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Frequently Asked
Questions
1) What is the advantage of the
two cranks?
2) How much
fuel and water is this engine going to use?
3) Will this engine be
difficult to develop, and how would you start?
4) Can some one true diesel
the Kramer Engine?
5) How do you know for sure
the engine will not detonate when running this very high compression
pressure?
6) How do you know that the
engine is going into the 'so called' HYDROGEN MODE?
7) How efficient can
this (new Kramer Engine) be? Updated 8-26-06
8) What
is the best way to get the Kramer Engine into the hydrogen mode and keep
it there? Updated 8-26-06
Question: What is the advantage of the two cranks?
Answer: 1. The way to get the most power from the exhaust gasses from a two
cycle is with a uni-flow cylinder, which takes two
cranks. With the two-crank engine, there are fewer corners for the exhaust
gases to push around before gases get to exhaust recovery turbine blade.
Answer: 2. With a one crank engine, top dead center is not 0 degrees. For all
practical purposes and as far as the theory is concerned, it is 5 or 10
degrees before top dead center and 5 or 10 degrees after top dead center. We
can have 10 to 20 degrees more or less dwell time at top dead center. With a
two crank engine, we can allow one crank to lead the other crank by 10 or 20
degrees and extend the dwell time to 20 or 30 degrees more or less. We have
lengthened the dwell time and shortened the critical time, which is good.
With the D K W engine, split single, that has two rods, one master rod on one
crank pin, the dwell time has been extended and the critical time has been
shortened. We may rock the crank assembly back and fourth on top dead center
and watch one piston rise and the other piston drop down with no change in
compression pressure. That D K W Engine was banned from racing, by the people
who won the 'big war'. It simply had too much horsepower. Like the two-crank
engine, the D K W engine can cause the exhaust ports to open and close early
in relation to the charging ports.
Question:
How much fuel and water is this engine going to use?
Answer: When my engine is idling, it will not be a whole lot better with the
fuel than any other engine of equal size and load. In about 1972 I was
loading the engine with a shaft through a garage window with a large airplane
propeller on the outside. Under normal conditions, very short test, the
propeller would hold engine R.P.M. down to about 6000. I ran through an auto
transmission in low gear. Each crank had a stroke of 82 mm and bore was 2.125
inches, with 2 exhaust ports for each power cylinder. I had six spark plugs
in each power cylinder. This engine had reed valves. I had this test engine
set up in my garage for more than three years. My pony engine was a Cushman
motor scooter, electric start, two-speed transmission, and automatic clutch.
This was really a shoestring operation. I knew I had the right device to get
very high compression pressure and could go on and get it in the hydrogen
mode with the water, if I could refine it. This, homemade, engine at that
time had [2] two Ray J turbo chargers on it. I sprayed water to the inside of
the pistons bottoms for cooling, and used water soluble automatic transmission
oil for oil pump. I still have that engine. When my engine is properly
engineered, developed and tested with all the controls to cause the engine to
be fully automatic, and when running at maximum load and rpm, you will not
need much more fuel at than you would need at idle speed. With the purge air
and the water to control the ceramic piston temperatures down to 4,000
degrees, more or less, we can expect the maximum combustion temperature to be
over 7,000 degrees, more or less, for about 35 degrees of crankshaft
rotation. If the water is shut off, the automatic controls will partly close
the throttles so that maximum compression pressure is low enough so we don't
melt the ceramic pistons. With the water off we are going to have to put in
much more fuel to keep the engine going even though the load is reduced. With
the water on, I had trouble with the water cracking the porcelain on the
spark plugs. I did not have a good setup for controlling the water.
The spark plugs were 14 mm [marine] or surface gap plugs. I wanted an 8 or 10
mm plug which was in about 1971. I did not have the squelch area correctly
configured, because the stroke was to long and bore was to
small. When it is done properly, the turbulence created when the pistons come together mixes and breaks the water and fuel droplets
into a gas. I expect there to be some cracking and breaking of the hydrogen
and oxygen molecules at this time. There is also an electrolysis affect to be
considered with the ring of fire, caused by the many spark plugs around the
combustion chamber. The last major thing to happen to the combustion process
is the reverse of the squelch area action. Turbulence is created when the
pistons move apart. This allows the hydrogen to mix well, burn and act as a
fuel. The extended dwell time here is beneficial, because when the water
droplets are too big they have too much surface area. It takes more time for
the heat to fully penetrate the very, very small drops of
water and cause the hydrogen and oxygen molecules to split and be
burned as a fuel supplement. When the engine is running at full load quite a
bit of water will be put into the purge air to cool the pistons. A lesser
amount of water will remain in the combustion process, and will be used as
more fuel and will suppress detonation.
