The recent SAE World Congress included presentations by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) engineers on two major facets of the Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine technology: The Air-Hybrid component and the engine’s ability to leverage the “Miller Cycle” to achieve major efficiency and power gains.
In the first paper, “Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine: Air-Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Simulation Study,” SwRI engineers conducted a study measuring the performance of the Scuderi Engine modeled against the European class of “high economy” vehicles. The data showed that a turbocharged/air-hybridized Scuderi Engine can achieve at least 65 miles per US gallon (77 UKmpg or 3.7 liters per 100 km) while emitting significantly less CO2.
The average fuel economy for a gasoline vehicle in the European high economy class is about 52 USmpg or 4.5 l/100km. In the study, SwRI also found the Scuderi Engine emitted only 85 g/km of CO2, compared to 104 g/km, which is the average amount emitted from a conventional engine in this particular vehicle class.
The second paper, “Miller Cycle Application to the Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine: Downsized Compressor Cylinder,” discusses a technical discovery that enables maximum levels of power and torque while reducing the rate of fuel consumption and engine size.
The Scuderi Engine gains a massive advantage from turbocharging, Miller-like valve control strategies and extended expansion that is simply not possible with conventional engine designs. The net result is a smaller, higher-performing engine that yields significant gains in volumetric efficiency and power as well as reducing BSFC
Recent studies have concluded that the new engine design, when boosted with a turbocharger to 3.2 bar, decreases the BSFC (or brake specific fuel consumption) up to 14 percent, as a simultaneous increase occurs in the engine’s power BMEP (or brake mean effective pressure) by 140 percent. At the same time the engine can be reduced in size by roughly 29 percent.
Scuderi™ Air-Hybrid Engine consumes up to 36 percent less fuel than a conventional engine.
