May 4Lh 2010

1

A|ternat|ve |deas for the combust|on eng|ne

I @he combust|on eng|ne
lLeral combusLlo ele ls ay ele LhaL operaLes by burl lLs fuel lslde Lhe
ele 1he lLeral combusLlo ele was puL lLo use for Lhe flrsL Llme aroud Lhe mld
1830s
lLeral combusLlo eles ca be classlfled by Lhelr cofluraLlo (foursLroke LwosLroke
wakel as Lurbles) 1oday lLeral combusLlo eles l cars Lrucks moLorcycles
alrcrafL cosLrucLlo machlery ad may oLhers mosL commoly use a fourstroke cyc|e
Iour stroke conf|gurat|on
Cperat|on

loursLroke cycle (or CLLo cycle)
1 lLake
2 Compresslo
3 ower
4 LxhausL
s Lhelr ame lmplles operaLlo of four sLroke lLeral combusLlo eles have four baslc
sLeps LhaL repeaL wlLh every Lwo revoluLlos of Lhe ele
1 Intake
4 1he plsLo sLarLs aL Lhe Lop Lhe lLake valve opes ad Lhe plsLo moves dow Lo
leL Lhe ele Lake l a cyllderfull of alr ad asolle 1hls ls Lhe |ntake stroke Cly
Lhe LllesL drop of asolle eeds Lo be mlxed lLo Lhe alr for Lhls Lo work
2 ompress|on
4 1he Lhe plsLo moves back up Lo compress Lhls fuel/alr mlxLure ompress|on
makes Lhe exploslo more powerful
3 9ower
4 Jhe Lhe plsLo reaches Lhe Lop of lLs sLroke Lhe spark plu emlLs a spark Lo llLe
Lhe asolle 1he asolle chare l Lhe cyllder exp|odes drlvl Lhe plsLo dow
4 xhaust
4 Cce Lhe plsLo hlLs Lhe boLLom of lLs sLroke Lhe exhausL valve opes ad Lhe
exhaust leaves Lhe cyllder Lo o ouL Lhe Lallplpe
May eles overlap Lhese sLeps l Llme [eL eles do all sLeps slmulLaeously aL
dlffereL parLs of Lhe eles
May 4Lh 2010
2



lf Lhls ele has survlved for such a lo Llme wlLhouL bel replaced you musL aLher LhaL
lL possesses may advaLaes
O elaLlvely efflcleL (compared Lo a exLeral combusLlo ele)
O elaLlvely lexpeslve (compared Lo a as Lurble)
O elaLlvely easy Lo refuel (compared Lo a elecLrlc car)

now Lhls ele (lCL for shorL) has evolved a llLLle slce lLs creaLlo adapLl Lo eeds ad
ew Lecholoy uforLuaLely desplLe lLs may advaLaes Lhere are a few drawbacks LhaL
follow
ldeed amo Lhe mosL lmporLaL oes are
O apldly decreasl avallablllLy of asolle worldwlde
O armful exhausL emlsslos lLo aLmosphere (CC CC2 hydrocarbos eLc)
O nolse polluLlo
Cocerl Lhe lasL oe whlch may ralse a few eyebrows lmale yourself walkl by whlle
lerrarls race pasL your block ?ou probably would#L be able Lo hear for a whlle afLer LhaL!

1herefore scleLlsLs ad researchers have sLarLed Lo look for alLeraLlves LhaL would polluLe
less (lCL#s prlclple drawback) buL aparL from whaL#s bee lveLed ad we#ll Lalk abouL
LhaL laLer o l am l o poslLlo Lo devlse someLhl LhaL compllcaLed l a few weeks JhaL
May 4Lh 2010
3

l dld was sLarL from Lhe lCL ad Lry Lo lmprove a few prlmary problems o lL here#s whaL l
Lhlk we could do

baslc ldeaeL rld of Lhe crakshafL ad replace wlLh roLaLl drum
wlLh sle wave chael Lo ru sLadard plsLos l
C Lhls plcLure made o CaLla you ca see LhaL
Lhls crakshafL ls much more easlly machled
Lha a sLadard oe ad lf a eve umber of
waves are preseL l Lhe Lrack lL ls ecessarlly
always l balace
Slce Lwo dlaoal plsLos are sychrolzed wlLh
Lhe oLher Lwo (Lwo up Lwo dow) Lhe ceLer of
mass of Lhe ele ls sLable
1herefore Lhe ele ls vlbraLlo free l prlclple
excepL for Lorque applled Lo Lhe Lrasmlsslo o
each power sLroke
Advantage of th|s eng|ne type
1here are oLher advaLaes Lo Lhls scheme besldes o vlbraLloCe ls Lhe opLlo Lo cuL
Lhe chael l a maer oLher Lha a sle wave lor lsLace oe mlhL waL Lhe plsLo Lo
ller aL Lhe Lop of Lhe compresslo sLroke l order Lo allow for more compleLe burl of
Lhe fuel before usl Lhe eery o Lhe dowsLroke lL mlhL be posslble Lo obLal some
more efflclecy ouL of lLeral combusLlo
1he plsLo ad plsLo rod are oe solld ulL ellmlaLl sldesllp (resulLl l loss of eery)
lL mlhL also be posslble Lo lay Lhe ele sldeways ad mouL Lwo plsLos o Lhe same rod
Lhus creaLl a elhLcyllder ele (all plsLos rul o Lhe same sle Lrack)

