When you said drone I was thinking:
Posted on 06/10/2024 1:01:18 PM PDT by Red Badger
An innovative new combustion engine eliminates half the guts of a traditional engine, and uses a fascinating internally-rotating piston and sleeve arrangement, making it lighter, simpler and more efficient while still making strong power and torque.
Michael Arsenaeu designed the Avadi engine 20 years ago in the hopes of creating an entirely new engine design to be efficient as well as reduce emissions. In 2015, Avadi began the build and development.
Rotary might be a good name for this sort of engine, if the name wasn't already taken. Everything inside the crankcase rotates, but unlike a Wankel-style rotary engine, this design uses a piston with two connecting rods that have a scissor-like movement attached to pinion gears at the back of the engine.
All of this rotates on a fixed ring gear connected directly to the output shaft. It uses a valve disk that also rotates to complete a four-stroke cycle of intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust as everything rotates internally.
It's dizzying. Check it out:
VIDEO AT LINK......
According to Avadi's website, "two connecting rods and their corresponding pinion gears reside in what we call a 'halfshaft.'... the halfshaft can be likened to the heart of the Avadi design, it is essentially the housing where up-and-down piston motion is translated to rotational motion."
Unlike a Wankel rotary engine, the Avadi eliminates the traditional crankshaft entirely, as the cylinder and piston rotate within the case during its stroke. Everything very much looks and functions like what you'd see in a rear differential – if differentials had pistons connected to planetary gears.
Looking at it in motion does make me wonder if the low mechanical advantage from the connecting rods to the pinion gears might constitute a long-term reliability issue from the torsion factor on a narrow, short stroke.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
I think he meant run this engine to power a generator in your trunk to feed the Tesla’s batteries on the road.
Seems a little extra-effort, but wth....
“I think he meant run this engine to power a generator in your trunk to feed the Tesla’s batteries on the road.”
Wow! That went right over my head! Thanks a million!
In passing, all the bells and whistles on a modern ICE are there because of government mandates, or to allow performance during the various duty cycles demanded of an automobile power package. Each of them, automatic transmission, a/c, power steering, power brakes, emissions mandates, suck power and efficiency.
The major problem with the Wankel rotary was the reliability and long term life cycle of the side and tip seals of the rotor.
Didn’t Mazda do something like this a few years ago? How’d that come out?
“Didn’t Mazda do something like this a few years ago? “
Nope
“Now, tune it to run precisely at 1750 rpm, direct couple the package to a 1750 rpm generator, and fly a drone with it.”
Why not direct to the propeller?
Wankels have trapezoidal “pistons”, just not reciprocating ones and generally called rotors.
“en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki/Wankel_…
3 photos
The Wankel engine is a type of rotary piston engine and exists in two primary forms... “
When you said drone I was thinking:
“Wankels have trapezoidal “pistons”, just not reciprocating ones and generally called rotors.”
So, it doesn’t look like a Wankel, then.
If you want pistons the absolute most efficient is a free piston engine be it opposed or double ended with a linear alternator as the power take off point. Livermore labs has one that hits a record high 65% BSFC to electrons and can burn anything flammable. That’s fuel cell good but no platinum catalysts. There is no more efficient way to convert chemical energy into electrons. A couple of companies have commercialized linear piston engines one runs on natural gas and is used for on-site cogen the other is looking to use theirs to power a class 8 truck as the range extender like a diesel locomotive only sending DC current to the electric motors. They tested it and it doubles the class 8 tonnes per mile of fuel burnt. Still not as good as a locomotive which is one tonne moved over a distance of 400+ miles per gallon of diesel. Ship’s are 1200 btw trucks are in the double digits all long distance freight should be moved by rail or ship’s period full stop. Look at it this way a truck tops out at 80,000lbs gross , 15,000 of that is the trailer and 20,000 is the tractor for a net of 55,000lbs, at full load your class 8 is getting 7 mpg of diesel....Do the math it’s pitiful compared to rail or ship’s which includes inland barges.
Grrr typo the lightest class 8 tractors no sleeper cab are 10,000lbs most are in the 15-20 range so not 55,000 lbs net 45,000lbs net.
They did a rotary engine and called it a Wankel. They claimed it produced mre power with fewer moving pr=arts.Maybe that was too long agomformthe youngsters to remember.
“They did a rotary engine and called it a Wankel.”
My father had Mazda RX. Totally different engine design from the one in this article.
Maybe that was too long ago for you youngsters to remember.
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