Scuderi files patent for 'split-cycle' engine

By Antony Ingram
Published April 10, 2012
High Gear Media


Real revolutions in engine technology are rare.

By and large, the internal combustion engine has remained much the same for well over a century, with just general, incremental improvements in all areas separating today's engines from those in the very first automobiles.

Scuderi's patented split-cycle engine is a little different, and if not revolutionary, it's certainly a significant evolution of the engines we know and love.

Most gasoline engines today, with a few exceptions, run on the 'Otto' four-stroke cycle: induction, compression, ignition and exhaust. Fuel and air comes into the cylinder, it's compressed by the piston, the spark ignites the mixture, pushing the piston down in the power stroke, and as the piston makes its way back up again, the exhaust valve opens and the gases are pushed out.

It's simple to understand and the process has become quite refined these days, but it's still relatively inefficient.

The split-cycle engine

The split-cycle engine cuts this four-stroke cycle into two parts. It uses 'paired' cylinders, with each cylinder in the pair doing half the work. We first covered the concept a few years back, after Scuderi completed a prototype.

In the first cylinder, air is drawn through an intake valve, where it mixes with fuel injected into the cylinder. As the piston returns, a different valve opens into a special port. The mixture is pushed through, where it's drawn into the second cylinder through another intake valve.

The valve then closes, the mixture is compressed by the second piston, and ignited in the power stroke. As the piston returns again, the mixture exits through the exhaust valve as it would normally.
Watch: Reinventing the engine

It sounds more complicated than it is, but what it means is that for every crankshaft revolution, the engine is doing more work--while one piston is drawing in fuel and air, the other is already combusting the mixture that's just been sent through.

No more cylinders than normal would be required--so you could still have four, six, eight or more cylinders--but those cylinders are paired so only half of them would actually be combusting mixture. That also means half the spark plugs and half the injectors of a regular engine.

The engine runs on a Miller-cycle principle. This is similar to the Atkinson-cycle used in several hybrids. That normally means less power, but Miller-cycle engines use forced induction--in this case a turbocharger--to make up the power deficit.

Benefits

Scuderi says its split-cycle engine is 25 percent more efficient than a regular "high economy" engine found in efficient European cars, and 13 percent more efficient than best-in-class vehicles.

Emissions are reduced, and Scuderi predicts up to 65 mpg would be possible from a small-capacity unit.

Combine those figures with a hybrid drivetrain and the numbers would start looking very impressive indeed.

So is the Scuderi engine evolutionary, or revolutionary? Until it hits the market it's hard to say, but it could certainly breathe new life into combustion engines.


Scuderi


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/...#ixzz1s07rW7pF

 

Don't totally understand the concept. Seems like way too many extra moving parts to be reliable.

 

Twice the work and half the power?

 

first piston is acting like forced induction, thus making it more efficient.. so add a turbo to a standard motor, same efficiency.

 

Well let's get real here. If we want cars to run on alternate fuel, like hydrogen, it's going to take a good amount of research, money, and time. Mazda has said the best goal for them is to focus on the thing they know best, the IC engine.

Why spend all the money on pushing the hybrids and electric cars that require so many rare earth minerals? Makes more sense to focus on the engine and as we can see there has been a decent increase in FE over the past few years. Now tthey couple that with weight reduction and we have a temporary fix to our problems.

 

That's it right there, 'Temporary'. You cannot 'temporary' a fix, it's not a fix. It's a patch, a kludge, a work around, but NOT A FIX.

That's why you have to push the hybrids. A *Highly* efficient motor that does nothing but generate electricity (and run the a/c pump) is doing more work for less than using it to run the actual car down the highway. If it can also be used in conjunction with the electrics to add power, fine, but ships and trains have been using 'hybrid' technology for years, for this reason: Less fuel consumption, more work.

It's only recently that it's been applied to cars in an economical enough way that it's feasible. It will be more and more common, and yes, even Mustang is due to go there... or die.

---

Folks, I'm a realist. Two things in this world are fairly absolute, near as I can see/tell/read/hear/understand/(other words)

1) There are more and more people wanting more and more mobility and more and more food and more and more stuff and more and more everything, which, funnily enough, includes more and more people... which means the cycle NEVER ENDS.

2) There is only so much Earth can provide. Oil is what it is NOT just because there's a bunch of jerks out there screwin' with the prices, it's actually getting harder and harder to get. I mean... they're drilling thousands of miles out to sea, and thousands of feet below water... Not to mention fracking and shales and don't you dare pipeline from the Arctic, and...

And that's just oil. Add in food.

We are doomed. Doomed I say.

---

So, in closing: STOP HAVING BABIES ALREADY.

Thanks!

/yes, it all is interconnected and all has to do with population.
//Which is, unfortunately, why wars happen.
///We're overdue for another, which is sorta sad in itself.
////And... it likely will doom us all.
/////All because of some silly new combustion cycle? Yep. You bet.

 

So we should get ourselves exploring space! We'll need a new planet eventually.

Im not kidding.

 

Reminds me of my dad in the 60's when we'd be out doin' chores. I can see him now lighting that cigarette saying "there's too many ****ing people because there's too many people ****ing".





And I also remember him saying "if all these corporations keep buying out the family farms, they're going to wind up controlling all the food - and the prices". He was a wise old codger.

 

Did you watch the vid? I only watched the first part but I get it now.

The firing cylinder is like a 2 stroke - every down stroke is a power stroke. The pre-compression cylinder is timed just a tad ahead of the power stroke so it is compressing the air. It is then ported to the firing cylinder with violent turbulence - plus a shot of direct injection of fuel - just before ignition and this way they can acheive a power stroke with every down stroke.

I always loved my 2 stroke dirt bikes. Little rockets. This sounds like it is more designed for efficiency than rocket power. But 25% more efficiency? Sounds good for commuter cars.

 

sounds simple enough.

 

Right on, brother! I'm ready for Mars myself. Just send me. Oh, and have a way to play my City of Heroes and check in on this here website. I'll be fantastic otherwise, not a bother, contributing whatever is needed at the new colony.

Indeed he was.

 

All we need to do is find a water source on Mars, Once they find that, A colony will follow with large greenhouse..

Then we will turn on TV and see advertisment for the new Disney world , that opened on mars, and it will be a vacation hotspot..........