May 4Lh 2010
4

1he camshafL ls easler Lo machle bel ow a plaLe mouLed o Lop Lo Lhe ele
coecLed dlrecLly Lo Lhe mal shafL s Lhe drum Lurs ralsed meLal o Lhe plaLe acLlvaLes
Lhe valves whlch ca be acceleraLed Lo ope ad closed poslLlos aL ay deslred raLe
1hls ca be a very llhL ele no couLer welhLs are requlred o Lhe crakshafL for
example 1he slze of a fourcyllder ele as well as Lhe oe of a elhLcyllder ele
would be relaLlvely small meal you ca easlly carry lL Lo your arae for lsLace for
reparaLlos

9rob|ems w|th th|s eng|ne type
1here ls a Lorque puL o Lhe plsLo rod parLlcularly o Lhe power sLroke whlch musL be
hadled by havl Lhe rod ru up ad dow l a sleeve

8ecause of Lhe slmpllclLy of machll ad Lhe quallLy of moder oll lubrlcaLlo (exlsLl l
may forms) l would aLLempL Lo bulld Lhls ele wlLhouL bearls l elLher Lhe rod sleeves
or sle chael coecLlo l facL l would llke Lo see how lo such a seLup could lasL ad
wheLher lL would be proflLable Lo [usL leL Lhe ele wear ouL ad replace lL afLer over
80 000 km or so
C Lhe lLake sLroke Lhe plsLo rod coecLlo Lo Lhe sle chael ls pushed Lo Lhe Lop slde
of Lhe chael whereas o all oLher sLrokes lL ls forced Lo sLay o Lhe boLLom slde 1hls mlhL
lead Lo a aoyl audlble cllckl soud whe Lhe coecLor oes from boLLom Lo Lop
Ce way aroud Lhls would be Lo drlve alr lLo Lhe cyllder raLher Lha usl Lhe plsLo Lo
suck lL l l Lhls cofluraLlo Lhe coecLor would always be aL Lhe boLLom of Lhe
chael

now l a more reallsLlc perspecLlve Lhree propulslo Lechololes curreLly lead Lhe
compeLlLlo Lo replace Lhe combusLlo ele

O Hybrids: hybrld ls a small lLeral combusLlo ele fueled by asolle dlesel
or aLural as ad ls palred wlLh a elecLrlc moLor LhaL ls rechared by Lhe eery
used l brakl 1hls alLeraLlve ls Lherefore oL compleLely rld of lLs predecessor
ece Lhe quesLlo whaL use ls Lhere for Lhe elecLrlc parL? l facL Lhe elecLrlc ele
asslsLs Lhe mal power plaL whe addlLloal speed or acceleraLlo ls eeded
May 4Lh 2010
3

ybrlds are already ouL l Lhe uS markeL 1oyoLa ad oda boLh sell small asolle
elecLrlc cars lord ls also followl Lhe Lred lLs mosL popular bel a famllyslze
hybrld elecLrlc car Lhe Lscape

O 0.9ri.: LlecLrlc moLors are powered by oboard baLLerles LhaL are chared aL
lhL or whe Lhe vehlcle ls oL l use LlecLrlc cars Lhemselves produce zero
emlsslos buL Lhelr producLlo ls oL zeroemlsslo Carbo dloxlde ad sulfur are
produced by ceLrallzed elecLrlc eeraLlo plaLs ad lead ls released durl Lhe
producLlo ad hadll of baLLerles LlecLrlc cars are ow wldely LhouhL Lo be a
lferlor opLlo due Lo Lhelr shorL rae hlh cosL ad llmlLed performace ueLrolL
wlll bulld Lhem oly Lo meeL Lhe zeroemlsslo requlremeLs of a few sLaLes such as
Callforla ad MassachuseLLs
1he Lwo alLeraLlves are usually rouped slce Lhey boLh use Lhe same Lecholoy a
elecLrlc moLor 8e LhaL as lL may Lhere ls a dlfferece beLwee Lhe Lwo MosL of Lhe
ree vehlcles curreLly o Lhe markeL are hybrlds 1hls meas LhaL Lhey use a
comblaLlo of elecLrlclLy ad as for propulslo
@hough these a|ternat|ves seem ||ke good rep|acements concern|ng carbon em|ss|ons
|et's study the|r ||m|ts
1he mal dlsadvaLae of Lhese hybrld ad elecLrlc vehlcles ls Lhe prlce ybrld vehlcles
are more expeslve Lha Lhelr asolleburl couLerparLs ad are someLlmes hard Lo
fld lf you declde a hybrld vehlcle ls for you you may oly be able Lo choose from a few
makes ad models
lor elecLrlc vehlcles Lhe rae LhaL a slle chare offers may oL eL you very far 1he
ChevroleL volL whlch wlll be avallable l 2010 oly has a elecLrlc rae of 64 km before
Lhe baLLerles eed charl ad Lhe asolle ele klcks l Lo supply LhaL chare
May 4Lh 2010
6

erhaps Lhe blesL dowfalls of Lhese vehlcles rlhL ow are Lhe baLLerles CurreL
baLLerles for hybrld vehlcles are llLhlumlos whlch are made from cobalL ad lckel
8oLh of Lhese elemeLs ca be polsoous Lo humas ad almals 1he mll
producLlo ad dlsposal of Lhese baLLerles are exLremely harmful Lo Lhe evlromeL
noL oly are Lhese baLLerles daerous Lhey are also very expeslve