Has anyone seen this yet?
05-30-2003, 02:24 PM
#1
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Has anyone seen this yet?
Looks like a pretty good idea if they can work all the bugs out...
<a href="http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/power.html#valve" target="_blank">http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/power.html#valve</a>
NEW ENGINE DEVELOPMENT
COATES ROTARY VALVE SYSTEM
The internal combustion engine has undergone substantial development in the last few decades. The use of better materials, development of fuel injection and engine management systems, multiple valves and different fuels has made it become much more powerful, longer lasting, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. The rotary valve system is claimed to be a development in the same class. (Or it may be a false alarm like so many other innovations that did not quite make it into production, because of some glitch that's just impossible to sort out. But we thougt we'd put it here because it sure makes for interesting reading.)
How does it work? The Coates System replaces the array of camshafts, rocker arms, valve lifters and poppet valves with two moving spherical valve assemblies - one intake and one exhaust for each cylinder.
<img src="http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/rov.jpg" alt=" - " />
The spheres are ported on the inside to allow the gasses to pass through, and run on two gear driven shafts. The bearings and seals are made of ceramics, and there is no metal to metal contact in the entire assembly. The ingenious way in which the seals work, also means that the only time the seals make contact with anything, is during the compression stroke.
The most important aspect of this new system, is that it greatly reduces the complexity of the valvetrain. The dozens of components needed in the poppet valve system like valve seats, springs, cotters etc. is difficult to manufacture and assemble, and requires costly maintenance, like frequent adjustment of the tappet clearances and replacement of cambelts, chains and tensioner assemblies.
Furthermore, as there is no metal to metal contact, the Coates system requires no lubricating oil in the cylinder head. The poppet valve system, on the other hand, requires its many moving parts to be well lubricated, otherwise it would self-destruct in a matter of seconds. Inevitably, some of the oil gets burned up in the combustion process, causing very "un-green" hydrocarbon emissions. The need for lubrication in the poppet valve system has also lead to the introduction of all kinds of toxic additives into the fuel in an attempt to give some lubrication to the stressed components in the valvetrain. Lately, the powers that be, decided that the leaded fuel in our South African market is no good, and they introduced a vastly inferior concoction called unleaded "fuel", with a true octane rating of not much higher than bad vodka. Horror of horrors, the lead in the existing fuel, which had to lubricate the valves, has been replaced by a locally concocted brew containing among other Tolulene - a known cancer causing agent in the long term, and fatally toxic in the right dosage. With the rotary valve system, none of these additives will be needed.
Another important fact to note, is that the rotary valve runs at a much cooler temperature than the +- 1200 degrees C of the poppet valve. The speed at which the spheres rotate, allows it to dissipate heat very quickly. We all know that the oil in an engine starts to break down after a certain amount of exposure to the extreme temperatures. Nearly all the molecular breakdown of the oil occurs in the cylinder head. With the rotary valve system, the engine oil should last a lot longer - the people at Coates International has even mooted oil change intervals of up to 65 000km! Add to this the fact that the spheres require almost no engine power to rotate, compared to the poppet valve system, and you can also forget about changing that cambelt. And should the drive system fail on the rotary valve system, there won't be any danger of a fast moving piston making contact with a stationary poppet valve and causing serious damage - to your wallet. There is also no need for frequent adjustment of tappets. So, the Coates Rotary Valve System seems to beat the poppet valve hands down in the maintenance department.
As far as producing power goes, the poppet valve can easily be termed the weak link in the internal combustion engine. Its shape acts as a very efficient restriction in the path of fast flowing gasses. Valve guides and stems also hamper the flow of gasses in the ports. The Coates system has about 90% less pumping losses than poppet valves, because there is virtually no restriction of the gasflow.
To demonstrate the point, Coates Internatonal took a standard Ford 302 V8, producing some 265 bhp, and fitted it with rotary valve heads. The engine now produces some 400 bhp.While it would be possible to extract the same power from the engine by using poppet valves, the drivability of the car would be seriously diminished i.e. it would require a race camshaft and would have virtually no torque in the lower engine speed ranges used for everyday driving. The Coates engine on the other hand, is said to be entirely street-drivable.
