SHowing that there's a lot of life and much improvement left yet in the internal combustion engine, Scuderi Group of Massachussets applies a new thermodynamic process to the engine which is showing substantial promise in the simulations so far.
In what it calls a 'split cycle' engine system, the design involves firing after top dead centre, in the process providing more power with less consumption.
Interestingly, the engine is normally aspirated, which makes it less expensive and complicated than the current turbocharged small sized engines which many carmakers have developed.
In more detail, the Scuderi engine divides the four strokes of a combustion cycle among two paired cylinders -- the left cylinder functions as an air compressor, handling intake and compression, while the right cylinder handles combustion and exhaust.
Key to Scuderi’s split-cycle design is that it fires after top dead center. By optimizing the split-cycle concept, the engine when fully developed will reduce NOx emissions up to 80 percent and improve fuel efficiency by 50 percent, compared to a conventional gasoline engine.
The engine requires one crankshaft revolution to complete a single combustion cycle and with is projected to have higher torque, thermodynamic efficiency, and lower emissions than possible with today’s engines.
