Bourke Engine

[cfg83]

Hello -

I was in class at work today and our instructor told me that he fiddled with this back in the day :

Bourke engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bourke-Engine.com

I searched Ecomodder but couldn't find a reference, so I was interested in your opinions.

CarloSW2

[Old Tele man]

...sounds like *it* should've been the power plant for the TUCKER mobile.

...notice the "hydrogen" fuel?

[Piwoslaw]

Reading the Wikipedia link got me thinking: One of the problems with traditional 2-stroke engines is that air-fuel mixture rushing into the cylinder will partially mix with the exhaust, leading to unburnt fuel in the exhaust. But what about a 2-stroker with direct fuel injection? Then there is only fresh air in the intake, so no hydrocarbons leave the cylinder, and if some exhaust lags behind then it's like EGR. Make it a gasser or a diesel. I'm sure someone has tried this.

[Frank Lee]

Orbital, for one.

[Old Mechanic]

Direct injection in a 2 stroke will be a game changer. I think some of the outboard motors are using some of Orbital's technology, Frank.

And yes on the EGR from incomplete scavenging. If you want even more power add an electric supercharger.

The days of raw fuel in the exhaust are long gone.

Oil mix in the fuel, also long gone.

regards
Mech

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Direct injection in a 2 stroke will be a game changer. I think some of the outboard motors are using some of Orbital's technology, Frank.

Why 2-Stroke Direct Injection is a Big Deal

[comptiger5000]

Chrysler played with 2 stroke DI in the '90s. It was actually supposed to go in the Neon at one point. Old Detroit Diesel 2 strokes are DI as well, being diesel.

[ConnClark]

The Bourke engine is a joke when it comes to fuel efficiency.

First lets look at one of its most touted features, the scotch yoke. It keeps the piston around top dead center longer. This does allow more combustion to take place before the downward power stroke and burn more of the fuel, however it also keeps the combustion gasses hotter for longer causing much more heat loss (and thus energy) to the cylinder head and piston. In fact if you look at some of the engines Russell Bourke built you will see they have giant cooling fins on the head for this reason.

The second glaring inefficiency is the fact that gasses are compressed and expanded twice but energy is only recovered once.


All the talk about it being a detonation engine and running on hydrogen are a bunch of lies too. There has never been one documented case of these engines running on hydrogen or in detonation mode as they call it.

[Patrick]

I think the major problem with the scotch yoke engines was wear in the scotch yoke. See the photo below. The areas in the elipses have apparently been worn or pounded out by the bearing on the connnecting rod - they should be in a straight line from the top to the bottom, I believe. Maybe this problem could be over come with modern materials - nitrided steel or titanium, perhaps?

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Direct injection in a 2 stroke will be a game changer.

You mean something like this:
Lotus Engineering Omnivore concept

Not sure if their concept is a functional design or not though.