When the engine is set up as a stationary generator running on natural gas
with plenty of treated water available it should be the most efficient,
powerful, and non polluting engine available. We must keep in mind the water
in different areas of this engine may be wet steam, dry steam, and super
heated steam, to push the pistons apart and in the exhaust section to push
against exhaust recovery blade to the outside. When engine is not at full
load, and you cannot separate the hydrogen and oxygen, the water present in
all areas of this engine is going to cause it to continue to produce good
efficient power. You can expect the fuel air ratio to be between 30 and 50 to
one, because of the very high compression pressure at the higher R.P.M. range.
Some water may be needed in the fuel air charging cylinders to prevent
detonation in transfer section when engine is at full load and pressure. If
you look at my drawing of cylinders, pistons and how all the tubes, ports,
dimensions, and percentages are, you will notice the compression ratio is
higher on the fuel air end of engine than at the purge air end. This allows a
spike in the transfer pressure to deliver the fuel air volume at the right
instant to the power cylinder. The engine will be the most efficient at full
r. p.m. and full load.
Question:
Will this engine be difficult to develop, and how would you start?
Answer: Yes. I would get the most skilled, hands on 'open minded' engine
people that can be found. We do not want secretive people. Their right hand
does not know what their left hand is doing, and their mouth is shut. I don't
think we would have made it to the moon, as easily, without the man chosen to
be their leader. WERNHER VON BRAUN was that leader. He had the most
experience to do that job. I would try to find people who have already done
this type of work. Next, I would study everything available, about the
concept and design, and the mass of 'frames of reference'. It is very
important that the people making the decisions about the new design know
everything about this design that is possible to know. As the first line is
drawn on paper, every possible thing should be put on the first batch of
Kramer Engines.
I have always cast at least 5 castings of each engine. With casting flaws, cores
moving around, machining mistakes, a hole drilled too deep here or there, and
anything else that could go wrong, I would be lucky to get 2 good engines out
of the 5 castings. I used the cranks, C.D.I, oil pumps, rods, gears, exhaust
parts, fuel delivery and many other things over and over on 8 or 10 castings.
The castings all looked about the same from the out side, but inside I
continued changing many things until I, got it just
right. One of the first things I did wrong was make the rotary valve shaft
too small. I had to scrap a good block, because I did not leave enough room
to put in a bigger shaft and bearings. If you find by testing that [1] one
spark plug does not seem to be enough, go ahead in the beginning plan, and
drill and cut more spark plug holes. You can always plug those holes if you
find by testing that you don't need them.
You can expect many changes in a Kramer Engine concept before it is ready for
production. Every application will be totally different. A boat, small car,
truck or stationary generator engine will each be set up totally different.
In the beginning I pushed the engineering envelope too far too quickly, and
had my small engine down to 65 pounds. It had [2] two oil pumps, no counter
weights on cranks and no extra metal anywhere. I finally learned to
concentrate on getting the engine running with good horsepower and efficiency
and not be concerned about what it looked like when I was running all my
tests. If you are working on this Kramer Engine concept you should have a written
contract with me.
I found the best way to develop this engine is to go ahead and use large
holes, make everything big and strong, with small pistons, add exhaust
components and don't push the engineering envelope too far at this stage of
development. Try to get it running in the hydrogen mode. That is were we are
going. It will be easy to make changes to pipe diameters, timing holes, and
the many other things that we will develop later on with testing. We have to
have all the good stuff right away. The best pistons, ceramic, CDI, sparks
with earth magnets, coils with iron cores for long duration spark, large
volume reed valves, plenty of transfer volume at both ends of the engine. If
you find you have supercharged it too much you can always go to a smaller
diameter cylinder for production. You should keep the ports high, like the
diagram shows. Why spend a lot of time at lower R.P.M. levels, no one is
going to run it there. You will have to test, tune, and modify engine
components to be flexible with the load and some R.P.M. change to make the
engine stay in the hydrogen mode.
