Hybrids: Diesel Air Hybrid engine

In next week's Hanover fair the design of a prototype diesel application of its air-hybrid engine will be shown by Scuderi.

The split-cycle engine divides the conventional four-stroke engine cycle across two paired cylinders—one compression cylinder and one power cylinder. Intake air is compressed in the compression cylinder and transferred via a gas passage to the power cylinder for combustion. The Scuderi air-hybrid implementation leverages the split-cycle technology by recapturing and storing energy in the form of compressed air.

By adding a small air storage tank with some simple controls costing only a few hundred dollars, the Scuderi engine can recapture energy normally lost during the braking of a vehicle. In addition, unlike electric hybrids, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid promises to be able to recapture energy from the exhaust of the engine, making it possible to utilize a Scuderi Air-Hybrid design in stationary applications such as electric generators—an application where electric hybrids are considered impractical. The concept is applicable to either Otto or diesel engines.

The innovations in the design of the Scuderi engine reduces the cost of diesel systems by eliminating or dramatically reducing three of the most expensive and complex parts of a diesel system—turbocharging, injectors and exhaust treatment. Because of the inherent design advantages of the Scuderi Air-Hybrid diesel engine, we estimate that this engine can lower the cost of diesel engines by as much as 40-50%. We strongly believe that the Scuderi Air-Hybrid engine is the diesel engine design of the future.

—Sal Scuderi, president of The Scuderi Group
The unique method of firing after top dead center and a very fast moving power piston eliminate or drastically reduce the two biggest emission problems for diesel engines: NOx and PM, according to Scuderi. As a result, the company claims, expensive exhaust aftertreatment systems can be scaled down dramatically.

Other potential cost savings come from the elimination of the turbocharger and the halving of the number of fuel injectors. In addition, because of the high turbulence created by the air transferring into the power cylinder from the transfer passage, the Scuderi Diesel Engine will be able to use low pressure, low cost injectors instead of expensive high-pressure injectors, according to the company.

Scuderi expects its engine to:

- Improve fuel efficiency in today’s gas and diesel engines by almost one third;

- Emit 80 percent less toxic emissions than today’s gas and diesel engines;

- Enhance the performance of hybrid engines;

- Provide significantly more power than a conventional engine; and

- Be easy to manufacture because it utilizes the same components found in today’s engines.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, Diesel, Air, hybrid

Source: Green Car Congress

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