The REGI U.S. company has been working on a rotary engine they've named Rand Cam/RadMax. This engine uses 12 vanes and a rotor and REGI U.S. says there is one horsepower for each pound in the engine, which means a lot of oomph for the weight. The Rand Cam/RadMax is very fuel-felxible, and can accept diesel, natural gas, propane, hydrogen or gasoline. Those are the facts. The news is that REGI U.S. is preparing to license this technology, and claims to have heard nibbles from "several major defense contractors from both the US and Europe."
Is this a good thing for green cars? Aside from the flexible fuel inputs, not really. It's not really a green engine even though the company calls it efficient. If it were, it could make a big impact. REGI U.S. says the RadMax engine is scalable for use in everything from weedtrimmers to military jet engines. The engine is also 50 percent lighter than a comparable stratified Wankel engine while producing twice or three times as much power (Mazda fans will remember the work the company did on getting the inefficient and fairly dirty Wankel engines to something resembling environmental friendliness). You can see an animated schematic of the RadMax engine in action here.
[Source: REGI U.S., Inc.]
Is this a good thing for green cars? Aside from the flexible fuel inputs, not really. It's not really a green engine even though the company calls it efficient. If it were, it could make a big impact. REGI U.S. says the RadMax engine is scalable for use in everything from weedtrimmers to military jet engines. The engine is also 50 percent lighter than a comparable stratified Wankel engine while producing twice or three times as much power (Mazda fans will remember the work the company did on getting the inefficient and fairly dirty Wankel engines to something resembling environmental friendliness). You can see an animated schematic of the RadMax engine in action here.
[Source: REGI U.S., Inc.]
Sign in to post
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Continue