Question:
Can some one true diesel the Kramer Engine?
Answer: Yes, but "NO". It will not pass the pollution standards. At
first glance, it appears that with a diesel's 50 to 60 percent efficiency and
this new design's ability to capture some of the exhaust energy, we might
have an engine that is more than 75 percent efficient. The first thing would
be to develop a fan shaped spray for the injector. In the past, we have not
been able to do this kind of work in this country, [10000 R.P.M. with 600
pounds compression pressure]. With compression ignition, the compression
pressure will have to be high enough so there will be enough heat to start
it, even if you use glow plugs. When it starts and is idling
the nitrous oxide pollution will be very high. As the R.P.M. rises the
pollution will continue to rise instead of dropping off like other diesels,
because of the exhaust gases pushing against the exhaust recovery turbine
blade. The back pressure will cause the pistons to trap more volume, and make
compression pressure which is too high already go even higher. You will not
be able to use any water in the combustion process, because it will not
detonate properly. Some injectors can be modified to deliver the fuel in one
big drop instead of a fine spray. When it detonates it will not be a vicious
knock. It will sound like a spark ignition engine. The drop has burned all
the oxygen around it. Most of the fuel goes out the exhaust and is now
polluting with soot. I have heard many of these plans. When we use my ring of
fire spark plugs you will drop down to 150 to 200 pounds of compression
pressure, inject the fuel, before the turbulence. Then spark it, and have a
controlled burn, which will not pollute. You would also need to control the
throttles. You are now back where I am.
Question:
How do you know for sure the engine will not detonate when running this very
high compression pressure?
Answer: With very extensive testing. If you cannot do it, it does not mean
that it cannot be done. It means that you do not understand all that you know
about it, and that you don't know what action to take to prevent detonation.
There are another [20] twenty frames of reference that should be in front of
you. One major engine company is running test engines at 40 to 1 fuel air
ratio. That frame of reference confirms what I knew in the early 1970's that
will help prevent detonation. I have lived with this concept and I have a
very good idea of what is needed for it to be utilized. You do not have the
same device that I have. You are probably putting in too much fuel to get it
to pull hard at a low R.P.M. level and causing detonation problems. I have
given the requirements to prevent detonation problems at all R.P.M. levels.
Question:
How do you know that the engine is going into the 'so called' HYDROGEN MODE?
Answer: That is a hard one to answer. I have had these test engines to
suddenly run away, but only when it was running at the higher R.P.M. level. I
had carburetors on and could not shut off the fuel. I learned to set engine
up with R.P.M. well ahead of the compression pressure, so with an ignition
switch for each power cylinder I could stop it from firing, instantly. There
was no dieseling or firing of any kind even when it was hot. I never ever,
took my hand off the ignition switches when the engine was running. I needed
a hand to turn throttle for pony engine and a hand to kick it out of gear. A
hand to turn on water and a hand to move throttles for the test engine. I
cannot say for 100 percent that it was in the hydrogen mode. That was in
about 1972. The demands on my time and money never allowed me to get back to
finish that test. I knew that the compression pressure test had passed with
my new device, and if I could get a patent and get it in production the
hydrogen mode was going to be there anyway, as long
as my device was not changed and the manner in which it had to be operated.
Every one of the 'nay-sayers' had said at that
time, "the engine will never run". I could not interest the right
auto factory people to come to my house to see and 'experience' my engine
running. Some guys from work, and guys from the
firehouse where I was a volunteer fireman and my patent attorney had seen it
run.
Question: How efficient can this
(new Kramer Engine) be?
Answer: A Kramer Engine
with competent, skilled, creative and experienced engine people, funded for
development and with all components properly applied, should be between 80
and 90 percent efficient. All technology and knowledge about the components
of this engine, and how they interact with each other are in use today.
Question: What is the best way to get the Kramer
Engine into the hydrogen mode and keep it there?
