Valeo In Development Contracts for Camless Engine...Up To 20% Improvement in Fuel Efficiency

www.greencarcongress.com ^ | 12/21/2006 | Staff

[Red Badger]

AutoWeek reports that Valeo SA has several development contracts with automakers for its camless engine. Although Valeo would not confirm the contracts, a spokesperson said the supplier is working with several global automakers on camless engines.

Camless technology is projected to deliver as much as 20% better fuel economy over a conventional engine.

Valeo presented its camless Smart Valve Actuation (SVA) at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show. In a camless engine, each engine valve is operated individually by an actuator that is placed on the upper surface of the cylinder head, directly above the valve guides. Each actuator is linked to an engine-mounted Valve Control Unit (VCU) that ensures the optimal positioning of all valves and performs the power drive function.

The SVA system thus replaces the conventional mechanical cam belt, camshaft and hydraulic cam followers.

By controlling residual gases, minimizing pumping losses and deactivating cylinders and valves, this technology reduces fuel consumption and pollutant emissions by up to 20%. Consumers will also benefit from enhanced performance and driving comfort, due to an increase in low-end engine torque.

Valeo is working on two different camless systems, each one including the actuators, the Valve Control Unit (VCU), the wiring rail and the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) with the specific strategies dedicated to these new concepts.

The “full-camless” system manages the valves on both the intake and exhaust side of the engine. The “half-camless” system manages the inlet valves only.

Martin Haub, Valeo board member for R&D, told Automotive News Europe that Valeo is focusing on the half-camless system, which delivers 80% of the performance of the full-camless system, but at half the cost.

[Red Badger]

Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.......

If you want on or off the DIESEL "KNOCK" LIST just FReepmail me........

This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days......

[Red Badger]

Knock!......

[Red Badger]

Ping!......

[Neidermeyer]

The first cars used a "reed valve" arrangement for the intakes , relying on vacuum to pull in the charge and a mechanically operated exhaust valve.. I believe an electro-mech arrangement such as this was first tried in F1 in the 1980's but wasn't ready for prime time then.. this promises a huge reduction in friction... I just hope the first engine it's used on is a "non interferance" model so when it goes wrong it doesn't turn buyers away..

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

this nonsense will require valve springs so weak that they won't seal the cylinders; or electromagnetism innovations that are currently off-the-scale to overcome valve-spring tension requirments.

You will see engines with this system on the road in the same dream as you see cars with hydrogen fuel.

[LeGrande]

Notice they claimed "up to 20%". 1 or 2% improvement is all they are likely to see (maybe). I have a dyno and I see these claims all the time. What is really interesting is to listen to the salesman's claims before and after I tell him I have a dyno. I have seen claims go from 50% improvement down to I probably wouldn't be interested, as they quickly try to get out of the conversation.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

here is the Autoweek piece

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061221/FREE/61218008/1024/rss01

[PCBMan]

I recall first hearing about research into eliminating camshafts by electromechanical means back in the 1990's. Good to hear somebody is keeping up the research. Weren't all vehicles supposed to have 42-volt electrical systems with flywheel starter motor/generators by now?

[Red Badger]

The 42 volt system research was canned.....too costly to implement...........

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

this nonsense will require valve springs so weak that they won't seal the cylinders; or electromagnetism innovations that are currently off-the-scale to overcome valve-spring tension requirments.

Using rotory valves instead of poppet valves would eliminate this issue, no?

[Balding_Eagle]

A company here in CO has had a camless engines for at least 10 years already.

Sturman Industries in Woodland Park modifed everything from VW diesels to Caterpiller diesels to Ford Powerstrokes, and had running prototypes years ago.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

I don't know if they seal well enough; or if they do--how durable would they be?

