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| New project, semi internal combustion atmospheric engine! |
| (1/7) > >> |
| John Hill:
Yep, that's right, semi internal combustion atmospheric engine! The idea is a basic 'flame licker' atmospheric engine but in lieu of a big flame there will be just a small pilot light while just inside the valve port there will be a wick fed with a volatile fuel (petrol maybe). The theory is that the valve will open at the top of stroke in the normal way and the pilot light flame will be drawn in to ignite the volatile fuel resulting in a flame right inside the cylinder. As the piston nears the end of the down stroke the valve will close and the flame will be snuffed out. The gases will then contract and the piston will be driven upwards by atmospheric pressure in the normal way. The cylinder will have a pressure release valve which will open as the piston comes up and the exhaust gases will be pushed out. Hopefully the engine will be more powerful as all combustion will take place within the cylinder and it will use less fuel as combustion will not be continuous. But will it work? Time will tell! Sorry, no drawings. |
| Arbalist:
I'm not even qualified to guess whether it will work or not but it sounds good! Not sure about the petrol though, would alcohol work instead? Many folks have problems getting their flame lickers to run so if it works this could be a viable alternative. Look forward to see what other folks think of your idea John. |
| John Hill:
Maybe not petrol but it has to be something that ignite really easily and wont get blown out by the incoming air. |
| vtsteam:
I like it John! Always want to see alternative stuff tried. Makes life interesting! But you'll need excess air after the pilot light to give enough oxygen to burn your volatile fuel. The pilot will use a lot of it up. Prior to spark plugs, wasn't there something similar for ignition? |
| vtsteam:
Also if you increase the temperature inside the engine you need a corresponding increase in cooling rate to utilize it, otherwise the engine will mostly just run at a hotter average temperature. The trick is to increase running differential -- which can be done either by more heat, or faster cooling. But they must be matched, or the average only changes and the power output doesn't increase as much as expected. |
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