One of the main reasons the Coates System can produce such amazingly good power figures, is because in a convetionally equipped engine, the head of the valve sits directly in the path of the gasflow. Incoming and outgoing gasses have to flow around this obstacle. In the Coates System, there is nothing that obstructs the flow of gasses. More good news for the performance enthusiast, is that the Coates system does not run into valve-bounce or valve float at high rpm. Abovementioned engine revs cleanly to 10 000rpm with no ill effects.
<img src="http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/eng3.jpg" alt=" - " />
Because the Coates system runs at such a low temperature, the compression ratio of the engine can be significantly increased - which means improved power and reduced fuel consumption. The intake charge also enters the combustion chamber at a much lower temperature, which further increases engine power.
When will we see the Coates Spherical Rotary Valve in mass production? We don't know. What we have come to know so far, is only the positive points of the Rotary Valve System. We don't know any of it's bad points, and it seems that nobody wants to tell us anything. But Irish born George Coates is starting to make himself heard. He has already signed agreements with Nicholson Mc Laren to build racing engines and with Garton Engineering to manufacture components. If the system is as good as everybody would like us to believe, we might soon be in for a surprise.
<a href="http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/power.html#valve" target="_blank">http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/power.html#valve</a>
NEW ENGINE DEVELOPMENT
COATES ROTARY VALVE SYSTEM
The internal combustion engine has undergone substantial development in the last few decades. The use of better materials, development of fuel injection and engine management systems, multiple valves and different fuels has made it become much more powerful, longer lasting, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. The rotary valve system is claimed to be a development in the same class. (Or it may be a false alarm like so many other innovations that did not quite make it into production, because of some glitch that's just impossible to sort out. But we thougt we'd put it here because it sure makes for interesting reading.)
How does it work? The Coates System replaces the array of camshafts, rocker arms, valve lifters and poppet valves with two moving spherical valve assemblies - one intake and one exhaust for each cylinder.
<img src="http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/rov.jpg" alt=" - " />
The spheres are ported on the inside to allow the gasses to pass through, and run on two gear driven shafts. The bearings and seals are made of ceramics, and there is no metal to metal contact in the entire assembly. The ingenious way in which the seals work, also means that the only time the seals make contact with anything, is during the compression stroke.
The most important aspect of this new system, is that it greatly reduces the complexity of the valvetrain. The dozens of components needed in the poppet valve system like valve seats, springs, cotters etc. is difficult to manufacture and assemble, and requires costly maintenance, like frequent adjustment of the tappet clearances and replacement of cambelts, chains and tensioner assemblies.
Furthermore, as there is no metal to metal contact, the Coates system requires no lubricating oil in the cylinder head. The poppet valve system, on the other hand, requires its many moving parts to be well lubricated, otherwise it would self-destruct in a matter of seconds. Inevitably, some of the oil gets burned up in the combustion process, causing very "un-green" hydrocarbon emissions. The need for lubrication in the poppet valve system has also lead to the introduction of all kinds of toxic additives into the fuel in an attempt to give some lubrication to the stressed components in the valvetrain. Lately, the powers that be, decided that the leaded fuel in our South African market is no good, and they introduced a vastly inferior concoction called unleaded "fuel", with a true octane rating of not much higher than bad vodka. Horror of horrors, the lead in the existing fuel, which had to lubricate the valves, has been replaced by a locally concocted brew containing among other Tolulene - a known cancer causing agent in the long term, and fatally toxic in the right dosage. With the rotary valve system, none of these additives will be needed.
Another important fact to note, is that the rotary valve runs at a much cooler temperature than the +- 1200 degrees C of the poppet valve. The speed at which the spheres rotate, allows it to dissipate heat very quickly. We all know that the oil in an engine starts to break down after a certain amount of exposure to the extreme temperatures. Nearly all the molecular breakdown of the oil occurs in the cylinder head. With the rotary valve system, the engine oil should last a lot longer - the people at Coates International has even mooted oil change intervals of up to 65 000km! Add to this the fact that the spheres require almost no engine power to rotate, compared to the poppet valve system, and you can also forget about changing that cambelt. And should the drive system fail on the rotary valve system, there won't be any danger of a fast moving piston making contact with a stationary poppet valve and causing serious damage - to your wallet. There is also no need for frequent adjustment of tappets. So, the Coates Rotary Valve System seems to beat the poppet valve hands down in the maintenance department.
