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Introduction:
The term six-stroke engine has been applied to a number of alternative internal combustion
engine designs that attempt to improve on traditional two-stroke and four-stroke engines. Claimed
advantages may include increased fuel-efficiency, reduced mechanical complexity and/or reduced
emissions. These engines can be divided into two groups based on the number of pistons that contribute to
the six strokes.
In the single-piston designs, the engine captures the heat lost from the four-stroke Otto cycle or Diesel
cycle and uses it to drive an additional power and exhaust stroke of the piston in the same cylinder in an
attempt to improve fuel-efficiency and/or assist with engine cooling. The pistons in this type of six-stroke
engine go up and down three times for each injection of fuel. These designs use either steam or air as the
working fluid for the additional power stroke.[1]
The designs in which the six strokes are determined by the interactions between two pistons are more
diverse. The pistons may be opposed in a single cylinder or may reside in separate cylinders. Usually one
cylinder makes two strokes while the other makes four strokes giving six piston movements per cycle.
The second piston may be used to replace the valve mechanism of a conventional engine, which may
reduce mechanical complexity and enable an increased compression ratio by eliminating hotspots that
would otherwise limit compression. The second piston may also be used to increase the expansion ratio,
decoupling it from the compression ratio. Increasing the expansion ratio in this way can increase
thermodynamic efficiency in a similar manner to the Miller or Atkinson cycle.
Engine Types:
Single-piston designs
These designs use a single piston per cylinder, like a conventional two- or four-stroke engine. A secondary, non-detonating
fluid is injected into the chamber, and the leftover heat from combustion causes it to expand for a second power stroke
followed by a second exhaust stroke.
Requires a supply of pure water to act as the medium for the second power stroke.
ranging from gasoline and diesel fuel to LPG. An altered engine shows a 65% reduction in carbon
monoxide pollution when compared with the four-stroke engine from which it was developed. [7] The
engine was developed in 2005 by a team of mechanical engineering students, Mr. U Krishnaraj, Mr. Boby
Sebastian, Mr. Arun Nair and Mr. Aaron Joseph of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum.
Opposed-piston designs:
These designs use two pistons per cylinder operating at different rates, with combustion occurring
between the pistons.
Beare head:
This design was developed by Malcolm Beare of Australia. The technology combines a four-stroke
engine bottom end with an opposed piston in the cylinder head working at half the cyclical rate of the
bottom piston. Functionally, the second piston replaces the valve mechanism of a conventional engine.
Claimed benefits include a 9% increase in power, and improved thermodynamic efficiency through an
increased compression ratio enabled by the elimination of the hot exhaust valve.
M4+2:
The M4+2 engines have much in common with the Beare-head engines, combining two opposed pistons
in the same cylinder. One piston works at half the cyclical rate of the other, but while the main function of
the second piston in a Beare-head engine is to replace the valve mechanism of a conventional four-stroke
engine, the M4+2 takes the principle one step further. The double-piston combustion engine's work is
based on the cooperation of both modules. The air load change takes place in the two-stroke section of the
engine. The piston of the four-stroke section is an air load exchange aiding system, working as a system
of valves. The cylinder is filled with air or with an air-fuel mixture. The filling process takes place at
overpressure by the slide inlet system. The exhaust gases are removed as in the classical two-stroke
engine, by exhaust windows in the cylinder. The fuel is supplied into the cylinder by a fuel-injection
system. Ignition is realized by two spark plugs. The effective power output of the double-piston engine is
transferred by two crankshafts. The characteristic feature of this engine is an opportunity of continuous
change of cylinder capacity and compression rate during engine work by changing the piston's location.
The mechanical and thermodynamical models were meant for double-piston engines, which enable to
draw up new theoretical thermodynamic cycle for internal combustion double-pistons engine. [11]
The working principle of the engine is explained in the two- and four-stroke engines article.
Piston-charger engine
In this engine, similar in design to the Beare head, a "piston charger" replaces the valve system. The
piston charger charges the main cylinder and simultaneously regulates the inlet and the outlet aperture,
leading to no loss of air and fuel in the exhaust.[12] In the main cylinder, combustion takes place every turn
as in a two-stroke engine and lubrication as in a four-stroke. Fuel injection can take place in the piston
charger, in the gas-transfer channel or in the combustion chamber. It is also possible to charge two
working cylinders with one piston charger. The combination of compact design for the combustion
chamber together with no loss of air and fuel is claimed to give the engine more torque, more power and
better fuel consumption. The benefit of fewer moving parts and design is claimed to lead to lower
manufacturing costs. Good for hybrid technology and stationary engines. The engine is claimed to be
suited to alternative, fuels since there is no corrosion or deposits left on valves. The six strokes are:
1.
Aspiration
2.
Precompression
3.
Gas transfer
4.
Compression
5.
Ignition
6.
Ejection.
This is an invention of Helmut Kottmann from Germany, while working 25 years at MAHLE GmbH piston and cylinder
construction.