What if you were told that someday , your car could have a one - cylinder engine under its cowling that has 100horsepower , gets 100 land mile per gallon ( 42.5 kilometers per cubic decimeter ) , and can work on any type of fuel ?
betting odds are , you ’d probably think that ’s something out of ascience fabrication pic , or that it ’s some variety of far - flung concept that ’s still decades off from reality .
Not so , grant to Matthew Riley , the chief operating officer and chief inquiry scientist at Kansas - found Grail Engine Technologies . He says that his company ’s two - stroke Grail Engine could be in consumers ' cars within two to five year . In February 2012 , after three years of development , the company established their first working prototype , and self-aggrandizing cable car companies like Honda and Ford have already shown interest .
Riley says the Grail Engine could be 50 percentage cheaper to build while boasting 30 percentage betterfuel economyover current locomotive , and it ’s flexible about what fuel it work on . It has a extensive diversity of potential applications , he said . It also does n’t have the pollution and dependableness problem see in most othertwo - stroke engines .
" It ’s going to change the way of life thing work , " say Riley , a scientist with more than 20 year of experience get experimental engines . " The idea comes from the thought that there has to be a in force way to make two - strokes because they ’re intimately performing . "
What makes the Grail Engine so amazing ? Interestingly enough , it does n’t rely on a single discovery technology to get the problem done . The locomotive engine takes a form of current , cutting - boundary locomotive technologies and puts them all together in one package . " It ’s all proven technology that ’s been used in the past , " Riley said .
In essence , it ’s a very high - tech two - stroking engine that uses pull initiation , direct injectionand other technologies for telling power and efficiency . It ’s also a pioneer in what the party call " semi - homogenous charged concretion ignition . " We ’ll cover what all of that mean in a petty piece .
In this article , we ’ll instruct all about how the Grail Engine play , and explore how it could be put to habituate in the very near future tense .
The Basics
Before we teach about the Grail Engine , let ’s first define some of the construct behind it so we can amply understand how it works .
Two - Stroke Engine : Unlike most modern gondola andmotorcycle engines , the Grail Engine is a two - stroke engine . In vehicles , it ’s more common to come up four - stroking railway locomotive . Here ’s what that mean : On a four - stroke railway locomotive , there are four phases to the interior combustion appendage which cause a vehicle to move – the intake of air and fuel , the compression of those ingredients , the lighting of air and fuel that forces the piston down and the release of exhaust system gas .
However , a two - stroke engine completes that same process in just two step . The intake and exhaust system steps are combine together , as are the compression and ignition steps . Two - shot engine are lighter and more brawny ; but they are n’t as fuel - effective , they tend to break down more often and they also produce a lot ofexhaust gasbecause oil and fuel mix together during the combustion procedure . This is why two - separatrix engine are commonly only used in small recreational vehicles and yard equipment .
Direct Injection : DI is the hot newfangled kid on the block when it comes to engine engineering science . It ’s become a unwashed feature onperformance engine , and it ’s starting to discover its way into more and more routine cars as well . On a DI engine , fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber rather than commix with the tune in a disjoined manifold . This lets the atmosphere / fuel mix sunburn more equally and expeditiously , resulting in increased mightiness and better thriftiness .
Forced Induction : Even if you ’ve never hear of forced installation , you ’ve probably heard ofsuperchargersorturbochargers . Both do essentially the same job : they squeeze more air into the locomotive so it burn hotter and hard , acquire more power . The Grail Engine uses a unique type of forced trigger ( which we ’ll get into in just a bit ) .
Forced Semi - Homogeneous Charged Compression Ignition : Also known as FS - HCCI , this is a technology car manufacturer have been chase after for years , Riley said . This cognitive process compresses air and fuel to the point where they nearly have kittens on their own without flicker lighting ( standardised to the mode a Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel engine lock ) . And when the air / fuel mix does ignite , all the fuel in the chamber burns simultaneously , give birth much better efficiency . That means more power and better fuel thriftiness [ source : Green Car Congress ] .
Grail Engine Design
At just 500 cubic centimetre , the Grail Engine is quite small – about one - fourth the size of theengineon a distinctive economy motorcar .
At first glance , the company ’s epitome wait like any ordinarytwo - separatrix railway locomotive , until you notice the large , upwards - face intake valve coming off the centerfield of the Walter Piston . That has an important procedure we ’ll explore in a bit – the Grail Engine makes much more use of air air pressure than a normal internal combustion locomotive engine . The engine is incorporate of :
[ Source : Grail Engine Technologies ]
Grail Engine Functions
Like anyinternal burning railway locomotive , the Grail Engine cauterize tune and fuel and uses the result plosion to agitate a piston up and down to drive motion . But it ’s the fashion that the Grail engine does it that makes it so unique .