As far as producing power goes, the poppet valve can easily be termed the weak link in the internal combustion engine. Its shape acts as a very efficient restriction in the path of fast flowing gasses. Valve guides and stems also hamper the flow of gasses in the ports. The Coates system has about 90% less pumping losses than poppet valves, because there is virtually no restriction of the gasflow.
To demonstrate the point, Coates Internatonal took a standard Ford 302 V8, producing some 265 bhp, and fitted it with rotary valve heads. The engine now produces some 400 bhp.While it would be possible to extract the same power from the engine by using poppet valves, the drivability of the car would be seriously diminished i.e. it would require a race camshaft and would have virtually no torque in the lower engine speed ranges used for everyday driving. The Coates engine on the other hand, is said to be entirely street-drivable.
One of the main reasons the Coates System can produce such amazingly good power figures, is because in a convetionally equipped engine, the head of the valve sits directly in the path of the gasflow. Incoming and outgoing gasses have to flow around this obstacle. In the Coates System, there is nothing that obstructs the flow of gasses. More good news for the performance enthusiast, is that the Coates system does not run into valve-bounce or valve float at high rpm. Abovementioned engine revs cleanly to 10 000rpm with no ill effects.
<img src="http://users.iafrica.com/i/ih/ihenk/eng3.jpg" alt=" - " />
Because the Coates system runs at such a low temperature, the compression ratio of the engine can be significantly increased - which means improved power and reduced fuel consumption. The intake charge also enters the combustion chamber at a much lower temperature, which further increases engine power.
When will we see the Coates Spherical Rotary Valve in mass production? We don't know. What we have come to know so far, is only the positive points of the Rotary Valve System. We don't know any of it's bad points, and it seems that nobody wants to tell us anything. But Irish born George Coates is starting to make himself heard. He has already signed agreements with Nicholson Mc Laren to build racing engines and with Garton Engineering to manufacture components. If the system is as good as everybody would like us to believe, we might soon be in for a surprise.
05-30-2003, 03:16 PM
#6
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Well damn. I think that's a good idea. Would like to hear from some of the experts like Danno and Anderson though.
Just thinking about it I can't see where it wouldn't work. I've always tried to think of a better way, but couldn't. This certainly adresses some of the isues of valves for certain.
And a s a plus you could spin the rollers with electric motors making variable "cam" timing easier.
Definitely would flow better, but I think it will make for an interesting "valve" cover.
But then again, things like the Torsen are infinitely better than standard stuff, but haven't made thier way into most cars.
Like disk brakes. They've been on the front of cars for years, but the rears even now are often Drum style. Even though I have to think that Drum brakes are more exspensive (due to the labor) and not as good.
How come no-one has come up with a parking brake that works on a disk brake, without the use of a small drum. Can't be that hard.
Just thinking about it I can't see where it wouldn't work. I've always tried to think of a better way, but couldn't. This certainly adresses some of the isues of valves for certain.
And a s a plus you could spin the rollers with electric motors making variable "cam" timing easier.
Definitely would flow better, but I think it will make for an interesting "valve" cover.
But then again, things like the Torsen are infinitely better than standard stuff, but haven't made thier way into most cars.
Like disk brakes. They've been on the front of cars for years, but the rears even now are often Drum style. Even though I have to think that Drum brakes are more exspensive (due to the labor) and not as good.
How come no-one has come up with a parking brake that works on a disk brake, without the use of a small drum. Can't be that hard.
05-30-2003, 03:21 PM
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I've never heard about that either. Very cool "idea". Although about 95% of that article was fluff. I wasn't really interested in what caused cancer. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
It's kind of funny about the pic of their 302. They make it sound like any 302 removed from a Mustang/Lincoln or whatever. Yet it looks like it has a high profile intake manifold and dual carbs.
