Rotary Valve Engines

[66 Sat]

Just came across this video when watching a member's video of the problems he's having with his car.
Unrelated to Mopars but should be interesting for anyone with gasoline in their veins.

 

[bobsgtx]

And how does it seal against combustion heat and pressure. Many ideas have come and gone. Remember the rotary or Wankel? Couldn't get the seals to last let alone meet emission standards.

 

[66 Sat]

And how does it seal against combustion heat and pressure. Many ideas have come and gone. Remember the rotary or Wankel? Couldn't get the seals to last let alone meet emission standards.

Well, that's what the video is about. Why not watch it?

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Rotary engines are fantastic engines. The Apex seals are the bad part about them. But for what they are its a fantastic alternative to a piston engine.

 

[66 Sat]

This isn't a rotary engine like a Wankel though. This is a conventional piston engine but with a different head arrangement to do away with the camshaft and poppet/mushroom valves.
Like the guy says at the end, great idea but may not get the investment required due to the direction the industry is going.

 

[RJRENTON]

Rotary engines are fantastic engines. The Apex seals are the bad part about them. But for what they are its a fantastic alternative to a piston engine.

Apex AND side rotor seals were troublesome. Didn't they require a gas/oil mix or oil injection plus they had 2 spark plugs per "cylinder" a leading and a trailing plug? It's been a long time.......
BOB RENTON

 

[Photon440]

And how does it seal against combustion heat and pressure. Many ideas have come and gone. Remember the rotary or Wankel? Couldn't get the seals to last let alone meet emission standards.

Apex seals were improved to the point of being fairly reliable. Between the first NSU in 1964 and the last Mazda RX-8 in 2012, improvements were constant and beneficial. It's true that emissions were a problem to overcome, and were a difficult hurdle. The current Mazda MX-30 is the only car that I'm aware of that uses a Wankel design, but as a hybrid variant; it's engine doesn't drive the wheels but acts as a drive for the electrical generator only.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

 

[66 Sat]

It's actually this (this one has 2 separate rotary valves but it can be done with one as per the video)

 

[mrhemi]

Reminds me of the sleeve valve aircraft engines (Bristol Centaurus), not so much the actual design, but the concept.