THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Research carried out in Government Engineering College, Barton Hill (GECBH), has led to the invention of a compact and efficient internal combustion (IC) engine with multi-fuel options. The invention of the engine, billed as a game changer in the IC engine domain, has won the researchers a patent from the Government of India recently.
Named ‘compact, independently stable inline output, oil-cooled IC engine’, it uses a novel ‘barrel mechanism’ instead of the ‘connecting rod-crank actuation’ process. By doing away with the complex and heavy crankshaft and connecting rod mechanism, the size and weight of the new engine would come down to nearly one-fourth of the conventional engine with similar power/torque figures.
“The multi-fuel options in this universal engine include eco-friendly fuels such as CNG, biodiesel and hydrogen besides petrol and diesel,” Anish K John, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at GECBH, who is also the principal investigator of the project, told TNIE.
He added that the engine can be used in high torque and high rpm applications such as moving huge cargo ships and also in high precision pumps used in the medical field. It can also be used to run power tools in remote areas where electrical systems will fail to serve their purpose.
Sabu Dasayan from the PWD’s mechanical wing, who is the co-principal investigator of the project explained that the new oil-cooled engine employs a novel mechanism to transmit the reciprocating motion of the piston into inline rotational output of the shaft.
The research team also comprised co-principal investigator Praveen Ben George, GECBH MTech students Abhilash Anandaram Kalluraya and Harikrishnan Alunkal Venikteswara and BTech students Abhinav Ajith, Reuben M Shibu, Harikrishnan R, Marshal Pradeep S, Aravind S B and Jaathu Krishnan V G.
The prototype of the engine was developed using Rs 2 lakh research seed fund provided by the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University. Another aspect of the invention relates to the elimination of a 90-degree shift in the transmission path. Such a mechanism in conventional engines creates sideways force on the piston which increases the wear and tear of the cylinder walls leading to eventual failure of the engine.