Why change current engine designs?
It has always been known that internal combustion
engines are inefficient. All fuels have a given
potential energy, which when burnt in an internal
combustion engine creates power.
The power produced is far less than the fuels energy
potential, so engine losses are measured and we account
for all the lost energy.
The major losses are:
● Exhaust losses
● Heat transfer losses
The moderate losses are:
● Pumping losses
● Combustion losses
● Mechanical friction losses
● Parasitic losses
These losses are quoted by almost everyone worldwide in
the engine and automotive business, and are believed to
be true and correct.
Each engine has it’s own characteristics which are
dependent on many things such as top end design,
operational range and capacity. For this reason we have
not provided the actual percentages as they do vary.
The image right is a graphical representation of what we
expect to be the losses from a conventional petrol
engine.
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When all the measured losses
are added together it accounts for almost 100%
of the fuel’s potential energy. Given this fact,
no one has taken a further look at the reasoning
behind the calculation, or what actually should
be measured and added into the equation.
Engine development over the last century has not
achieved any major gains in efficiency. It is
believed that to increase engine efficiency
further, a reduction in the pre-mentioned losses
must be achieved.
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