utter f**king bulls**t.”
Apparently, said wave disk generator requires a rather large amount of compressed air to operate, and as we know, large amounts of compressed air aren’t free, and some outsiders who have looked at it believe that a goodly amount of the shaft output power comes from the compressed air input. Granted now, if it has enough shaft output, it could likely run it’s own turbocharger.
One other consensus is that the MSU academics involved are quite skilled at working the federal grant system.
I find the claims of 1000 pound reductions in vehicle weight due to conventional powertrains (engine, transmission, cooling system, emissions, and fluids) to be an exaggeration, as decent sized generators, wheel traction motors, batteries, and their associated heavy wiring and control systems have substantial weight. But if this thing can efficiently run a generator at constant speed with lower BSFC and emissions than a piston ICE, and provide enough output to run an all-electric vehicle, then perhaps it has merit.
Guess we’ll see, but my engineering skepticism detector is beeping on this one.
Why isn’t anyone writing about this?
Drove mine to Ft. Liquordale and back from NC, for Spring Break 1982. Nary a hiccup, loaded to the gills with stuff and three (!) people, one in the back, lol. Totalled it in a snowstorm the following winter, the only serious accident I’ve ever had. Not a snow car, the RX-7.
It sounds more like a new type of gas turbine.
Somebody had one at church a few times when I was a kid.
“I haven’t driven any of recent vintage but the original RX-7 was a blast, very linear, hummed right up to redline and felt as if it could have kept on going. No wild thrashing, almost turbine-like.”
I had an RX-7 way back when. I only got it up to 130 when my legs started growing chicken feathers.
It’s all in the marketing, you know. :)
Within days of the thing hitting the market wags will be referring to it as the DickWave.
BSFC rulz.
They were good for it. Hunkered down at speed for the most part. You probably chickened out at the right time, my experience was that the rear end got sort of sketchy beyond that.
Thanks for the (insider) input. Helps to hear from folks who have a professional take on these sorts of things.
Thanks for posting that graphic. The accompanying explanation is helpful, too.
Yeah, you're right.
Today our most effective stealth fighters and bombers are little more than computer flown flying wings!
This does look like the basic Wankel idea ~ the rotating chambers are a dead giveaway, but the fuel and airflow are different and it seems to use diesel like compression to fire ~ so I'd look for the equivalent of the GLOWPLUG ~ otherwise it's not a diesel.
I'd also check out the computer controls on this sucker ~ probably one major processor rotating around with each firing chamber ~ a logical extension of CLOUD COMPUTING without all the fluff.
My friend and I took a trip from Chicago up to Northern Minnesota and then into Canada before going on to Disneyland in California.
We averaged a little over 100 MPG going through Montana with a high speed of 1200. Mt car could go faster but un fortunately, I hit a big Chicago pothole a couple of days before the trip and even though I replaced the tire and wheel, I didn't have a chance to get a full alignment so at speeds over 120 MPH I was starting to get some vibration from the wheels which were very small.
Despite the high speeds we were traveling at, we still averaged over 22 MPG fuel usage. The early Wankel was more efficient at higher speeds than at highway speeds because the intake and exhaust ports were too large and not properly placed for maximum economy.
My little wagon had an automatic transmission and one day on the Eisenhower, I ran it all the way up to 70 MPH in FIRST gear and it still had much more to give.
I later owned an RX7 which had much larger wheels and could handle the higher speeds a lot better. The newer engines were also more efficient due to the moving of the intake ports to restrict the amount of time they were open.
The Wankels dominated the racing scene for the first year they were allowed before being outlawed because they were so much better than the piston engines.
One could also add on a supercharger to increase their power output even more. The biggest problem with the Wankel was the low torque at low speed. They need to operate at the higher RPM to produce their maximum torque.
They operate very much like the turbine engines on the M1 Abrams battle tank in that they have to use lower gearing to make up for their poor low speed torque but once they were spinning fast, they really proved their value.
I would love to own one of the newer models which have finally got all the kinks ironed out. The biggest drawback is in getting insurance for them since they are such powerful cars capable of traveling so fast and so many drivers have crashed while pushing them trying to find reach max speed.
There was a time when Mazda itself was offering insurance on the cars when regular insurance became too costly.
There was one weak part on the engines which would wear out and break fairly quickly when abused but a company named ‘Racing Beat’ which specialized in the Wankels solved that problem.
Are you saying you would not be down with silent edgers and mowers on the neigbors’ lawn while you’re slobbering in your sleep at 9am on a Saturday?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
