With the end of the internal combustion engine Scheduled for the 2035 horizon, one might think that everything has already been invented and that no one is going to develop new engines. Porsche He is one of those who continue to believe that the gasoline engine has a future as long as it is powered by carbon-neutral synthetic fuels, of which he is the main proponent. And that is also perhaps why he has patented a new type of gasoline engineand six-stroke engine.
If you are not familiar with the basic principles of an internal combustion engine, you should know that, with a few exceptions, all cars with internal combustion engines use a four-stroke engine. four times in question are: air and fuel intake (1), mixture compression (2), mixture explosion (3) and exhaust (4). The Porsche patented system adds two more intermediate strokes.
Why a six-stroke engine? For its greater power and efficiency and because yes
The six-stroke internal combustion engine is not something new. It is an invention of the English Samuel Griffin Dating back to 1883, this steam engine manufacturer did not want to pay royalties for the four-stroke engine invented by Otto Benz (yes, the Benz from Mercedes-Benz), so he came up with a six-stroke system. At the beginning of the 20th century, other inventors tried to develop the six-stroke engine (there was even a six-stroke boxer engine) without success.
According to recently released patent filings from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Engine1Porsche has presented a detailed plan for a new six-stroke design. Instead of relying on a traditional combination of intake, compression, burst and exhaust, Porsche wants to try adding an additional compression and burst phase.
The patent specifically describes it as a cycle of “six individual phases that can be divided into two sequences of three phases.” The two additional phases would occur between the compression phase and the exhaust phase. Thus, the first sequence would be intake-compression-explosion, followed by compression-explosion-exhaust.
Six-stroke combustion engine, Porsche patent.
In an attempt to schematize this system, the Porsche patent shows a crankshaft rotating on a ring with two concentric circles. This changes the central point of rotation, which slightly shortens the stroke (up and down movement within the cylinder) of the piston. This, in turn, changes the compression, as the piston moves lower in the cylinder during the explosion phase. This means that the engine has two dead centers, one above and one below.
On paper, it looks complex. And in practice it seems to be just as complex, actually. Although Porsche hasn’t given any details yet, this design has the potential to generate more power with greater efficiencyIn a conventional engine, only one of the four strokes actually produces power.
With this formula it is achieved that one in three power strokeswhile achieving a more complete combustion of the air-fuel mixture and therefore better efficiency.
But it’s not just a question of power or efficiency. Another reason behind this curious design is simply, according to Porsche, to keep the internal combustion engine alive. “There is a constant effort to optimize the operation of combustion engines in view of the ever-increasing demands for improving energy efficiency and other operational aspects of modern combustion engines,” reads the text of the patent application.
Does that mean we will one day see a Porsche 911 with a 6-stroke engine? It’s impossible to know at this point. Often, large companies patent numerous innovations, processes or parts with the sole aim of making them unusable by other companies, even if they never reach the market. That said, if there is one brand capable of successfully reviving a century-old invention, it is Porsche.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