Answer; When you get the
Kramer engine in the hydrogen mode it should be over 100 percent efficient.
This is new technology for engine application. It would indicate the need for
a very durable combustion chamber. The performance of the combustion chamber
and condition of fuel, water vapor, heat, pressure, ignition, burn
temperature, burn speed, ratio that is constantly changing in a short time,
can be hard to comprehend.
You would select ceramic
cylinders for power cylinders. They would be ultra hard and impossible to absorb
water, and will be expected to operate at 1000 degree Fahrenheit, and more if
necessary. The pistons will be ceramic, ultra hard and will not absorb any
water. They will operate at 3000 degree Fahrenheit and more if necessary on
the tops of the pistons. The pistons top surface area and temperature
completely dominates the temperature of the homogeneous charge at the instant
of ignition.
At this high rpm the
heat of compression has not reached maximum temperature yet. We must extend
the dwell time buy rotating exhaust crank ahead. We need as much heat as we
can get in the homogeneous charge before ignition. I do not know the exact
temperature required to separate the hydrogen and oxygen. I like 5000 to 8000
degrees combustion temperature for 25 degrees of crankshaft rotation. We need
a very hot combustion chamber, very high compression pressure to get very
high combustion temperature, high rpm and a very hot spark to get in to the
hydrogen mode.
The fuel to moisture
ratio will be more fuel at lower rpm and more moisture at higher rpm. It is
reasonable to say that we have a controlled detonation at high rpm and the
combustion chamber surface temperature is high enough and will not quench the
burn. The beginning of the burn must be hot enough to release the hydrogen
for more fuel to complete the burn. The heat of compression, the spark of the
modified ignition, the heat generated by the rapid movement of the
homogeneous charge, caused by the two squelch areas, the very hot combustion
chamber and the amount of fuel, should supply enough energy to the moisture
to cause the hydrogen in the moisture to be released and burned.
As long as you have high
rpm the engine will not detonate because the fuel air mixture is lean, there
is moisture in the combustion chamber, which cools and suppress ignition. The
compression pressure is so low that the burn rate is very slow. As the
pistons come further together, the compression pressure rises very quickly
and the burn rate rises quickly. The burn rate is not fast enough to
detonate.
The ceramic engineers
will select the proper mix that will provide a minimum clearance for piston
to cylinder at the operating temperature. When it is engineered properly, you
will not need any compression rings.
The piston tops are
slanted slightly toward the center of the piston all the way across, and
there will be a V slot cut in center of the piston top in the low area all
the way across each piston. As the pistons are coming together, the two
outside top surfaces of the piston will come within 40 thousands more or less
of the other piston creating two squelch areas. The homogeneous charge is
squirted toward the center of the pistons where the V or short U cut goes
across forming a hole from one side of cylinder to the other side. A ceramic
encased electrode is placed in each side of the cylinder in line with the V
slot. An ignition coil or capacitor producing 400 thousand plus volts has two
wires. Place one wire on each electrode in the cylinder. When, everything is
engineered and insulated, the ignition discharges,
and the spark travels through the hole formed by each V in the pistons. The
spark has gone through the homogeneous charge that has accumulated in the two
Vs, because of the actions of the two squelch areas. The spark proceeded from
one molecule to the next until it reached the electrode on the other side of
the cylinder. The spark has followed the very, very, tiny drops of moisture.
The electrical spark passing through the homogeneous charge will help
separate the hydrogen and oxygen releasing more fuel for combustion. The hot
spark all the way across the cylinder will give the charge a very good start
for good combustion. There can be multiple discharges of the ignition system.
I had some burning in
the exhaust. The pipes would quickly get very hot and shred the exhaust
turbine drive belt to the engine.
With ceramic pistons, we
can easily have a ‘piston port intake engine’ or a ‘rotary
valve
intake engine’ to charge purge air cylinders and
fuel and air cylinders. These engines do not detonate.
I believe if all of this
information is applied you will have more energy than you need to separate
the hydrogen and oxygen because, I believe that I have done it with less
energy, with titanium caps on pistons.
This new engine concept
and design, with ceramics, can go to areas of efficiency that other engines
cannot.
Louis Kramer, Inventor
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