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"Massive Yet Tiny" engine promises big things

Angel Labs has developed a new type of internal combustion engine known as the "Massive Yet Tiny" engine. It "has the potential to replace all the existing internal combustion engines and jet engines," according to the inventor. It reportedly has a power to weight ratio 40 times higher than a regular internal combustion engine. A 14-inch, 150-pound MYT would reportedly have the same power as a 32 cylinder diesel engine -- putting out 858 horsepower. Video and more info after the jump...







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Below is Angel Labs' official explanation of the technology:

The prototype has a 14 inch diameter and is 14 inches long. It weighs 150lbs. There are only 26 moving parts, 31 parts total. The first prototype uses diesel or biodiesel for fuel. Through two revolutions of its crankshaft, the ME firing cycle is equivalent to a 32 cylinder reciprocating engine, that is, it fires 32 times. As a result, its displacement is equivalent to an 848 cubic inch reciprocating engine, despite its compactness. This displacement comparison is derived as follows: (3.1416*(3)(3)*3.75)/4*32 = 848 cubic inches, with a 3" bore and 3.75" stroke, four stroke cycle and thirty two firings. The design is also modular. Additional units can be connected to increase power. The ME is actually a large (extremely efficiently organized) displacement internal combustion engine; therefore its high horsepower output. Moreover, with the high number of cylinders firing in close order, a high number of pulses are generated for high torque, but without the friction and parasitic losses discussed below.









At 150lbs, the basic ME design needs only to produce 3,000 hp from 848 cubic inches to produce a 20 to 1 power to weight ratio. (We are assuming less than 4 hp per cubic inch of displacement. Racing engines based on conventional design perform up to 5+ hp per cubic inch of displacement with Super/Turbo Charge. With Normally Aspirated, it will generate minimum 850 horse powers.) To our knowledge, only the latest jet engine has finally attained a 20 to 1 power to weight ratio. By replacing the rear cover of the ME and connecting another ME chamber assembly (adding two inches in length and little additional weight) the ME now becomes a 64 cylinder engine with 1,695 cubic inches raising the power to weight ratio up to 40 to 1.

Since the ME lacks the 80% of the parts normally found in a reciprocating internal combustion engine that is responsible for high friction and parasitic losses, this normally dormant horsepower is now available and would increase the total deliverable output of the ME.

Normally, in a compression ignition (diesel) engine, combustion begins @ TDC (Top Dead Center) @ 0 degree crankshaft position. The expanding gases push the piston down on the power stroke, rotating the crankshaft 180 degrees. The piston then returns to TDC pushing the exhaust at the exhaust stroke, rotating the crankshaft another 180 degrees. This is the burning time in a standard engine, a total of 360 degrees duration.

On a dynamometer, an engine's combustion temperatures is typically measured 2" from the exhaust ports, on the premise that the combustion temperature is very close to exhaust temperature. This is due to the zero degree duration @ TDC and the 360 degrees running duration of a standard engine. However, if @TDC, the piston is allowed to stay for a longer duration, it will burn a greater percentage of the fuel and air mixture in the combustion chamber until oxygen or fuel theoretically runs out at the end of the power stroke, thereby totally completing the combustion process and drastically lowering the exhaust temperature at the end of the exhaust stroke.

The ME design permits the piston dwell @TDC to be adjustable and the prototype ME is currently set at approximately 12 degrees of the crankshaft rotation, thereby approaching the perfection of a complete burn of all fuel. Its exhaust gases are much cooler. As a result:



The higher compression ratios used in diesel engines result in greater thermal expansion of gases in the cylinder. The end result is a high percentage of fuel energy being converted into useful power. (When running the ME with Bio fuels, the same fuel is used to lubricate the crankcase.) In the ME design, a compression ratio as high as 70:1 can be attained due to the absence of the restrictive reciprocating components. Specifically:

The combustion chambers in the ME have no design limitations due to the absence of valves. (The internal combustion engine is an air pump. Airflow through intake and exhaust ports are normally restricted by valves. The ME has no valve --just open ports with no restriction. Air flow action is one way.)