Looking Beyond Detroit For Engine Innovation 290
waderoush writes "Opposed-piston engines (with two pistons in the same cylinder) have been around since the 1920s, but have been used mainly in submarines and airplanes. Now, several startups are working to make these high-efficiency engines practical for cars, trucks, and light vehicles — but they're under no illusions that Detroit will adopt the idea. Silicon Valley startup Pinnacle Engines, which is backed by the world's largest venture fund, is looking to a scooter manufacturer in India as its first partner. 'This ought to be music to Detroit's ears, but to them I'm just some whacko in California,' says Monty Cleeves, Pinnacle's founder and CTO. 'This is Silicon Valley, and what does Silicon Valley know about making engines? Folks in Asia have almost zero "not-invented-here" issues, whereas it's pretty prevalent all over the U.S.'"
Should they not have linked (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Difference to the boxer engine? (Score:5, Informative)
An opposed piston engine has two (well, at least two) crankshafts at opposite ends of a cylinder, with a piston on each. The pistons then "meet" in the middle.
The advantage is that you don't need a cylinder head, so the engine can be lighter, and often smaller and go to higher pressures, which makes it ideal for aircraft and submarines and areas where you want to maximise power to weight.
A boxer engine is simply a V engine flattened all the way down, with two banks of cylinders facing away from each other with the crank in the middle.
One of the "classic" opposed piston engines is the Deltic, fitted to the locomotives that were named for it. A hugely complex beast with three crankshafts (one contrarotating), which was very powerful for its size, but very highly strung. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic [wikipedia.org]
Detroit OPOC (Score:4, Informative)
More prominent than Pinnacle is the first company mentioned in TFA, Ecomotors. In the past 6 months they have begun test builds on on-highway trucks for one of America's largest truck manufacturers, Navistar. (https://www.ccjdigital.com/navistar-announces-opoc-engine-technology-agreement/) Considering America's position as #1 fuel consumer, hacking into the amount of fuel used by the most fuel-intensive industry is much more significant than increasing efficiency on mopeds in India.
From TFA:
"“I don’t know what it’s going to take to get somebody in the U.S. excited” about fundamental improvements to the venerable internal combustion engine, Cleeves [CEO of Pinnacle] says"
Are you kidding me??!
Trucks here are doing everything they can to improve fuel efficiency, from installing flaps underneath their trailers to controlling and monitoring the speed of trucks. If the OPOC engine does prove to be a large increase in efficiency on these large, constantly running trucks, while at the same time eliminating components, you better believe the trucking industry will hop on board with a second.
Come on, practice a little vetting for once, or maybe try googling for more than one source on an article here!
Re:Difference to the boxer engine? (Score:3, Informative)
This design allow the engine to have a power stroke for every revolution, it is called 2-cycle but its not like what people think as 2-cycle. The engine has a compression stroke as the piston come together, a power stoke and then a "vent" at the end of the power stroke. One of the pistons that is called the power piston will open up ports along the cylinder wall to let out the exhaust, a few degrees of rotation later the other piston called the slave will open ports in the cylinder wall to allow forces air to purge out the remaining exhaust. The exhaust ports will then be closed off as the power piston starts to move back up the cylinder and then the slave will close its ports a few degrees of rotation later allowing a pressurizing charge to build up. The use of a super charger or blower is required on this type of engine. No valve or valve train - minimalist type of engine.
The crank shaft for the power side is about 10 degree ahead of the slave end. Oon the power stroke, this results in the power piston to be past TDC and moving down the cylinder while the slave is going through its TDC and have little cylinder movement.
Re:Difference to the boxer engine? (Score:4, Informative)
The two crankshafts have to be connected together - the pistons need to stay in phase, so you only need one output since what one crank does, the other must match it.
Like the Deltic engine I linked above, you can get awesome power to weight ratio and power to size ratio out of them (although the Deltic was an opposed 2 stroke diesel), but they are somewhat temperamental - something that would likely be less of an issue in the modern era with finer machining tolerances etc.
Re:OF course (Score:4, Informative)
Indeed. A good example was Samuel Slater [cottontimes.co.uk]. In 1789 the technology for spinning cotton was a British state secret. Stealing the technology, Samuel Slater kickstarted the cotton mill industry in New England and arguably the entire US part of the Industrial Revolution.
Worried about the possibility of losing her technological lead to other nations, and aware of the growing threat posed by American patriots as their battle for independence developed, Britain had passed a statute in 1774 making it illegal for cotton workers to leave the country, or for cotton-machine technology to be exported.
Disguised as a farmer, Samuel took ship from London on September 1st, 1789, telling no-one of his intentions and only informing his immediate family in a letter he posted just before going aboard.
Stitched into the lining of his clothing were his indenture papers, which would prove to any prospective employer that he knew his job. More importantly, in his head he carried all the secrets of the water frame and the continuous spinning process that Arkwright and Strutt had perfected.