The century-old concept of the "split-cycle" engine may be on the verge of a comeback, thanks to an engineering company that has put a new twist on the old technology.
If the latest claims by Scuderi Group are accurate, the technology could shake up the auto industry and provide some competition for today's alternative fuel vehicles. Scuderi executives say its split-cycle concept is boosting fuel efficiency by 20 percent to 30 percent (and that figure could ultimately reach 50 percent) while reducing emissions.
One cylinder of Scuderi's split-cycle engine performs intake and compression, while the other handles power and exhaust. The engine completes all four strokes in one crankshaft revolution. (Figure courtesy of Scuderi Group.)
The concept, believed to have been patented as far back as 1912, has long lacked the technical appeal of the age-old Otto cycle engine. Split-cycle engines separate a cylinder's four strokes -- intake, compression, power, and exhaust -- between a pair of cylinders. One cylinder performs intake and compression, while the other is dedicated strictly to power and exhaust. In essence, one side of the engine acts like an air compressor, and the other side produces the power. Air travels between the sides through a "crossover passage."
In theory, this all sounds good, because it enables the engine to do all its work in one rotation of the crankshaft, instead of two, as a conventional four-stroke does. However, split-cycle efficiency was never very good until Scuderi changed a key part of the combustion process.
"We found that if you split the cycles and fire like a normal engine, the efficiency level will never match that of a conventional engine," Sal Scuderi, president of Scuderi Group, told Design News. "But if you fire after top dead center, the efficiency exceeds that of a conventional engine."
Scuderi Group also enhances that efficiency by adding a turbocharger to the equation. The turbocharger uses energy from the exhaust to reduce the size of the compression stroke. As it pulls more energy off the exhaust, the compression stroke gets smaller, and engine size shrinks.
I think this is going to be a good technology to watch. With the government mandating higher fuel efficiencies and "good enough" battery technology still a few years away, this might be the technology that gets us there.
Proving this works in high output engines will be an important factor. It does have some interesting characteristics, for one, the hot side of the engine stays hot and the cool side does not heat up too much. This is in contrast to the Otto cycle characteristics.
I would be very curious as to just why the retardation of the spark helps so much in this design compared to the Otto cycle. And another obvious question to me is if the split cycle is amenable to creating a split Diesel cycle? Would there be any benefits in that?
Seems to me that any kind of technology that has the potential to advance the cause of fuel efficiency is to be taken seriously. Glad to hear that analyst groups and automotive OEMs have this on their radar screens even if it's some time out before we see the actual technology in production vehicles.
This sounds a lot like our two stroke engine, except for being more complicated and having six valves. Clearly it allows much more variation in timing of all the several parameters like when to start the air intake portion and when to inject the fuel. Depending on the timing requirements, the same functions could possibly be delivered by a standard two-stroke engine, even better if it had direct fuel injection. Such an engine might possibly also fare better in emissions testing, although efficiency and low emissions seldom peak at the same time. But as the split stroke is compared to a two stroke, it is clear that they are similar.
This is likely to be what gets the automakers to the 54 mpg 2025 limit. If automakers are foreward thinking enough, they can trumpet they got there 10 years early, too.
Still, this takes away from the goal of weaning off fossil fuels. The innovation that DOES make a storage battery approach the power density of liquid fuels is what is needed.
Hello to all. Scuderiengine.com answers many of your questions. THIS innovative engine technology will definitely shange the engine world (ICE) forever. Lets NOT be "Car-Centric" here. There are ICE Internal Combustion Engines in many other applications and not only the automobile. Lawnmowers, tractors, big generators, boat engines (large + small) basicly ANY ICE with piston technology. As a former Rubber+ Plastics engineer and a youthful "Motor-head",,,, I knew this project was a winner within 30 minutes of a complete inspection of their technologies and developments...
Go to the web-site. This concept "ATDC" is not only central but its been their focus for many years; at Team Scudei. I immediately invested upon being offered the opportunity to get on board with this "Gamechanger" ..
In my opinion....look at the progress and then the depth and gameplan that Scuderi employs. They are asked...they answer beyond expectations and then they engineer beyond expectations. Right now...at 65 mpg proven via simulation,,,there is talk in the 80 mpg range and a longer view of 100 mpg. Will they breach these barriers? I do not know; but they have repeatedly pushed foward beyond their expectations many times before.
Right now....I await the announcement of our 1st leassee of the technology and I am preparing for the push to "Go Public " as Sal Scuderi has stated may times in the past; as the GOAL of Scuderi Motors. The time has come for a real world demonstration. The significant strides foward can no-longer be kept in the closet. It's time to show the public and get ready for the stampede !!!!
"..at 65 mpg proven via simulation,,,there is talk in the 80 mpg range and a longer view of 100 mpg."
In other words, they haven't built anything that performs, but the investors are dreaming big dreams of selling out and the PR machine is cranked up to 11.
Having a long history of watching these various technologies I am very skeptical until they actually build one and run it on a dyno or an instrumented vehicle. They need to build it and test it, otherwise it is just another idea that is good on paper but will never materialize. The world is full of failed attemps. like the ECOmotor. So far no one has been able to violate the laws of thermodynamics
Currently the most efficient practical engines are the direct injected European Diesels at over 30% actual dyno efficiency. We cannot use these in the US becaus of the high combustion pressures and temperatures (the key to efficiency) causes too much NOx
Isn't this essentially an internal supercharger? Seems a traditional supercharger would have less parasitic loss, no fricton from extra pistons and valve train, and would accomplish exactly the same thing....
I suspect that we will be using fossil fuels a lot longer than many people suspect or desire. Reducing emissions is a laudable goal but the world is going to use up all the fossil fuel we can no matter what the green climate folks would like to see happen.
I would really like to see the EV replace ICE powered ones but the target to beat is still the ICE and the availability of fossile fuels is still good enough. How good and for how long is difficult to say but we keep finding more and figuring out how to get it in a relatively cost effective manner. Oil, coal, natural gas, methane hydrates, we are going to use them all.
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