AN 'ECO-ENGINE' FOR THE 21ST CENTURY - ENABLING ZERO CARBON HEAVY-DUTY TRANSPORT
The R6 engine (rotary 6 phase) can deliver a step change in zero-carbon power for the hardest to reach medium & heavy-duty transport sectors, as a rotary range-extender (mobile electricity generator), with similar efficiency to a fuel cell and similar power density to a turbine, for less than one tenth of the cost of either by 2030.
The R6 engine can supersede the 19th century Otto and Diesel cycles and their reciprocating piston architecture, as a net zero engine for the 21st Century, because it is capable of 50% brake thermal efficiency, 5:1 power-to-weight ratio and $25/kW cost by 2030. A single 40kg R6 engine married to a high speed motor-generator can produce a continuous 200 kW supply of electricity, sufficient to power a 40-tonne truck and multiple R6 engines in series can replace turbines to power a new class of zero-carbon, long-range VTOL air taxis.
The R6 engine is mechanically simple with only four major moving parts: the shaft and two interlaced rotors, connected by a thrust plate. The R6 engine's revolutionary rotary architecture and 6-phase thermodynamic cycle (patent EP3765711, 2022) eliminates the problem of engine knock (detonation) and enables high load homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) or hydrogen combustion with 50% brake thermal efficiency and near-to-zero NOx emissions.
Its 6-phase thermodynamic cycle completes in three pairs of phases in each rotation of the shaft: (1) intake/ 2nd compression (2) 1st compression/ power (3) scavenge-EGR/ exhaust.
The R6 engine has strategic potential to support the UK Hydrogen Strategy by slashing the capital costs of new and retrofitted hydrogen-electric powered vehicles for land, air and sea, driving demand for hydrogen fuelling infrastructure and achieving national ambitions for net zero, global H2 market leadership and regional economic levelling up. As per the Ministerial foreword, “Our ambition for hydrogen goes beyond decarbonisation. It also means a focus on supporting industry to develop sustainable, home-grown supply chains, create high quality jobs, and capitalise on British innovation and expertise. It means incentivising private investment and looking to increase export opportunities. It means strengthening our industrial heartlands, boosting our economy and driving national growth.”
“The UK has missed the boat on batteries, a sector dominated by China and the Far East, but we can be global leaders in the production and supply of hydrogen – an economy said to be worth $2.5tn in revenues by 2050.” – Jo Bamford.
R6EV Ltd. has benefitted from support by:
