New Engine Design. What could it do for a boat?
- Thread starter jssailem
- Start date
Rut Roh!!It isn't that these points aren't good points, they are but...Crazy.
Ask @Will Gilmore about Entropy and Energy.
As explained by an Engineer who did his Thesis on this Subject [me]
Engineer Jim...
I agree it doesn’t actually drive anything…and I am still unsure how it generates electricity. The engine itself doesnt. They have to capture the exhaust gas and drive some sort of turbine maybe.
The little engine may be very efficient…. but I wonder about vibration of that single piston slamming back and forth.
Good marketing, but I also couldn’t find a generator for sale that is powered by one of these little engines.
Greg
Following up on @JamesG161 's posting with a simple explanation used to teach students what goes on inside an IC engine. :
This how I taught it back in the Mesozoic era at :
This how I taught it back in the Mesozoic era at :
It still needs something to convert axial motion into rotational motion. Like a crankshaft in an IC engine.
Now you're getting into cogeneration for additional efficiency. Sounds like you got money. We should get together some time :
Have I got a deal for you !
The old-fashioned steam engine worked like this.
TH - TL (100%) = efficiency
TH
Means that if the exhaust temp (TL) was zero, the efficiency would be 100%. This would imply that all the heat energy was removed from the combustion chamber before the exhaust, but there has to be an initial ambient temperature, so there should really be a delta expression here that reflects that.
I'm not sure how it would work with a combustion motor but if you were to consider an electric motor at 100% efficiency for electrical energy, that would imply there was no electrical output on the positive side of the electrical circuit. That means no electron flow and therefore no movement of the rotor. An interesting paradox.
-Will
The video only shows how the engine works. Each end of the piston rod external to the engine is connected to a linear electric generator. So basically, the engine shoves a magnet through a set of coils on each end of the engine making electricity. You still need A) a battery to hold the charge and B) an electric motor to turn the prop. Hmm, if the electric motor was hooked directly to the shaft would a free spinning prop turn the motor into a generator?
From the Aquarius website: Aquarius Engine is a Two Sided Free piston Linear engine (FPLE), generating two positive work events with a single piston each time, connected to two Linear Generators.
Dang, I just noticed it will not run on diesel. CNG, LPG, Hydrogen, gasoline only. Diesel stinks but it lowers my insurance bill.
From the Aquarius website: Aquarius Engine is a Two Sided Free piston Linear engine (FPLE), generating two positive work events with a single piston each time, connected to two Linear Generators.
Dang, I just noticed it will not run on diesel. CNG, LPG, Hydrogen, gasoline only. Diesel stinks but it lowers my insurance bill.
Of course I forgot to answer the original question when I posted #24.
Of course there's room for improvement. Looking at the equation for efficiency in a Carnot cycle :
the way to make that fraction bigger is to make Th larger by higher compression and/or a hotter fire in the cylinder)
AND/OR
make Tl smaller by exhausting into a vacuum.
unfortunately much easier said than done.
Not really. Your starting temperature (pressure) and the exhaust temperature (pressure) are both measured above the same ambient so no need for a △T in either the high or low temperatures.
For and ambient temperature of TA you would have to do something like,
TH - TL - 2TA x 100% = EFFICIENCY
TH - TA
or do you already subtract the ambient temperature before entering the values into the equation? It doesn't just cancel itself out.
-Will
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,080
Further exploration leads me to finding information on a LEM - Linear Electromagnetic Machine.
spectrum.ieee.org
This link discusses a commercial linear generator. The quest started with the question:
“What is the most efficient and practical way possible to convert chemical-bond energy into useful work?”
Their linear generator is similar in design to the Aquarius engine previously mentioned and discarded by some.
The diesel essentially is converting chemical bond energy into useful work. The modification of the engine design to linear permits reduced complexity of the motor. Light weight and the option to use a variety of fuel air mixtures. To generate electricity the movement of a magnet in a coil of wire creates electricity.
This is a simple statement of the concept. Read the provided link
The designers see their linear generator as the cornerstone of a zero-carbon grid because of its unique flexibility: it can handle nearly any scale of power, from single units to grid-connected arrays; it’s easily permitted and installed wherever power is needed; and it runs on almost any fuel.
My question remains. Could this be scaled down to serve as the power supply on a boat when wind and solar are not available?
This New Breed of Generator Can Run on Almost Any Fuel
The engineers at Mainspring Energy have unwound conventional generator design and come up with the linear generator. They explain their journey and how the breakthrough technology works.
spectrum.ieee.org
“What is the most efficient and practical way possible to convert chemical-bond energy into useful work?”
Their linear generator is similar in design to the Aquarius engine previously mentioned and discarded by some.
The diesel essentially is converting chemical bond energy into useful work. The modification of the engine design to linear permits reduced complexity of the motor. Light weight and the option to use a variety of fuel air mixtures. To generate electricity the movement of a magnet in a coil of wire creates electricity.
