Diesel Rotary??

[Ricco_04]

Nice link there buddy - will read that laters! :wave

[nikp]

Apparently, you only need luck to win Le Mans

Hehe - nice one Martin.

[Prof]

Given our fuel economy - a rotary I could run on chippy fat would be awesome :driving :Hammer :rollin

[clive]

I\'m suprised this isn\'t on the site, it\'s a really good read, especially for the technically minded.

http://varel.force9.co.uk:1133/RX7/RotaryEngineWhitePaper.pdf

The site may not be live 100% of the time, so I\'ll try to get it moved to a better place, but will have to do for now.

Thankyou for that Ian, and yes your right it should be in our FAQ section.

[ianelvar]

No worries. :Thumbs-up

I\'ve got a bunch of similar stuff I\'ve collected during my research on rotaries. It\'s being uploaded to some more permanent (and faster) hosting at the moment, so I\'ll put a post up when it\'s done, and maybe someone could choose what they want (if any) to put links to in the FAQ section. There\'s a good video I found that explains pull clutch removal.

Sorry for the thread hijack!

Again, this is slightly off topic, but has anyone seen the drawings for a steam powered, external combustion rotary? While we\'re on the subject of alternative rotary power I think it\'s worth a look.

http://ghlin2.greenhills.net/~apatter/wankel.html

I particularly like the compounding idea. I work with steam locos at didcot at the weekends, so I have a bit of a fascination with steam.
Would put an end to det problems... :Laugh

[dandan]

still slightly off topic but anyone who has read this far into the post might actually appreciate this, this is an illustration taken from ianelvar\'s rotary engine whitepaper link:



I can\'t believe that all these variations of a rotor cross section are possible! It seems the wankel shape (top right) is just one of many, and I always thought the number of tips (3) was an unchangeable constant.

Very enlightening thread this.

EDIT: now where\'s my spirograph...?

[nikp]

Middle middle one looks just like an oil pump!!

[banned advertiser]

Theres another site Dan, cant find link has illustrations of up to 8 seals

[Ricco_04]

I can\'t believe that all these variations of a rotor cross section are possible! It seems the wankel shape (top right) is just one of many, and I always thought the number of tips (3) was an unchangeable constant.

I read that NSU/Felix Wankel expirimented with 4 & IIRC 5 sided rotarys.

The rotary we know today is, as Felix Wankel said, "a bastardised" version of the one he wanted to market - where the rotor spun in a perfect circle and not on an eccentricity (sp?)  which was even more smoother and could potentially rev higher.  They decided to test this and had it revving at 25,000rpm without blowing up!! :InLove  That\'s what I want to see another version of!

[dandan]

how would a centrally rotating version work? cos surely the chambers would not change in volume so there would be no compression/expansion? unless the outer housing was an odd shape that created the changes in the chamber volume, but then you would only get one combustion cycle per 360 rotation of the rotor instead of 3 like in a wankel? i\'m sure it can all be explained away with lots of complicated circles....
Anyone got any links to pics of this, or a description to explain it?

[ianelvar]

Dan - I agree, I\'ve never been able to work out how a rotary without an eccentric produces any torque.

That being said, take a look at this:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/quasiturbine.htm

It has chambers that change volume by having a variable geometry rotor. It\'s supposed to work, but I can\'t see, and the article doesn\'t explain, how it imparts any torque upon the output shaft. Can see how it could work as a compressor, though.

[Dominic]

Ian, thanks for that white paper link, good find and a good read. The bit on the diesel rotary is interesting as it suggests a single cycle system would not work too well. Its nice to hear it from the horse\'s mouth though :Giggle

[iaint]

Surely for the tips to withstand the explosion forces on combustion they could withstand the compression forces?  Sealing may be an issue but I would expect the fuel to actually act as a lubricant and thus protecting the engine withough the need for oil injectors...

[Ricco_04]

how would a centrally rotating version work? cos surely the chambers would not change in volume so there would be no compression/expansion? unless the outer housing was an odd shape that created the changes in the chamber volume, but then you would only get one combustion cycle per 360 rotation of the rotor instead of 3 like in a wankel? i\'m sure it can all be explained away with lots of complicated circles....
Anyone got any links to pics of this, or a description to explain it?

This is the forementioned engine (which is also the front cover of the History of the Wankel Rotary Engine - the book I keep referring to)



I may have this wrong but will need to read the book again to make sure.  The rotor rotates counter clockwise while the inner housing rotstes the other way at 2x the speed.  It then has an outer shell for mounting which made it larger.  It was also deemed unfit for everyday use as the engine would need to be torn down to replace the spark plugs whish where in the 2nd housing or the rotor.

Cant quite figure it out now so must have something wrong, book comes out again later then! (maybe I should have read it first! :Giggle )

[Martiny]

Whilst that Quasi Motor doesnt have eccentricity, it DOES have parts that are going, stopping, and changing direction all the time. So for me, its not a Rotary.