Revision as of 23:05, 25 March 2022

Basics

A Piston Engine where the engine is "free" within the cylinder; it is not connected to a Crankshaft
Can be used as Gas Generators and/or Linear Generators
If the coils of the linear generator are also used as a Linear Motor this can be used to control the position / motion of the piston thus allowing for software tunable, infinitely variable compression ratios etc
Also Part Reduction occurs etc
Main issue is in the difficulty in control, as well as Noise and Vibration / Noise, Vibration, and Harshness

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 *http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/09/free-piston-engine-could-be-twice-as.html
 *http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/09/free-piston-engine-could-be-twice-as.html
-Sandia National Laboratory led by Sandia researcher Peter Van Blarigan that has been testing physical components of free-piston engines which could be 50% efficient. This is about twice as good as current combustion engines and about as efficient as fuel cells. Fuel cells are too expensive. He is assembling a complete free-piston engine prototype, a project that he expects to complete within a year.