[putupon]

[Hebrews 11:6]

What does he feed the hamsters?

[putupon]

Oops, I screwed up the link to De Fazio's web page in the article

[coloradan]

I didn't know that silicon carbide was a lubricant. I do know, however, that even though diamonds are the hardest material known, they also have the lowest coefficient of friction of any solid when fluorinated.

[js1138]

400,000 and no prototype? What's wrong with a metal prototype? Prove the damn thing runs. Work on the lube and weight later.

[FreedomPoster]

DeFazio hasn't been able to raise enough money to build a working prototype to prove his model actually does what he thinks it will.
.
.
But this a serious guy. He's worked his entire life as an He estimates that his investment - in time and money - is approaching $400,000.

The piscean reek comes through strongly here. Sorry, but $400 Large ought to be more than enough to build a prototype. Basement CNC machining is a reality. If you can build high-output engines weighing as much as is claimed, you ought to be able to build something much smaller than a breadbox that puts out useable levels of power for a demonstration.

On second thought, fishy is too weak. I'm smelling hot steaming fresh bovine scat. Another item for the "oil companies and car companies are conspiring against the common man" files?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

http://www.starrotor.com/indexflash.htm

Above URL updated star rotor

[Camel Joe]

Well he could form a corporation and issue stock.... I'd be tempted to buy!

[Normal4me]

Interesting article. You'd think that the enviro-nazis would step up and offer funding but I guess they are too busy chaining themselves to trees and burning down SUV dealerships. Perhaps this guy should look into a government grant. If we can spend 600K on studying frog mating habits, grant money should be available for a worthwhile project.

[Restorer]

DeFazio said the big car manufacturers aren't interested. "They have an in-house mentality. Unless they invent it themselves, they won't even talk to you about it."

I just don't buy this. Any car manufacturer would be thrilled to produce a 300 horsepower car that got 100 mpg. He'd blow the competition so far out of the water they'd go into orbit.

A far more likely explanation is that they think he's a flake. Right up there with the 100 mpg industry-suppressed carburetor guy.

[xtargeter]

Didn't the car makers experiment with rotary engines a while back? Wankle rings a bell with me. Didn't Mazda build them? As I recall, there were lots of problems with them.

xtargerer

[Cboldt]

U.S. Patent 6,588,395 to DeFazio <-- Link

It looks mechanically complex, at a glance, and therefore somewhat expensive to produce.

[staytrue]

Reciprocating pistons waste energy in three of their four strokes, drawing air and fuel into the cylinder, compressing it, then exhausting it.

Drawing air and fuel and compressing and exhausting are not "waste of energy". His engine will also have to do the same.

[Rockitz]

I can see why this guy hasn't gotten anywhere. It's absolutely impossible to see how his engine works from his website.

I had the idea to go in and give him a good critique but like I said, it's impossible to determine how it works from the site.

As a sage once said, "The world is full of brilliant failures."

[ckca]

Similar in principle to the original rotary developed by Felix Wankel in the 1950’s, the Rotapower® engine has been optimized for high-horsepower, high-reliability, low-weight and low-cost manufacturing. It is an excellent choice for a wide range of high-performance applications.

From its inception the M400 Skycar volantor has been designed to minimize both direct and indirect costs. The Skycar uses an engine that can burn almost any fuel from diesel to natural gas so that worldwide refueling can be accommodated by what is locally available. Using gasoline, the M400 can be expected to get over 25 mpg. With a range of 900 miles, the logistics associated with refueling the shorter-range helicopter can be eliminated. The rotapower engines have only two major moving parts, weigh less than 80 pounds and occupy less than one cubic foot. The bulk of the remaining technology is electronic and replaceable in modules as the onboard redundant systems identify a failed or failing component. Vehicle size greatly affects ground mobility and parking space required. The Skycar, with its compact size, can be stored in a space the size of a standard single car garage. The landing gear on the vehicle makes roadability possible for short distances. Initially introduced as the M400, four-seat model, the Skycar technology has the ability to be both scaled up to a six passenger, M600, or scaled down to a one passenger, M100. This allows a cost efficient vehicle size to accommodate a variety of military, paramilitary, and commercial transport missions.

[Publius6961]

Damn!
I saw this in Popular Mechanics in 1947...
And 1954...
And 1968..
and 1971...
And....

am I excited, or what?

[fso301]

There's a catch, of course. DeFazio hasn't been able to raise enough money to build a working prototype to prove his model actually does what he thinks it will.

With his credentials, he should be fully capable of building a proof-of-concept using machined metals. Even without supplimentary cooling, the machine should run long enough before burning out to get usefull test data. For this reason, I don't buy the guys story.

Right now, the engine exists only as a computer model and a small metal and plastic mockup that illustrates its basic principles.

So why doesn't he hook up a fuel line and try it out? he has drawings so if a part burns out, he can fabricate new ones.

His invention relies on solid lubricants, such as silicon carbide

How counter intuitive. I always though silicon carbide (aka carborundum) was the second hardest substance known.

[nightdriver]

"There's a catch, of course. DeFazio hasn't been able to raise enough money to build a working prototype to prove his model actually does what he thinks it will."

There's always a "catch." Just need someone to give him some money!

He says silicone carbide is a lubricant? I suppose that is why I use it in vitrified grinding wheels to sharpen carbide tools, huh?

He says that it is a rotary engine, then talks about variable stroke lengths?

Sorry, but my B.S. meter just pegged.

First of all, he is talking about efficiencies that exceed Carnot efficiency, the maximum available. We've had the Wankel, (somewhat successful, almost as good as a piston engine) the Virmel, the inimitable "Borque" and several others and they all have died a-borning.

No matter how you cut it, any internal combustion engine has 4 essential processes, suck, mash, burn and blow. Nothing else qualifies.

[FlyVet]

Isuzu was working on ceramic piston engines a good 20 yrs ago. Haven't heard anything about it in years, so obviously it didn't pan out.