It probably doesn't mean anything. I guess if they basiclly remove all airflow restrictions from their new head I guess the factory intake setup would be nothing but a bottle neck.
Either way the theory is very cool and I can't wait to see some real numbers from a track running one of those.
It's kind of funny about the pic of their 302. They make it sound like any 302 removed from a Mustang/Lincoln or whatever. Yet it looks like it has a high profile intake manifold and dual carbs.
It probably doesn't mean anything. I guess if they basiclly remove all airflow restrictions from their new head I guess the factory intake setup would be nothing but a bottle neck.
Either way the theory is very cool and I can't wait to see some real numbers from a track running one of those.
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05-30-2003, 05:26 PM
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</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by SidViscous:
<strong>Like disk brakes. They've been on the front of cars for years, but the rears even now are often Drum style. Even though I have to think that Drum brakes are more exspensive (due to the labor) and not as good.
How come no-one has come up with a parking brake that works on a disk brake, without the use of a small drum. Can't be that hard.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Drum brakes are cheaper for the manufacturer to make. They just pass the buck to the consumer.
Their are parking brakes that operate on the disk. Many cars have them, just not a lot of european cars.
<strong>Like disk brakes. They've been on the front of cars for years, but the rears even now are often Drum style. Even though I have to think that Drum brakes are more exspensive (due to the labor) and not as good.
How come no-one has come up with a parking brake that works on a disk brake, without the use of a small drum. Can't be that hard.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Drum brakes are cheaper for the manufacturer to make. They just pass the buck to the consumer.
Their are parking brakes that operate on the disk. Many cars have them, just not a lot of european cars.
05-30-2003, 05:34 PM
#11
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The disc style parking brakes are problematic. I've replaced many calipers on varios cars because of this. I like the separate drum design. On the rotary valves, my dad has been talking about the idea for about 20 yrs now, I had thoughts of doing a prototype for fun. I think the gains would be phenominal. I may still do it, I don't have the machinery to do it now though, or I might have been the first to post on this. I think it's worth pursuing.
05-30-2003, 06:04 PM
#12
Three Wheelin'
Where is this from? Are there any more links? How old is this article? This is the first I've heard of it, and if they fairly easily fit it to an existing engine and have it work, well hot damn. I bet a McLaren with some crazy valve head would get people to take notice.
05-30-2003, 06:35 PM
#13
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the idea has been around for a long time and it never materialized, the engineers that thought it was brilliant here in the motor city have long ago scrapped it and are working on using the new up and coming car's 42volt systems to operate electronic solenoids that open valves that come out of the side of the port that completely eliminate obstructions in the flow of air and allow the computer to infinately adjust valve timing and duration thus giving a sports car a mild cam when cruising around with nice idle and then at full throttle opening the valves all the way for the complete intake and exhaust stroke to create the most possible power. There is also talk that if the computer can open the valves at any time instantly (since there is no lobe necessary because nothing spins) they can build engines with 15:1 compression ratios for higher thermal efficiency and smaller combustion area while bleeding off the excess cylinder pressure by opening the exhaust valve during the beginning of the compression stroke ( kind of like a Miller cycle engine) and that with knock sensors can adjust your compression ratio on the fly taking air density and type of fuel used into consideration. So this was a great idea when invented some 30 years ago but is now somewhat like the dinosaur.
05-30-2003, 06:52 PM
#14
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I think I heard that someone built a rotory vavle motocycle some years ago, although I may be wrong.
I am NOT refering to the rotary engine motorcycle that some manufacture built and sold.
I am NOT refering to the rotary engine motorcycle that some manufacture built and sold.
05-30-2003, 10:34 PM
#15
Wild Idea, but I fear that like so many ideas, and I believe that this was thought of many years ago, it will go by the wayside..Years ago they didn't have the metals/ceramics to produce such a device, but there has been many an inovation that came to late to be revolutionary...AND the big oil companies squashed a good many ideas way back into the 30's and 40's because they had control, call that $, to do so..will just have to wait and see..neat tho.
Bill
Bill