Posted on 05/04/2014 11:33:17 AM PDT by NYFreeper
Toyota is hot on hydrogen fuel cells for its next-generation cars, but its not going cold on internal combustion just yet.
The companys R&D division has developed a Free Piston Engine Linear Generator that can convert gasoline and other fuels into electricity more efficiently than existing systems.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Engineering ping.
>>I wonder how they would balance it make it smooth?
You could put a head at each end, and one head would fire the piston one way and the other would fire it back. Then build a bank of these that are timed to counterbalance each other. You could even vary the voltage output by controlling the timing of the counter-cylinder firing. It would be a little like juggling.
But, I like one of the other poster’s ideas: perfect the Wankel rotary engine and bolt the output shaft to a generator.
Indeed. Lots of small aircraft used boxer engines (e.g. Lycoming).
Look for some of the Quasi-Cross Section drawings that were on GreenCarCongress, for the "Gas Spring Chamber" The underside of the piston has a column that is compresses air on and that I think that air also becomes the Combustion air for the Loop Charge since this is a Uniflow 2 Stroke wherein the air-charge comes in at BTC and in combination with the Exhaust Valves and Direct Injection, make getting air and fuel in and once it burnt out possible.
This concept has been bantered about before, this looks more advanced than anything else I have seen.
What no one considers, is I think this engine is almost "Adiabatic", i.e. their is No visible Cooling or Lubrication System. Remember Friction is a huge gobbler efficiency, no plain, needle, or ball bearing on connecting rod(s), crankshaft or camshaft(s). Notice the Exhaust Valves look to be driven by Solenoid(s), no friction gobbling valve train.
What we could have is almost an Un-Lubricated and Un-Cooled Engine, think of the savings in Lubrication Oil and Anti-Freeze.
Add a Carbon-Carbon Piston and Run it on CNG via a new Direct Injector and you would really have something.
Don't go to your house and plug in the Hybrid, Plug your House up to the Hybrid, this is your own Home-Generator Unit and no one see's it....
What’s wrong with a small turbine?
ping for later
Turbines are quite expensive. They have to run at real high temperatures (which requires expen$ive alloys for the parts) to get good fuel efficiency. Great power to weight ratio but expensive, thus suited for aircraft.
About the cleverest thing we’ll see all week!
There are opposed cylinder engines, and that made me then think of opposed piston engines (like the big Fairbanks-Morse diesels). Then someone brings up the Uniflow engine, and by happy circumstance I just finished reading Richard Hills' "Power From Steam," which discusses this concept along with other steam-driven engines that date from Savery to Parsons.
More than once, I have had the experience of opening up the hood of my Subaru and having someone who is familiar with most cars look down in there and then look up at me with a baffled expression. One told me that it looked like "an airplane engine with a lot of s#$@ stuck on top of it."
Mr. Niteowl77
Mazda bought the Wankel engine license from West Germany's car maker NSUwho developed it. Wankels were first seen in NSU'S RO-80 sedan.
Technically the Corvair engine , although flat , is NOT a “boxer” engine , that term is used specifically for 4 cylinder flat engines. All Corvairs were flat 6’s.
Right, I knew about that flashlight, I just never thought it could be scaled up like this.
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