Here is a discussion of this system I found, by some pretty intelligent people:

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/12/valeo_in_develo.html

here is a snip from a post by "silverthorn" (75% down the page) that enlightens us on the spring tension dynamics:

Each valve is driven by a spring with a high force constant, whose neutral position is midway between open and closed. The resonant frequency for the valve + spring is somewhat greater than the maximum frequency at which the valve must operate at engine redline. When the valve opens or closes, it is not driven by electromotive forces. Rather, it's driven by the force of the spring, when the electromagnet that holds it open or closed against the force of the spring is switched off. It accelerates rapidly toward the neutral point, passes through that point, and then decelerates rapidly toward its other extremum. As it approaches the other extremum, the electromagnet at that end of its travel draws it with enough force to compensate for frictional losses, and then holds it. It continues holding until it is switched off and the next transition is initiated.

[chuckles]

I would think valve timing has more to do with economy and power than reducing friction in the train. I can't believe it takes more than a couple of horses,(5-10?) to turn a cam and lift valves. 20% of a 200hp engine would be 40hp.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Camless+In+Colorado%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[Balding_Eagle]

i got a personal tour in 1997. It's an amazing place/inventor

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Notice they claimed "up to 20%". 1 or 2% improvement is all they are likely to see (maybe).

If you are talking about a gas engine throttled to control the richness at part load, this valving arrangement could eliminate the throttle valve to great effect in terms of efficiency at partial load. I once calculated the pumping work required to keep a big V-8 engine idling, and it was several horsepower just to overcome the suction on the intake side.

With this system you might switch some or all of the cylinders from a 4-stroke cycle to a 6-stroke cycle at partial load, cleaning out the products of combustion before the compression stroke much more completely than is possible in 4-stroke operation and thereby obtaining a cooler effective heat sink and better thermal efficiency. It certainly wouldn't surprise me to see a 20% improvement in operational fuel economy achieved in that way.

[encm(ss)]

I had a cam less motorcycle once. It was known as a 2 cycle engine!
It seems to me that power savings is in parasitic loads because the valve action is the same as current cam operated valved engines. I will say that the idea of gasoline fuel injection may be a bit closer with this invention. As for rotary valves, too much dirt and grit would foul, score, and wear out much to quick.

[RobRoy]

>>"non interferance" model <<

As I read the article, that was the very first thing I thought of as well. I wonder how these would work as you try to start an engine with an "almost" dead battery.

[FastCoyote]

"this nonsense will require valve springs so weak that they won't seal the cylinders; or electromagnetism innovations that are currently off-the-scale to overcome valve-spring tension requirments.

You will see engines with this system on the road in the same dream as you see cars with hydrogen fuel."

That would be my guess too, even in the picture the size of the two driver coils looks huge.

As far as the impracticality of hydrogen fuels, don't get me started. I have a mechanical engineering degree and actually turn a wrench on occasion, and most of these green utopia ideas just don't pass the laugh test.

[GOP_Muzik]

Back when I worked for Saab in the '80s they would give us service reps test cars as our company cars..I picked mine up in Houston and found out it was a camless engine with electromagnetic valves. It was the standard Saab engine otherwise..2 liter 4cyl 4valve/cylinder turbocharged. Some joker had also installed an ejector handle from a Saab jet (the Viggen) in the console.

The car had an automatic transmission, and when I pulled onto the loop in Houston I punched it and it took off like a rocket and when it shifted into second gear it spun the front tires (front wheel drive) and I went off the road into a culvert..luckily I didn't wreck the damn thing... it scared the hell out of me.

Turns out that not only did you gain horsepower from no cams, but the valve timing was adjusting itselt to the rpms...so you didn't have any valve float..and thus the power curve wasn't a curve at all, it was a straight line.

The performance was incredible, I couldn't understand why they didn't implement it, I never had any problems the 2 months I had the car, and I drove the fool out of it. I never topped it out, but I got it up to 135mph on Andrews Highway outside of Midland and it still had more to give.

The other really cool thing it had was a solor cell built into the rear window that would drive a cooling fan that vented hot air out of the car when it was parked. In those hot west Texas days I could get in the car and it would be nice and pleasant inside instead of blistering hot..I thought it was a great idea.