Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

[JB]

Bruce Crower, (one of we OLD farts at 75) famous for his aftermarket camshafts, has patented a six stroke engine that improves efficiency about 40% and needs no cooling system.<br /><br />Here's how it works:<br /><br />After the exhaust stroke of what used to be a four stroke engine, and with both valves (or all four) closed, he injects water into the hot cylinder. The water flashes to steam and produces a second, steam driven, power stroke. That uses up the residual heat in the cylinder that is wasted in a four stroke. The next (sixth) stroke exhausts the steam and a "normal" four strokes follow.<br /><br />Of all the schemes to capture and use the wasted heat and/or energy from two and four stroke engines that I have seen, this one makes a lot of sense.<br /><br />Adapted to a DFI engine or Diesel engine Crower estimates a 40% improvement in fuel efficiency over conventional 4 stroke engines. <br /><br />To review:<br />1. intake<br />2. compression<br />3. combustion<br />4. exhaust<br />5. steam power<br />6. steam exhaust<br /><br />Both 2 stroke and 4 stroke spark ignition engines are technically "Otto cycle" engines and both 2 and 4 stroke compression ignition engines are "Diesel cycle", but Crower's engine, it seems to me, should be called "Crower cycle" engines.<br /><br />It also seems to me that Crower cycle engines will need more cylinders to run smoothly.<br /><br />There is a write-up on page 5 of this week's Auto Week mag.<br /><br />Whatcha think, guys? I think I want to make one!

 

[ndemge]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

very interseting, deffinitly want to read the white pages on this one.<br /><br />No problems with the water hitting the super heated cylinders?

 

[rwise]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

sounds interesting, but wouldn't the water in the combustion cylinder cause problems? Like destroying the tops of the pistons,,,,, rust etc.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Sounds very interesting. Hope they build it here instead of China.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

What about the lost effciency due to having to re-heat the cylinders in the cycle after the steam.<br /><br />Mucho enerigy is lost as heat currently, seems like this would make those losses go up even more.<br /><br />But perhaps this is balanced out with the additional "free cycle".<br /><br />Ken

 

[JB]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

The water flashes to steam in the super-heated cylinder absorbing the heat that would ordinarily be carried away by the cooling system. The cylinder stays well above the boiling point so there is no condensation. The article doesn't say, but my guess is that the cylinder head runs at 300-500*F and the exhaust system at similar temps.<br /><br />He may let the engine get pretty hot before he starts the water injection.<br /><br />Erode the pistons? I guess not. For many years we used water to prevent detonation and preignition and even to decarbonize engines.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Crower Six Stroke engine<br />February 24th, 2006 <br />Bruce Crower, founder of Crower Cams and Equipment, is now retired but he’s still working in his well equipped home workshop. While thinking of ways to improve the old internal combustion engine, he came up with a method to harness the wasted heat energy by creating steam inside the combustion chamber, and using it to boost the engine’s power output and also to control its temperature.<br /><br />It has a few rather amazing attributes:<br /><br />“It’ll run for an hour and you can literally put your hand on it. It’s warm, yeah, but it’s not scorching hot. Any conventional engine running without a water jacket or fins, you couldn’t do that.”<br /><br />Indeed, the test unit has no external cooling system—no water jacket, no water pump, no radiator; nothing. It does retain fins because it came with them, but Crower indicates the engine would be more efficient if he took the trouble to grind them off. He has discarded the original cooling fan. <br /><br />Bruce Crower has quite a history all of his own and if you visit the Crower site you can read all about him. But this engine, if it works as described, could add a whole new chapter to his accomplishments. Very neat.

 

[fireship1]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Erode the pistons? I guess not. For many years we used water to prevent detonation and preignition and even to decarbonize engines.

Bondo has brought this topic up several times. Water (in small doses) makes an excellent engine cleaner. Ever see what the tops of pistons look like in an engine with a blown head gasket that was allowing coolant into that cylinder? It's usually spotless. Clean like it never fired in the first place. Imagine that, no power tune or seafoam required. She starts out clean when new and stays clean. Engine would last a good long time. Carbon usually kills them before they have had a chance to wear out.

 

[Elmer Fudge]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Very interesting, now we will have to wait and see how will the Japanese and Chinese improve and market this innovation for the utopian dreams of the American public

 

[QC]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Wow!! You know that I am interested JB. I'm gonna forward to our senior propeller head; he used to be VP of engine development at Cummins and past president of SAE. He's even older than you and Crower . I'll post his response.<br /><br />Edit: BTW, he is a huge fan of water injection . . .

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

I hope it wouldn't ever devolope a dripping water injector. Oh, what a mess in a short period of time.<br /><br />WWII piston fighters used water injection for short bursts of "war emergency" power. It both increased the compression in the cylinders and cooled at the same time. They however, injected sufficient quantities of water so that, for more than short bursts, the engine would just grenade.

 

[TexomaAv8r]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

But how would the heater work? <br />And seriously, would this affect the emissions in anyway?

 

[QC]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Originally posted by TexomaAv8r:<br /> But how would the heater work? <br />And seriously, would this affect the emissions in anyway?

The heater thing was actually a major issue with electric cars. They had to install a heat pump system for AC and heat which of course sucks a lot of juice . . . The answer to the second question is most certainly yes. Lower cylinder temps assist in lowering NOx emissions, but remember the conventional power stroke is still intact so the biggest benefit would probably be in total Carbon based emissions [AKA Greenhouse Gasses, CO2 equivalent emissions and THCs (relax Z, not those THCs)] which are lowered whenever you increase efficiency . . . <br /><br />There could be some negative affect on emissions as well as most after-treatment systems (Catalysts etc.) are more efficient with higher exhaust temps.

 

[bh357]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

This definately sounds interesting. He didn't address what would happen should you run out of water, but not fuel. Some sort of engine shutoff would need to be implemented to avoid overheating (no external cooling system).<br /><br />Now I'm worried that we'll start seeing 2 stroke vs. 4 stroke vs. 6 stroke threads over in the Outboard Non-repair forum .

 

[RPJS]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

If they get it right an engine like this would have be a major improvement on vehical reliability, from personal experiance I would have to say that about 80% of the breakdowns I have had have been coolant system related.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

JB, it's good to see you posting on something that may curb global warming. We're gonna make a tree-hugger of you yet.

 

[tomatolord]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Ahh american ingenuity!! <br /><br />The fereigners have yet to LEARN that freedom really does open the mind..<br /><br />I read an interesting book and it mentioned futurists in it and the big mistake that most visionaries had was that they just projected todays problems out to the future (global warming)<br /><br />When in reality when there is a "challenge" to overcome "someone" will over come it. They will "invent" things that do not exist today and those inventions will overcome todays issues and move us all forward.<br /><br />Anyway....<br /><br />sounds like a great great idea...my guess is marine use would be the 1st logical choice, water to burn and no need for the dreaded PEE Hole!<br /><br />Then long distance trucking as adding water would not be a real issue.<br /><br />I read where Walmart is committed to reducing fuel use in its trucks by 10%.<br /><br />My hats off to Mr Crower

 

[treedancer]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

<br />Then long distance trucking as adding water would not be a real issue.

No that recycled coffee has to go somewhere.

 

[glasply1]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Oh oh, I can see it now: Water $2 gallon plus $1.50 tax.<br />In the Northwest we're waiting for global warming to come around because we're freezing our hinies (hynies?).<br />Another hybrid engine: The gasoline steam engine!<br />Very interesting topic. Thanks for the info.

 

[KRS]

Re: Coming soon to your aftermarket: SIX stroke engines!

Can we add another stroke for on-board air compression