Hi Paul and all, I ran across this today. It seems the Boys at
MIT are    working on a new rotary engine design. Kind of
interesting and here is    the link to the videoâ?¦
http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=683

    Enjoy,

    Rick in Alaska

      MIT is going down hill by allowing their name to be attached
to this    project.

    This engine meets almost none of the requirements for a
successful    rotary engine.

    Paul Lamar

    ------------------------------------------------------------
    By Kenichi Yamamoto from his book "Rotary Engine" 1981

    1.3     REQUIREMENTS FOR A PRACTICAL ROTARY ENGINE
             Although various types of rotary engines have been
    developed to date, there are few that do not qualify as internal
    combustion engines or do not qualify as a practical engine even
    if they satisfy the qualifications of an internal combustion
    engine.
             The requirements for a rotary engine to be qualified
    as a practical internal combustion engine can be summed up in
    the following five items. The practicality of various ideas on
    rotary engines can be judged by evaluating them by these
    criteria:

    (1) Every moving part, including the timing mechanism, should
    make a rotating motion. A mechanism having a reciprocating
    inertia will increase mechanical noise and vibration, and will
    work against high speed and high revolution.  [In addition
    mechanisms that reciprocate generate reversing loads. Reversing
    loads lead to reversing stresses. Reversing stresses lead to
    metal fatigue and limited life. The Wankel rotary engine has no
    reversing stresses therefor the life of the major parts such as the
    eccentric shaft and rotor are unlimited unlike, crankshafts, connecting
    rods, pistons and poppet valves. Paul Lamar]  Accordingly, structures
    that require intake and exhaust valves and mechanisms using the rotors
    oscillatory motion are not desirable.

    (2)     Gas seals or the working chamber should be three
    dimensionally reliable.  The gas seal mechanism of a rotary
    engine should be constituted by connecting the individual seals
    three dimensionally. Among the many ideas we come across are
    those that don't show such three dimensional thoughts.

    (3)     Appropriate gas exchange of intake and exhaust should
    take place. Together with having a mechanism that can correctly
    open and close the ports, sufficient time for intake and exhaust
    should be provided especially for high speed and high
    revolution.  Among the ideas on rotary engines, there are some
    that ignore this point.

    (4)     Every component part should have the strength to endure
    high speed and high pressure.  As the component parts are
    exposed to high pressure, high sliding velocity and high heat
    load, every part should have sufficient allowance in size and in
    shape.

    (5)     Sufficient cooling and lubrication should be provided.
    In order to qualify as an internal combustion engine, although
    this is related to above (4), durability against high heat load,
    high sliding velocity, etc. are required. Therefore, the
    structure should be simple, and the ideas on rotor cooling,
    lubrication of seal parts, and oil seal structure should be
    those that are given adequate thought.
             Also, it is desirable for a practical rotary engine to
    have a simple and compact structure. When we evaluate the
    various type's of rotary engines devised to date in view of the
    above mentioned requirements, the NSU Wankel type rotary engine
    is the engine that best satisfies the above mentioned
    requirements.

    It's some kids friggin' toy model.  He couldn't even get the
model to   work   correctly!  Sorry, but they raised $5Million in
venture capitol, which is   amazing in this market.  Often the
company has some IP that is neat, so   venture capitol will jump in
as they realize they can sell the IP later  to   make some money off
it

    From their web site:

    The LiquidPiston engine is based on a patent-pending
thermodynamic  cycle,   called the "High-Efficiency Hybrid Cycle"
(HEHC), which borrows elements   from Otto, Diesel, Atkinson, and
Rankine cycles. Several critical design   features make the
LiquidPiston engine architecture both versatile and   capable of
outperforming conventional engines on all parameters.

    LPIâ??s engine is architected to have the following unique properties:

       * High fuel efficiency of 57% at peak, and 50% at part-load
       * High power density of 1 Hp / Lb
       * Simple design with low part count
       * Multi-fuel capable: diesel, JP8, gasoline, natural gas, bio-
fuels       * Low noise:  the engine has low pressure exhaust and no
poppet  valves

    MIT has zero to do with that, the Tech Review is a "what is interesting
   in the market place".

    For $5Million we could develop a high pressure (1500 bar)
 injector to   make a   Mazda just hmmmm..... Irony is that injector
would be worth more than a   frigging working rotary aircraft
engine.  There are just millons on   inventions just waiting, and I
realized how to change fuel at the atomic   level (piezoelectric
gates are huge, we need something smaller!)

   Wow... just realized 2011 Marks the Bosch 125 year anniversary.
I  worked   for Bosch (Reutlingen, Germany) when we celebrated 100
years of  automotive   engineering.

   Fun conversation the other night, with a group of friends. What
would you   do   if you won that $200 Million Jackpot. Everyone
pretty much said "go live   on   the beach" or something to that
effect.  My wife knows me too well, and   commented "I'd never get
him to settle down and sit still for a minute".   There is so much
research and development out there is is just mind   boggling....

    Tom W

   Tom,

   I'm rather leery of living near the beach at the moment.  If the wave
   doesn't get you, the radiation will:)
   I also laughed when their model didn't work.  There is an axiom
in the   design business.  "Never show a work in progress."

   Their model looks remarkably like the air motors developed in
Italy and   Australia.  For creating a robust combustion chamber
they will have to   toss the sliding vanes and replace them with
some type of roller cams.   Sealing revolving chambers as Mazda well
knows is an daunting challenge.   75% efficient?  Dream on.

   Doug in Japan

   Hey Doug. I know you can send out plain text.
   Robin has a mac and she does it all the time.
   Every time you forward a message your computer removes
   carriage returns and adds line spaces.

   Could you research this for me?

   Perhaps just buy a PC or a Linux box:)

   Does anybody know if Thunderbird runs on a MAC?

   Paul

  Consider the following.....

  Dr. Ed Crow the former VP of Engineering of Pratt and Whitney is an
  adviser
  / board member. I knew him in a professional capacity, and if he is
  throwing
  his shoulder against the wheel that is enough to peak my interest,
he is  no  light weight, a brilliant man, he is a Doctorate in
Engineering. When I  was  their, he was a big champion of the
"geared turbofan" that Pratt is in the  process of getting their
Type Certificate for that is a game changer....

  Anthony

  How old is he?

  Paul Lamar

Paul, I am not sure, in his 60's or 70's?

Anthony


Ahh, extra beer money in the retirement fund.  :-)))

Dale Davies