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Next Big Future reports:
Liquid Piston gets more DARPA funding for 30KW engine 30 times smaller than todays engines
DARPA has awarded LiquidPiston an additional $2.5 million to continue development of its 30kW X4 rotary diesel engine prototype, bringing DARPA's total funding of the engine technology to $6 million.
When development of the fully packaged engine is complete, the 30kW X4 engine is expected to weigh just 30lbs and fit into a 10" box, while achieving 45% brake thermal efficiency – approximately an order of magnitude smaller and lighter than traditional piston diesel engines, and also 30% more efficient. The efficient, lightweight, and powerful rotary Diesel/JP-8 X4 engine offers a disruptive power solution for direct as well as hybrid electric propulsion and power generation.
Seems we get a story about a wonderous alt-energy breakthrough every week that never pans out, can the humble Diesel engine be reinvented to become the "next big thing?"
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday July 05 2018, @08:54PM (2 children)
On the plus side, methane has no C-C bonds to worry about, so that should simplify things considerably. It also liquefies relatively easily, and is lighter than air so that in an accident all the fumes will rapidly depart the scene rather than hanging around to pose a serious explosion risk like gasoline does.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 06 2018, @01:53AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday July 06 2018, @01:36PM
I suppose the inherent cost of more energy dense fuels is that the bonds contain more energy, and are thus stronger and require more energy to break. A small price to pay, even if it means the fuel cells may not be suitable for consumer electronics for quite some time.