This is a simple statement of the concept. Read the provided link
The designers see their linear generator as the cornerstone of a zero-carbon grid because of its unique flexibility: it can handle nearly any scale of power, from single units to grid-connected arrays; it’s easily permitted and installed wherever power is needed; and it runs on almost any fuel.
My question remains. Could this be scaled down to serve as the power supply on a boat when wind and solar are not available?
I remember reading something about 20 years ago ... about a "X-Challenge" by GM to the first team that could find a process that would allow for the production of a cubic meter of pure Teflon. I did the google thing but could not find it.
Teflon polymerization typically results in very small beads that then need to be epoxied to a surface ….. and the degradation of your non-stick cookware is actually degradation of the epoxy.
If we could develop a cubic meter of pure Teflon, then engine blocks could be made of Teflon… the weight of the engine would be reduced by several hundreds of pounds, the friction coef. would be greatly decreased and we could run the engine much hotter… thus improving the heat cycle efficiency (see Carnot cycle above.)
Melting point of Teflon® = 705°F
Thermal Conductivity is very low = 0.25 W/(m-°K) [ Copper = 384 ] [Epoxy is same as Teflon®]
Per Carnot Cycle in my Post#22 the Adiabatic [no Heat Exchange] steps would melt a Teflon® Engine Block.
But your memory was correct, although mixed up slightly, when General Motors [owned by DuPont] produced Teflon®
in their West Virginia Plant. Trivia: Teflon@ was use to coat valves in the Manhattan Project .
Could you weave Kevlar® with Teflon® ?
Retired DuPont Engineer Jim...
Will, you have a good grasp of thermodynamics, so you asked for it. Here's the nasty (but actual) version.
The Carnot cycle is not the same as an IC engine. The working fluid (gas) remains inside the cylinder. No intake, no exhaust.
Now this is purely theoretical. No reality here. Heat enters the cycle by removing insulation at the top of the cylinder and conducting it into the cylinder at points 1 - 2. The same goes for removal of heat at the bottom of the cylinder at points 3 - 4. The other two paths 2 - 3 and 4 - 1 are adiabatic (no heat addition or removal).
For a good description of the cycle, see :
Carnot Cycle
The Carnot cycle has the greatest efficiency possible of an engine (although other cycles have the same efficiency) based on the assumption of the absence of incidental wasteful processes such as …
chem.libretexts.org
Go no further than P-V Diagram for a very concise description of what happens in the cycle. Read the rest if you want proof of each path. I must admit, I like this one better than my old texts.
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,080
I have wondered about the electric motor on a sail boat for some time. I can understand the simplicity of th electric motor. The challenge has always been, for boats in PacificNW waters, the adequate supply of energy needed to safely navigate the tidal waters. Solar panels and wind can support part of the time. Most boaters rely on a fuel powered engines, generators and shore power to provide energy resources on the boat. If there was an engine that did the same but was lighter and more efficient, then electrical powered boats might become practical.
To extend the thinking on this subject, the physics of the systems so far discussed are known to work.
To extend the thinking on this subject, the physics of the systems so far discussed are known to work.
- The engine using an Air/Fuel mixture will combust when compressed. The orientation of the engine - a linear piston - design provides a simple exchange of "chemical bond energy" release from the air/fuel mixture to repeating linear movement of the piston "Work". Solving the control of this action reaction, being able to speed up and slow down the work, building a system that is scalable and sustainable is with our current day knowledge. The folks at Aquarius believe they have done this. It will not be long before more mechanical engineers will tackle these problems.
- What to do with this work system. For more than 10 years teams have been working on the harnessing of wave energy. The up and down action of waves are being converted through the use of Linear Electromagnetic Generators. The movement of a magnetic field within a coil to generate electricity. (see attached paper on Design of a Wave Energy converter System with Linear Generator)
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,080
Ralph the discussion of the Carnot Cycle is enjoyable. The theory while relevant in search of system limits has engaged engine manufactures for more than 200 years. Yet we have engines that work with in the limits. We have been happy to recognize the limits and stay with in them. What has been explored is improved efficiencies. With more than 100% improvement possible based on R Diesels calculations within the Carnot Cycle, for diesel engines alone performing at 35% efficiency levels, what can be done?
Simply put in a flow diagram.
Second Law = Entropy
Thermo-Dynamics used daily.
Patting my Adiabatic fat tummy.
Jim...
Second Law = Entropy
Thermo-Dynamics used daily.
Patting my Adiabatic fat tummy.
Jim...
Taken from my previous post #28 :
Unless someone comes up with a "modified" diesel engine that works on a cycle other than the Carnot Cycle, the equation says it all. Right now, we don't have the metallurgy for higher temperatures and we can't exhaust into a perfect vacuum. Back to the drawing board I guess.Of course there's room for improvement. Looking at the equation for efficiency in a Carnot cycle :
the way to make that fraction bigger is to make Th larger by higher compression and/or a hotter fire in the cylinder)
AND/OR
make Tl smaller by exhausting into a vacuum.
unfortunately much easier said than done.