As the piston travels up , a vacuity is created underneath it , which sucks tonic strain in through a one - way reed valve . Air then fills three chambers – the pre - compression chamber , the vent-hole - to - Walter Piston ports and piston - intake - larboard .
When the plunger reaches the top of its travelling path , ignitionoccurs thanks to the threespark plugs . This forces the piston downward , which constrict the zephyr trapped in the crankcase up to this point .
As the Walter Piston reach bottom all in core , the fumes valve spread and exhaust evacuates cylinder as pack together air enters the combustion chamber via the vent - to - piston and piston - intake - port as note above through a one - way valve place within the Walter Piston .
compact fresh airwave swirls upwards in a whirlpool - like style , evacuate the cylinder of exhaust natural gas and refill the cylinder with smart atmosphere . Once the fumes valve ending , fuel isdirect injectedand mix in the sleeping room . The mixture of air and fuel are contract and ignited by the three Dame Muriel Spark sparking plug , creating an explosion that pushes the piston down and creates motion for the next cycle .
Seems pretty elementary , right ? Overall , the Grail Engine appear very similar to an ordinarytwo - throw engine , except compressed air play a much bigger office here . But there are some unique factor at work here , too . For one , Riley says the swirl mixing of press air and fuel is the most efficient air / fuel atomisation mixture that can be obtained for optimum burning . In addition , he say no other engine has a design with forced induction of tight breeze enter the combustion chamber while at the same time air - cooling the top of the Walter Piston to scummy emissions .
Finally , the three spark plugs create a rapid bloom of explosions , which help yield " forced semi - homogenous charged compression ignition , " or FS - HCCI . This process compresses strain and fuel to the item where they closely combust on their own ( without arc ) . And when they do combust , all the remaining fuel in the chamber combusts at once – simultaneously – delivering much better efficiency . This results in more power and better fuel economy [ sources : Green Car Congress , Wojdyla ] .
Benefits of Grail Engines
So the Grail Engine has a very effective signifier of internal combustion . It ’s lightweight , inexpensive , and produces a lot of office for its sizing . As we said earlier , the 500 cubic centimetre paradigm can produce 100horsepowerwhile getting 100 mile per gallon ( 42.5 kilometer per cubic decimetre ) . But what else can it do ?
Riley say the Grail Engine extinguish many of the drawbacks normally interpret on a typicaltwo - throw locomotive . For one , petroleum and fuel never blend together here , so it does n’t have a dope problem . It ’s also very muted and low on quiver , he allege .
Because the engine has fresh , compressed air go through it at all metre , it has no problem staying nerveless . The power to keep the burning chamber uniformly nerveless is what help make FS - HCCI possible , Riley said . This increase caloric efficiency and cuts down on nitrogen oxide emissions . Also , it ’s not just limited to a single cylinder . The Grail Engine is modular in design , so several could be string together to create a multi - cylinder engine [ source : Wojdyla ] .
But as Riley likes to say , " Wait – it gets better . " The Grail Engine is designed to run on virtually any character of fuel , includinggasoline , propane , dieseland natural gas . It can also comport more than one type of fuel at once in separate tanks . The railway locomotive can do so because an onboard computer can line up itscompression ratioon the fly , line up the motor accordingly whenever the driver desire to expend a unlike fuel .
Also , its design prevents the contamination of hydrogen currently seen onfuel cellcars , make that character of fuel more feasible than ever . " This invest fuel cells into a whole new illumination , " Riley said .
Grail Engine Applications
We ’ve already talked about how stiff the Grail Engine is , and how it blow betterfuel economyand efficiency than a normaltwo - fortuity locomotive . But where could it be used ? Well , just about anywhere , Riley said .
" It could be applied to every area of life story , from auto toaircraft , and amateur and industrial engine , " he said . " We have a lot of interest in different surface area . "
Besides car maker , Riley said the Department of Defense has expressed interest , but he said he ca n’t talk about exactly what that project is . Also , it could make an idealhelicopterengine , he enjoin .
While the current prototype Grail Engine is 500 cubic centimetre , the scientist are working on big good example , including 1,000 ml and 2.5 - litre engines .
Plus , Riley articulate he and his employee are motivated by a desire to make the world a better place , not to get rich . Their end is to get subsist car fellowship to get licensed versions of the technology . He hop it might also pave the way for a greener future . " We do n’t want to put anyone out of business , " Riley said . " We want to aid people . We need to change the earth for better . "
I could n’t avail but be impressed with Grail Engine Technologies ' blueprint . It is sure as shooting ambitious , but it ’s based on existing technology , so it seems more feasible than some data-based engines . They seem to have find a way to get the power of a two - stroke locomotive engine without the pollution , and with better fuel economy than most current locomotive . It ’s interesting that the company seems to have " green " motive , rather than just being profit drive . perchance we ’ll see a Grail Engine car sometime soon – it does n’t go too far - fetched to me .
