Efficient engine gets financial boost from army
US military invests in multi-cylinder engine that uses a third of the fuel of standard designs
Finding more efficient means of powering vehicles has been a goal for automotive experts for years. One US based firm believes it has designed an engine that will use just a third of the fuel of conventional engines, and has received backing from the US military for development.
Archates Power, and partner AVL Powertrain Engineering, have been given $4.9m to develop a multi-cylinder engine after the successful testing of their small single-cylinder design, according to MIT’s Technology Review.
The engine is reportedly able to burn a number of different fuels, and is therefore capable of use in both commercial and private engines. CEO David Johnson says that as diesel fuel is already efficient, the savings from the design could allow efficiencies of 50 percent on traditional gasoline-fuelled engines.
Archate’s design is based upon the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers’s 1930’s Jumo engine, which was considered the most fuel efficient of the time.
A number of research projects recently have led to designs of more fuel efficient engines, with scientists and General Electric developing a pulse detonation engine. If these designs are made commercially viable, then considerable savings for vehicle manufacturers are likely, while the environmental lobby will be equally receptive.
