Although this particular engine doesn’t exist in workable form just yet, the engineering concepts are intriguing. In fact, a patent already exists for the design. The development company, MNC Engineering LLC, recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help continue the development of the project, dubbed the Hyper4. As an axial engine design, the Hyper4 offers extremely light weight and reduced size, as well as high torque levels and high power-to-weight ratios.
The idea germinated in inventor Bernie Bon’s mind when he was seeking a high power-to-weight engine for a high speed helicopter project. During that process, he stumbled across a number of axial engine designs that were never produced, and after investigating these designs, he came up with his own concept that has become the Hyper4.
“The axial engine easily lends itself to variable compression, which some have called the holy grail of engine design, but which is virtually impossible to install on a regular engine due to its geometry,” says Bon.
His research indicated that the use of variable compression can increase fuel efficiency by 27 percent — an astronomical gain over the traditional 1-2 percent incremental improvements seen by traditional automobile engine manufacturers during engine development. In fact, EngineLabs recently covered another type of variable compression layout for a traditional engine designed by Porsche, which may use an adjustable connecting rod design to achieve the same objective.
The Hyper4’s four-stroke, four-piston, dual-cam engine uses two nested counter-rotating barrel cams, rotary valves, and water injection. Using computational flow development and simulation software, Bon and his team of engineers from all over the world have determined that the Hyper4 can provide a 72 percent increase in fuel efficiency over a standard crankshaft engine at partial load, and a 50 percent increase at full load.
Not only do the pistons pause at TDC to improve fuel efficiency, the engine also makes use of the Atkinson Cycle (over expansion) to provide additional power that is typically lost.
The Hyper4 offers impressive proposed improvements, and the goal of the Kickstarter campaign is to bring in the necessary funds to begin the next phase of the international patenting process. There’s much more information about the engine’s development and thought processes in the video below and the Hyper4 Kickstarter page.