A Michigan company, known as EcoMotors has gotten a ton of press recently after Bill Gates decided to invest $23.5-million dollars with the operation to aid in the development of a strange new engine they are working on. Called “opoc” the engine uses four pistons, in two cylinders, has no valves, has no cylinder heads and can run on gas or diesel. Power is claimed to be impressive with the company telling the media that they have a 300lb engine that produced 300hp.
Make no mistake about it, this little engine is a weirdo, but as Bill Gates doesn’t seem to be in the habit of throwing his money down holes, it may have some merit.
The engine places two pistons in each cylinder in a boxer style layout. The pistons are opposed to one another and as they move back and forth, they unshroud ports that are either carrying exhaust out of allowing fresh air and fuel in. In that respect the engine is a lot like a rotary, which is also valveless.
The CEO of the company is Donald Runkle who was a high ranking member of General Motors powertrain development for many years. Those guys are pretty well compensated and very well respected, so the fact he has taken the job with EcoMotors says something and lends some validity to the whole project.
Fuel economy gains could be as high as 50% according to the company. It seems to us that the engine is moving two pistons at once instead of the one piston per cylinder in traditional engines, so if it is getting twice the work done, perhaps it can be that much more efficient.
Look at the rendering below and marvel at the weirdness.
Is this the future?
Source — InsideLine.com — Gates Invests in Internal Combustion Engine Venture
.jpg "Opoc engine")
