All-Fuel, External Combustion Engine...

The engine we are going to talk about here is made by Cyclone Power Technologies, based in Pompano Beach, Florida. The man who runs the company, Harry Schoell, is also the man who invented the contraption (in fact, Cyclone is trying to promote the engine as the "Schoell" engine, you know, like was the case with Rudolf Diesel). The Cyclone engine, as we will refer to it here, is the result of several years of work, while Schoell is the proud recipient of two patents for the engine, with 11 other pending approval.

WHAT IS THIS?

The Cyclone is a Rankine Cycle heat regenerative external combustion engine. Loosely translated, the unit is capable of turning heat into work. The Rankine Cycle working principle, used today to generate about 80 percent of ALL the electricity used in the modern world, has one neat feature: it works on fluid. Any type of fluid.

This characteristic, appropriated for the Cyclone, means that any and every fuel will do, as long as its use results in the release of heat.

HOW IT WORKS

Unlike a traditional internal combustion engine, which ignites fuel under high pressure inside the cylinders, the Cyclone burns it in an external chamber, under atmospheric pressure, outside the cylinders. The heat resulted from the burning of the fuel is used to turn water into steam, meaning that is not the fuel that powers the engine, but the steam.

According to Cyclone Power, the fuel require to generate stem does not even need to be fuel. The manufacturer says it has used anything from orange peels and algae to fossil fuels and right through butane, natural gas and powdered coal. And they all worked...

The process starts by atomizing the fuel and inject it into a centrifugal combustion chamber. As with all engines, a spark ignites the fuel, resulting in a flame which spins around heat coils. The coils themselves contain water, which is turned by the heat into steam in some five seconds, as Cyclone says.

The steam thus generated travels into the six cylinders with a pressure of up to 3200 psi to, pushing the pistons in the same way they are pushed in a regular engine. An interesting aspect of this technology is that the engine does not require any lubricant to function. Water acts like both working fluid and oil. Because of the way the valve system is designed, the engine does not require a starter either.

The pistons, pushed down by the pressure of the steam, rotate a spider bearing, which in turn spins the crankshaft. Cyclone says that the engine can be linked directly to the drivetrain, bypassing the transmission, due to the fact that the greatest torque is achieved at the first rotation (850 lb.-ft).

After the steam has done its job and pushed the pistons, it is released through exhaust ports and head for the condensing unit to be turned back into water. The water is collected into a pan at the bottom of the condenser, to be used in a new cycle. A pump takes the water from the pan to the heat coils, and the whole thing starts again...

For those who didn't get it yet, the water used to power the engine does not need to be replaced. Ever...(provided of course there is absolutely no steam or water loss which, to be honest, is a bit hard to believe).

WHAT DOES IT DO

So, thus far we have been taking about how it works. Good and impressive enough, but does it have any real-life applications? Cyclone Power says it does.

The manufacturer is planning five versions of the Cyclone engine: Mark II, V, VI, WHE and Solar 1. The ones to be used in the automotive industry are the Mark V, developing an estimated 100 hp, ideal for passenger vehicle and the Mark VI, outputting 330 hp, for use in trucks and heavy transport.

TREES WILL LOVE IT

The Cyclone engine runs on just about everything, provided it can be ignited by a spark and generate heat. A minimum amount of water is used to drive the pistons, and it, in theory, never needs to be replaced. The engine eliminates the need for lubricant and oil-pump, starter and even transmission. The lack of some can't-do-without features in modern day vehicle of course means lower production cost for a Cyclone powered vehicle.

Any biofuel will do to power the Cyclone, without the need to mix it with fossil fuels. No lubricant for the engine means no need for oil disposal. The lower burn temperatures of the unit does not allow for the creation of the dreaded NOx gases.

We would have told you about the down sides of the Cyclone engine, but, to be honest, we can't really find one. Apart from the fact that the unit is not quite here yet. And the fact that the 11 pending patents prevent the manufacturer to give us a comprehensive picture of the thing.

So, if this engine is so great, how come nobody thought about it before? Well, they did...Even since some 2,000 years ago.

Steam engines ring any bells? Because this is what the Cyclone is. A steam engine. Downsized, optimized, adapted to the modern day. If you remember history lessons, the steam engine sparked the Industrial Revolution and the exit from the Dark Ages. Maybe the Cyclone engine (or Schoell) will do something similar for the environmental dark ages. Unfortunately for it, electric vehicles are already here. And spreading...