Very Small, Heavy-Fuel Engine (VSHF) Concepts

In recent years there has been substantial investigation into heavy-fuel (diesel or JP-8) engine technologies with the goal of producing small engines (in the 5 horsepower range) for a number of useful applications within both military and commercial areas ranging from unmanned vehicles to power generation. However, practical solutions that resulted in working viable power-plants with the performance and reliability necessary for real-world everyday use were not achieved. A recently patented (#6,899,061, May 31, 2005 and #6,994,057, Feb. 7, 2006) innovative compression ignition engine has been proven in 2006 to operate as anticipated at West Virginia University. It used a modified single cylinder, four-stroke, CFR (Cooperative Research Engine). Its design combines the high pressure compression ignition of the diesel engine with the rapid and timed combustion in the spark ignition engine to maximize combustion compression. These tests provide the technology basis for miniaturization into a useful small engine that can be commercially produced and utilized for everyday applications. This new internal combustion reciprocating engine is reliable and allows burning lean mixtures of heavy fuel for efficient operation. The technology appears to be scalable in size to power small unmanned vehicles and for portable power generators. A small version of this engine is proposed to determine if it is feasible and to demonstrate the technology, along with an analysis of its performance to evaluate its capabilities.