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Anonymous

Looking for better than a Wankel for an experimental aircraft

Yesterday, 3:53 PM EST by Inventor

Thread started: Sunday, 1:09 AM EST Watch

Before I started my own businesses, my background was aircraft maintenance, engineering, academy, military pilot of both fixed and rotary wing, design electronic circuits, and I have a patent for automated assembly. Since a kid, and member of EAA, I've always looking for an alternative to pistons and gas turbines. Unlike the Wankel, this design is could actually make a case for being classified as a rotary engine. However, nearly any pump technology can be made into and engine. I've designed engines, variable camshafts, and a replacement for the poppet valves before others patented them. I've not pursued them even though some were theoretically efficient because they suffered from sealing, lubrication, or cooling issues. Unfortunately, this design is no exception. To me, the gas turbine still appears to be the future. The secret to making turbines efficient are high temperature, and/or high pressure. Unfortunately, with aircraft turbines more than half of the air is used for cooling, and the efficiency comes from many expensive stages. High high efficiency requires high power settings making aircraft a natural. Flight idle is measured in gallons per minute per engine. They are also spinning gyros running from 35,000 for larger turbines, to 150,000 for APU-size turbines. That translates into problems with the shocks common to ground vehicles. That has been pretty well addressed over the years. Ford had the right idea with high temperature ceramic turbines in their trucks. Ford produced them for trucks, buses, and for the military from 1955 - 1973 until they lost their only plant to a flood. The cost was high to produce them, but they did beat diesel fuel efficiency in over-the-road applications. Today, technology and hybrids may make them practical again. You won't find an engine truer to the name rotary, they don't suffer from sealing, lubrication, or cooling issues, and can outlast any conventional engine.

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RE: Looking for better than a Wankel for an experimental aircraft
By: Inventor, Yesterday, 3:53 PM EST

I have a rotary engine that could meet your requirements. It is well-noted that popular rotary engines suffered from sealing, lubrication, or cooling issues, as very evident in Wankel engines and those types with line-contact sealing. I think you notice too that there are advantages in those popular rotaries that provide their strength to almost other rotary engines that don't have their sealing and cooling issues. Those other rotary engines may have solved the wankel engine problems by providing area-contact sealing reminiscent of piston rings or turbine labyrinth seals, yet, almost all of them suffered from imbalance, cyclic acceleration and deceleration of moving parts, geometric complexities, or too many part count, all of which the Wankel has none. As we can see in a Wankel, the rotor is smooth acting and perfectly balanced regardless of its location/position. Furthermore, the rotor is counterbalanced easily as it has a fixed offset. Another major attractive feature is a virtually perfect valve operation as it has no moving part aside from the rotor. In order to beat the success of Wankel engine, you need a rotary engine with all of the advantages mentioned here. Much more, my design has other greatly enhanced features. It has a different thermodynamic cycle. A cycle truly equivalent to Atkinson cycle is employed too to minimize idle time, maximize part utilization, and extract much energy to increase efficiency. Also, with a very small package, we can have an equivalent ceramic engine with much lesser rise in manufacturing and part costs. I do hope I may be of help to your quest for a much better than a Wankel engine. Moreover, my greatest goal is to have a very efficient personal flying craft rather than be confined in limited space and conventional traffic jam, so I do hope you can help me too. :-)

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Anonymous

Nice Article

Sunday, 1:14 AM EST by Anonymous