Scuderi Group Secures Patents for World’s First Hybrid Airplane Engine
Breakthrough Air-Hybrid Engine Will Enable Prop Planes to Fly Faster, Higher, Farther

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Nov. 16, 2006 – The Scuderi Group today announced it has secured patents for the world’s first air-hybrid internal combustion airplane engine, which will significantly increase the fuel efficiency of today’s propeller-styled airplanes and reduce toxic emissions by up to 80 percent - all within a design that will make air-hybrid prop airplanes lighter and far less expensive to build.

The engine takes advantage of Scuderi’s groundbreaking split-cycle technology that recaptures and stores energy in the form of compressed air. Unlike conventional airplane prop engines, the Scuderi Engine produces compressed air during its normal operation. By adding a small air storage tank with some simple controls costing only a few hundred dollars, the Scuderi Air Hybrid Airplane Engine can recapture energy normally lost during cruising and deacceleration at landings.

The engine’s external charging capability gives the airplane more runway flexibility, providing a boost of power for shorter take offs. The inherent supercharging can also increase the range and altitude of the aircraft, ultimately providing longer cruising distances

Because of the extremely lighter weight and internal supercharging system, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Airplane Engine is also ideal for unmanned aircrafts, providing the ability to fly faster, higher and farther to destinations that are normally impossible to reach.

“This design gives the airline industry its first hybrid alternative, enabling airplane engine manufacturers to incorporate significant savings and fuel efficiency into their airplanes,” said Sal Scuderi, president of the Scuderi Group. “These technology enhancements, and the subsequent patents, come at an important time as we as a nation look to be more efficient in our use of petroleum products and while the engine manufacturing industry struggles to increase the value of their products.”

The Scuderi Air-Hybrid Airplane Engine will significantly increase the range or altitude of an average propeller-driven airplane. Besides having significantly higher increases in efficiency and better reductions in toxic emissions than traditional electric hybrids, the Scuderi Engine also improves power and performance. Today’s electric hybrid engines normally reduce power and performance to obtain an increase in mileage. Because the Scuderi Air-Hybrid increases power while improving mileage at a cost of only a few hundred dollars as compared to thousands for an electric hybrid, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid is the first hybrid system that makes economical sense.

Currently under development at a world renowned independent research laboratory. the first air-hybrid engine prototypes are expected to be completed in 2007. This patented design represents the most significant breakthrough for internal combustion engines to come along in decades, an advance that takes on added significance given rising fuel prices and growing environmental concerns. Backed by the U.S. government, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Engine is also adaptable to diesel and gasoline automobiles, commercial vehicles and any other applications powered by internal combustion engines.

By utilizing fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and the unique features of a split-cycle design, the Scuderi Technology improves how an engine converts chemical energy into mechanical energy. Unlike conventional engines, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid engine divides the four strokes of a standard engine (intake, compression, power, and exhaust) over a paired combination of one compression cylinder and one power cylinder. These two cylinders perform their respective functions once per crankshaft revolution, while conventional engines require two revolutions of the crankshaft to perform these same functions.

The Scuderi Technology can be applied to any piston engine from very small gasoline powered lawn mowers engines to very large diesel powered train engines. The technology is patented worldwide with six patents issued and several pending in over 45 countries. The Scuderi Group plans to license the technology to qualified engine manufacturers.

The Scuderi Group includes experts in fluid and thermodynamics, engine technology, patent and commercial law, licensing, government relations, business management and finance. The technology is based on the research and inventions of the late Carmelo Scuderi (1925-2002) who spent over 40 years inventing, developing and commercializing new technology. He is best known in the engineering profession for his oil-less compressor technology that changed the method used by the refrigeration and air-conditioning market to recycle ozone-depleting refrigerant chemicals.

On Oct. 25 Steven Scuderi, a patent attorney and legal counsel for the Scuderi Group, discussed the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Engine on Watercooler, a public television program hosted by veteran broadcast journalist Susan Kaplan on WGBY in Western Mass.

Global warming and green technologies were the topics of the conversation. To listen to an MP3 of the full broadcast of the program click here.

You can also watch a clip of Steven Scuderi speaking about the Scuderi Group’s reception in Europe and elsewhere, the environmental benefits of the engine and more:

The Scuderi Group talked with hundreds of participants at the SAE 2006 Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress and Exhibition Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 in Chicago. The company’s booth attracted a steady stream of executives, engineers, and others who learned more about the company’s progress to date and plans for the future.

Application of the Scuderi technology to diesel design was a hot issue, with diesel emissions standards set to tighten in major markets around the world.

India’s quickly growing commercial vehicle manufacturing industry was at the center of attention, with top executives from some of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers taking part in a Spotlight on India panel, including Atam Prakash Arya, president of Tata Motors, Deepak T. Kapur, president of the Truck Group for the International Truck and Engine Corporation, and Dr. Pawan Goenka, president of automotive for Mahindra & Mahindra.

Indian cuisine and music also conveyed India’s growing importance in the global commercial vehicle markets.

The seminars and conversations with Indian executives served Scuderi Executives Nick Scuderi, Steven Scuderi, and Lutz Deyerling well as they prepare for their upcoming business trip to India in December.