18-12-2012, 05:29 PM
ENGINE EFFICIENCY: THE ECOMOTORS SOLUTION
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Abstract
As the world’s demand for energy continues to increase, people look to new technologies to make energy consumption efficient and environmentally friendly. The inefficient use of fossil fuels, particularly by four stroke internal combustion engines used in today’s automobiles, has taken precedence in the discussion of energy efficiency. A suitable solution to this issue is a new engine design that maximizes energy efficiency and minimizes harmful emissions. The progressive engine company EcoMotors has accomplished this with the design of their two-stroke opposed-piston opposed-cylinder (OPOC) engine. This paper will explain and critique how the cutting-edge OPOC engine meets the energy efficiency criteria in a compact, reliable package. It will also clarify any ethical concerns associated with the OPOC engine and how it will avoid these concerns with its innovative design. The technicalities of each separate part of the OPOC engine will be discussed at length, and they will be compared to the parts of conventional internal combustion engines to show why the OPOC engine displays significant improvement in energy efficiency and emissions.
TODAY’S ENERGY CRISIS
As the world’s very limited supply of fossil fuels continues to be depleted by society, the demand for energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies grows ever more apparent. With no definitive replacement for fossil fuels in the immediate future, the most plausible course of action is to improve upon the current technologies that are the primary consumers of these fuel sources. One of the leading culprits of fuel consumption is the automobile industry. In 2011 in the United States, automobile fuel use alone accounted for 8.75 million barrels of fuel consumption. When combined with the inefficiency of the conventional internal combustion engine, these substantial amounts of fuel consumption amount to a considerable waste of energy. The primary concerns with automobiles involve efficiency – particularly engine efficiency – and harmful gas emissions. In the typical automobile, only about 14%-26% of the energy from the fuel put in the tank gets used to move the car down the road. The majority of the remaining energy is lost through the engine: 60% is lost as heat exhaust and a combined 10% is lost through combustion, pumping, and friction. With more cars appearing on the road every day, the consumption of fuel will continue to increase at an alarming rate unless a solution to fuel efficiency is discovered [5].
CONVENTIONAL MODELS OF THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
Internal combustion engines power many different types of machines used today. The two most commonly used types of internal combustion engines used are four stroke and two stroke engines. Although these two types of engines work through similar thermodynamic processes, they have a few differences that allow them to have different applications. They both work by combusting fuel, which causes gases to expand in the cylinder of the engine. This in turn creates enough pressure to push down a piston which is connected to a crankshaft. In an internal combustion engine, the crankshaft is the part that connects to the piston rods. It converts the up-and-down motion of the pistons into the rotating motion needed to power the vehicle. This causes the crankshaft to turn, which creates a rotational energy that is then converted into usable kinetic energy that can be harnessed and transformed into motion by the machine. Each of these engines has different strengths and downfalls which make them useful for specific applications.
THE BENEFITS OF A DUAL PISTON CYLINDER
Although the OPOC works off of the same thermodynamic principles as other internal combustion engines, its unique architecture allows it to reduce the amount of energy lost to friction and achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency. The OPOC reduces friction in two ways. The main way is through a process in which the center pushrods are almost always forced in, causing them to experience a force in the form of compression, while the outside pull rods are always experiencing tension. These opposing forces cancel out leaving a resultant force of almost zero on the crankshaft. Since there is little force on the crankshaft, there is little friction opposing its rotating motion. The balance of the OPOC can be demonstrated by the equation: