High Efficiency

The basic Rankin Cycle Steam Engine used to date has changed little since James Watt invented it over 150 years ago. Efficiency increases gained by raising temperatures and pressures peaked in the 1930’s. The present philosophy is to pipe super-heated steam to the engine and then to a condenser. Single tubes that carried sufficient surface area limited the pressures and temperatures achievable. These lower pressures and temperatures dictated a regime in which the water medium changed state between a liquid and a gas, making for a complicated control system. Though bulky and inefficient, these systems tended to be environmentally clean.

The design objective for the Cyclone Engine is to develop an environmentally friendly, mixed multi-fueled, highly efficient, compact engine.

1. Heat Regeneration – Design innovations in the Cyclone Engine significantly reduce the heat losses. For example, cool air being taken into the engine chills the condenser while being reciprocally pre-warmed before it reaches the combustion chamber. Vapor exiting the piston exhaust ports is used to heat the water that is enroute to the main heat exchanger. Combustion exhaust gases are passed through a heat exchanger that further heats the combustion intake air, etc. In the manner of a business management model where profitability can be increased by trimming costs, the efficiency of the Cyclone Engine is cumulatively increased by actively addressing sources of heat losses through innovative design improvements
 
2. Super-Critical Fluid - Pressures in the range of 3200 psi with temperatures of about 1200°F cause super-critical vapor to act as a fluid. Maintaining the super-critical pressure, in the centrifuge process, eliminates the turbulence, backpressure events, and heat spikes that can occur during other less efficient types of super-critical processes. At these higher temperatures and pressures, the super-critical 'fluid' carries more heat energy to the motor it powers. The Cyclone Engine is a piston engine with a special valve mechanism allowing it to operate at fluid pressures, thereby gaining multi- advantages; greater simplicity, reliability and enhanced power - all supercritical fluid is contained within the system of the engine combustion chamber, which adds to the safety of the engine.

3. High compression – A diesel engine, although similar is an internal combustion/internal expansion engine – The Cyclone Engine is an external combustion/internal expansion engine, using variable timing, variable compression ratios and multiple heat exchangers, attributes to increases in engine efficiency. A reheat stage is included at lower compression ratios.

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