Engine Design Claims Doubled Efficiency

A new design for an internal-combustion engine, which debuted in Detroit last week at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress, will double the fuel efficiency of today’s engines, according to its inventors. The Scuderi Group, based in West Springfield, Mass., has several patents on the engine. Extensive virtual-design work has been done, and the first diesel and gasoline prototypes are in the works and should be completed by early next year, according to the company. The engine tosses out the conventional four-stroke cylinder and replaces it with a pair of cylinders. Fuel is compressed in a compression cylinder and transferred to a power cylinder through a gas passage. This split-cycle technology enables each cylinder to be independently optimized to perform its separate and distinct tasks, the company says. The gas passage includes a set of uniquely timed valves, which maintain a precharged pressure through all four strokes of the cycle. Shortly after the piston in the power cylinder reaches its top dead center position, the gas is quickly transferred to the power cylinder and fired (or combusted) to produce the power stroke. The split-cycle technology can be applied to any internal combustion engine including gasoline, diesel, bio-diesel, and natural gas.