Wankel engine

rdf:langString Wankel engine

rdf:langString InternetArchiveBot

rdf:langString December 2021

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. Compared to the common reciprocating piston engine, the simple rotational design of the engine has many advantages. It delivers a smoother more uniform torque delivery, has less vibration, for a given power is more compact, and weighs less with far fewer parts. The engine had drawbacks having a problematic emissions profile with poor fuel consumption especially when fuelled by gasoline, and a low service life. The drawbacks limited the engine's introduction on a large scale, with a decade of absence in an automotive application. Since its introduction in the early 1960s, the drawbacks have been mainly overcome with the engine used in many diverse applications. However, the Wankel's previous low service life created a stigma towards the engine curtailing mass introduction, despite problems being eradicated. The engine is used mainly for niche applications. However, the Wankel engine is returning to automotive use in 2023 in the Mazda MX-30 R-EV range-extending hybrid car as an electrical generator engine. The rotor, which creates the turning motion, is similar in shape to a Reuleaux triangle, with the sides having less curvature. The rotor rotates inside the oval-like epitrochoidal housing. One side of the triangular rotor completes the four-stage Otto cycle of intake, compression, ignition, and exhaust each revolution of the rotor. As there are three sides, this gives three power pulses per revolution of the rotor. All three faces of the Wankel's rotor operate simultaneously in one revolution. As the output shaft, via toothed gearing, spins three times faster than the rotor, only one power pulse is produced at each revolution of the shaft. For comparison, the four-stroke piston engine completes the Otto cycle in two revolutions of its output shaft (crankshaft). The Wankel produces twice as many power pulses. Each stage of the Otto cycle occurs in the same chamber at different intervals in the four-stroke piston engine, while in the Wankel engine the stages of the Otto cycle occur simultaneously at separate fixed points around the engine's housing. The output shaft uses toothed gearing to turn three times faster than the rotor, giving one power pulse per output shaft revolution. Using faster burning and cleaner fuels such as hydrogen enhances the efficiency of the engine. National agencies that tax automobiles according to displacement and regulatory bodies in automobile racing consider the Wankel engine to be equivalent to a four-stroke piston engine of up to two times the displacement of one chamber per rotor. The displacement given in engine specifications is typically a single working chamber which is one face of one rotor, or one face multiplied by the number of rotors.