Mazda has by no means been afraid of some actually odd engine designs. It retains attempting to make the Wankel work. It has a gasoline engine with compression ignition. And the corporate has made 14:1 compression gasoline engines that in some way run on common unleaded. Then there are the extra regular oddballs, just like the Miller cycle Millenia or the 1.8-liter V6 within the MX-3.
This time, although, Mazda has outdone itself. The corporate simply obtained a patent for a six stroke engine. What does it do with the additional strokes, you are questioning? It separates the hydrogen and carbon in gasoline so it may burn simply the hydrogen, thus taking the carbon out of the system. Simple, proper? No, not straightforward. And it will get even wilder from there.
Fuel Goes In, Carbon Would not Come Out
The patent is known as “gas reforming system for automobile,” which does virtually nothing to explain the magic occurring right here. Mazda’s engineers describe it as a technique to get better carbon, enhance thermal effectivity, and offer you a automotive that runs carbon-neutral.
It really works like this: The engine makes hydrogen from gasoline utilizing its personal warmth and a catalyst. It then burns that hydrogen and shops the carbon to be eliminated later. The result’s that you may burn gasoline with zero CO2, at the very least more often than not.
The engine solely shops small quantities of hydrogen, so it does not want complicated tanks. If there is not sufficient hydrogen prepared to be used, it may simply run the old style manner on gasoline till hydrogen is prepared. It may save the interior combustion engine from eventual extinction, however there’s only one downside. That is just about probably the most complicated resolution from Mazda we have ever seen. And that is saying one thing.
Previous And Busted: 4 Stroke. New Hotness: Six Stroke
A traditional engine works like this: In cycle one (aka the consumption stroke), air is pulled in on a piston down stroke, and gas is added. Cycle two (compression stroke) sees the piston transfer up, compressing the combination in order that the spark plug can ignite it and push it down (the facility stroke) via cycle three. Cycle 4, the exhaust stroke, pushes out the exhaust gases because the piston strikes up. And the method repeats from there.
This engine has these 4, with some modifications, and two extras. On the primary cycle, air is pulled like regular. It may possibly additionally open an exhaust valve to tug exhaust air in, for easier EGR.
The following two cycles are commonplace – compression adopted by energy. Cycle 4 is known as the re-compression stroke. On this cycle, the exhaust air is pushed out via a distinct valve. This valve routes the exhaust air via what’s referred to as a decomposer.
Mazda’s decomposer is sort of a catalytic converter with out costly metals. Proper in entrance of it’s a gas injector that squirts gasoline into the recent exhaust air.
The new exhaust and gas combination enters the reformer and the carbon – pure carbon, it is not CO2 but – sticks to the catalyst. Gasoline is a mixture of hydrocarbons like octane (C8H18). The reformer separates and shops each.
A carbon restoration unit holds the carbon that comes out of the response. It might be emptied or eliminated while you go in for service. The carbon that comes out can be utilized in metal or for pigments (and different makes use of) or just saved.
Cycle 5, the re-expansion cycle, pulls the remaining air again into the cylinder. Then it is pushed out via the exhaust valve in cycle six, which is cycle 4 in a traditional engine.
Mazda’s patent consists of some variations. Two of them use barely completely different strategies within the catalyst, and one makes use of a four-stroke cycle the place the fourth is a “scavenging cycle” that has the consumption, exhaust, and reformer valves all open on the identical time. Consider it like an much more complicated two-stroke engine.
Extraordinarily Complicated And Probably A lot Much less Environment friendly
The engine could be far more complicated than a present inner combustion engine. Including a whole further valve path means extra elements and an advanced cylinder head design. The additional valve and the exhaust valve would have to be opened and closed by an actuator, not a camshaft.
Each cylinder may share a single reformer, however then the engineers want to ensure one cylinder does not pull all of the air. The reformer and its passages would additionally want to have the ability to deal with the warmth of combustion. Then there are the three further injectors and a small hydrogen storage tank.
It might additionally want a critical quantity of carbon storage. Gasoline is generally carbon by weight, with a gallon of gasoline having round 5.5 kilos of it. So for each 15-gallon tank of gasoline on a Mazda CX-5, you’d get 82.3 kilos of carbon. That is about 5 one-gallon jugs of carbon. Supplier service departments will like it. Nevertheless, its additionally about 300 kilos of CO2 that does not come out of the tailpipe, which is the actual motive for all of this.
What about effectivity? It is laborious to discover a gas financial system determine for hydrogen combustion, as a result of it is uncommon. Some of the notable was the 2007 BMW Hydrogen 7. The automotive’s 6.0-liter V12 ran on gasoline or liquid hydrogen, returning 125 miles on 18 kilos of hydrogen. Crunch some numbers and also you get 6.9 miles per pound. With round 0.8 kilos of hydrogen per gallon of gasoline, that is 8.6 miles per gallon. A gasoline 760Li returns round 15 mpg.
The thought is wonderful, and definitely attention-grabbing. However the implementation is a nightmare, and its precise effectivity is questionable. In different phrases, it is good for Mazda, so maybe we’ll see some type of manufacturing model within the years to come back.