West6MT

Hope this isn't a repost,...

New Car Engine Sends Shock Waves Through Auto Industry

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.

The Wave Disk Generator uses 60 percent of its fuel for propulsion; standard car engines use just 15 percent. As a result, the generator is 3.5 times more fuel efficient than typical combustion engines.

Researchers estimate the new model could shave almost 1,000 pounds off a car's weight currently taken up by conventional engine systems.

Last week, the prototype was presented to the energy division of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is backing the Michigan State University Engine Research Laboratory with $2.5 million in funding.

Michigan State's team of engineers hope to have a car-sized 25-kilowatt version of the prototype ready by the end of the year.


Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=uf_-IMgla34

05TLdcc

I need to get in touch with this guy....that could be big, or a total bust.

acattak

agreed he might want to watch his or her back oil big wigs are watching.

Ken1997TL

You realize 'oil' companies are ENERGY companies and moved long ago to diversify their products.

It's not a global conspiracy of oil companies/The Illuminati/New World Order.

phee

iTrader: (5)

its called the rotary engine

Moose Muscles

so is this power output consistent or will it be abrupt burst's of energy every quarter second so your car feels like one of those beds you put money in? I still think it will need some type of tertiary device to smooth out the output before it goes to the wheels.

Like previously mentioned, could be awesome and it could be terrible.

biker

I worry when researches are so far off base - the typical 4 cyl engine is in the 300 lb range and even if you got rid of the radiator and other drivetrain parts it's still probably less than 500 lbs you'd save.

EL_PIC

Very Interesting ...
But note -
The piston concept technology was preferred to other solutions (membrane, diaphragm, rotary) after a severe benchmark based on OEM main specifications requirements, namely minimum maintenance costs and high reliability.
Perhaps that is why Mazda Rotary Engines are known to burn up after a short powerfull life.