Bill Gate's Opoc Engine Vs Elio's Iav Engine?

[skygazer6033]

Opposed piston 2 stroke diesels have been around since the 20s or 30s. Were used in WWII vintaged submarines, various small surface ships and locomotives. The OPOC engine seems to be an endeavor to take a simple successful design, make it complicated, claim it as a breakthrough and fleece Bill Gates out of a lot of money. Secondary vibration has got to be off the charts. How would you manage to counterbalance the weight of 4 long con rods and 2 pistons on a crossbar with 2 pistons and 2 short rods? Also there's no mention of a supercharger. A 2 stroke diesel won't run without a supercharger.

 

[skygazer6033]

Opposed 2 stroke diesels are elegantly simple. A crankshaft on bottom, another crankshaft on top, pistons and rods in between and a gear train to keep it all timed. Ports in the cylinder walls. No valves, no heads. Timing between the 2 cranks could be varied to improve scavenging and efficiency. All of this without all the extra machinery of the OPOC.

 

[Lil4X]

More here on the OPOC engine . . . http://auto.howstuffworks.com/opposed-piston-opposed-cylinder-engine.htm
From the looks of it, this engine was someone's pipe dream years ago - and has remained so ever since. Based on the animation provided on page 1, it's far more complex than just two opposed pistons in a single cylinder, because of the location of the ports in the drawing there is no provision for exhaust scavenging. The engine is going to be dependent on a supercharger to furnish pressure to charge the cylinders while sweeping exhaust gases away. That's going to be a timing nightmare IMHO.

I'll wait for a fusion pack and my flux capacitor - both of which are more likely to reach the market before the OPOC engine.

 

[wizard of ahs]

Sure did look good... on paper.
Maybe the "Thrux-capacitor" is the way to go (L.O.L)

Flux Capactitor providing 1.21 Jiggawats

When this baby hits 88mph... lol

 

[Rob Croson]

Opposed piston 2 stroke diesels have been around since the 20s or 30s. Were used in WWII vintaged submarines, various small surface ships and locomotives.

Modern nuclear submarines still use them for emergency power. Ours was Fairbanks Morse 8 cylinder/16 piston model.

If you're looking for some kind of exotic replacement for a standard piston engine, why not go to something like a rotary? It's got to be simpler, cleaner, more reliable than inventing something like this. That LiquidPiston concept someone posted in another thread looks promising.

 

[W. WIllie]

The rotary engine is the best for "most HP per. cu.in"...............BUT once the EPA gets involved everything goes south.
(My opinion)
Willie

 

[Ian442]

Damn Gubmint (snickers)

 

[wizard of ahs]

Don't know about "nowadays", but back in the day (30 years ago), the problem with rotary engines were the rotor seals. They just didn't last. Hopefully, things have been worked out now

 

[Elio Amazed]

Opposed piston 2 stroke diesels have been around since the 20s or 30s. Were used in WWII vintaged submarines, various small surface ships and locomotives. The OPOC engine seems to be an endeavor to take a simple successful design, make it complicated, claim it as a breakthrough and fleece Bill Gates out of a lot of money. Secondary vibration has got to be off the charts. How would you manage to counterbalance the weight of 4 long con rods and 2 pistons on a crossbar with 2 pistons and 2 short rods? Also there's no mention of a supercharger. A 2 stroke diesel won't run without a supercharger.

There are several videos on youtube where a spokesman for this engine states that they are running prototypes with both superchargers and electric turbos. He also stated something along the lines of "We're not getting quite what this technology and design deserves yet, but we're getting there...", when referring to projected output specs. If I had more time, I'd be a rich man... um... strike that... If I had more time, I'd track down the links to the vids for you. Just let the video that's linked in the beginning of this thread run till it's end and click on a few of the related videos that appear in the Youtube frame. He also implies that they've already got a U.S. military contract for these things.

 

[skygazer6033]

This engine design seems like someone inventing a central camshaft with pushrods to get rid of that pesky overhead cam. IMO this design is a large step backward when compared to conventional opposed piston 2 stroke diesels.