Engineers commonly ask how the Scuderi Engine deals with heat, particularly in the engine's power cylinder. In this interview, Scuderi Group President Sal Scuderi answers the thermal question. As Sal points out, the Scuderi Engine actually has lower peak temperatures than a conventional combustion engine, and the company's research indicates that no special materials or lubricants (beyond commercially available synthentic oil) are required in the design.
September 18, 2007 - 4:34 pm
2 Responses to “Sal Scuderi On Heat and the Air-Hybrid Engine”
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September 18, 2007 at September 18, 2007 - 5:56 pm
I would think heat would be a bigger concern on the intake coming from the compression piston. The idea that the engine can be “Turbo-charged” via adjusting the relative piston sizes brings with it the problem of overheated air which can cause pre-detonation. Of course water-injection has solved this problem in the past but this doesn’t appear to be part of your standard design. Could someone from the scuderigroup comment?
Jerry
September 19, 2007 at September 19, 2007 - 11:24 am
The work of compression does increase the air temperature and total kinetic energy of the air going into the power cylinder. In a conventional engine pre-detonation would be an issue. However, in the Scuderi Split-Cycle engine, the process of firing after top dead actually has a cooling effect on the expanding combustion gasses. This results from the piston moving away from the point of ignition along with the rapidly increasing volume in the combustion cylinder. The Scuderi engine therefore requires a very fast combustion process which the high kinetic energy in the compressed air actually helps to achieve.