Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

INTRODUCTION
The Saint - Hilaire family first patented the Quasiturbine combustion engine in 1996.
The Quasiturbine concept resulted from research that began
evaluation of all engine concepts to note advantageous,

with

an

intense

disadvantageous

and

opportunities for improvement. During this exploratory process, the Saint Hilaire team
came to realize that a unique engine solution would be one that made improvements to the
standard Wankel or rotary engine.
The QT serves as both a compressor and an expander. In that limited sense, it is
similar to a reciprocating piston engine and unlike a gas turbine. A reciprocating piston
engine performs both compression and expansion functions during alternate sweeps of the
piston in the cylinder. In contrast, a gas turbine engine separates the compression and
expansion functions between a positive displacement air compressor and an aerodynamic,
bladed, turbine expander. A combustor is interposed between the compressor and the
expander in the gas turbine engine.
The QT performs all of the functions of a positive displacement air compressor and of
a static pressure turbine during the four strokes of the engine: air intake, compression,
expansion and exhaust. The four strokes occur during each revolution of the shaft and each of
the four chambers completes the four strokes during that revolution. However, the QTs rotor
segments are free-spinning, like the expander of a gas turbine. There is a very slight air gap
between the rotor segments and the face plates and stator of the engine. Consequently, there
are no necessary needs for piston rings or seals, as is the case with rotary piston engines
and reciprocating piston engines. Friction and wear are thereby reduced in the QT in a
manner similar to a gas turbine expander.
However, the QT is not an aerodynamic, constant pressure engine like the gas turbine.
In the gas turbine, the combusted gases are directed through nozzles against the blading of the
turbine rotor and are expanded to atmospheric pressure. The amount of work derived from the
gas turbine engine is the difference between the work required to compress the air and the
work obtained from the turbine. In the QT, there are no turbine blades. Instead, the high
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Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

pressure of the combusted gases during the power stroke forces each rotor segment in the
direction of rotation (static pressure expansion). Thus, the QT is a static pressure engine,
not an aerodynamic, constant pressure engine. Moreover, the combusted gases do not
necessarily expand to atmospheric pressure in the QT. Rather, the combusted gases only
expand until the pressure at the exhaust port equals (or exceeds) the pressure of the
compressed air charge at top dead center (TDC). Because the QT is a constant volume, static
pressure engine, it can operate at pressures that exceed those which are normally practical for
gas turbine engines and can reduce the work associated with air compression in a gas turbine
because less air is required by the QTs combustion process. Higher operating pressures and
less negative compression work imply that the QT can, in principle, achieve efficiencies
greater than those possible in a comparable gas turbine, if the combusted gases are ultimately
expanded to atmospheric pressure.
Like rotary engines, the Quasiturbine engine is based on a rotor- and-housing
design. But instead of three blades, the Quasiturbine rotor has four elements chained
together, with combustion chambers located between each element and the walls of the
housing.

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Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

There are actually two different ways to configure this design -- one with
carriages and one without carriages.
2. The Simple Quasiturbine Engine
The simpler Quasiturbine model looks very much like a traditional rotary engine: A rotor
turns inside a nearly oval-shaped housing. Notice, however, that the Quasiturbine rotor has
four elements instead of three. The sides of the rotor seal against the sides of the
housing, and the corners of the rotor seal against the inner periphery, dividing it into four
chambers.

In a piston engine, one complete four-stroke cycle produces two complete

revolutions of the crankshaft that means the power output of a piston engine is half a power
stroke per one piston revolution.

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Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

A Quasiturbine engine, on the other hand, doesn't need pistons. Instead, the four
strokes of a typical piston engine are arranged sequentially around the oval housing.
There's no need for the crankshaft to perform the rotary conversion.

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Quasiturbine

Intake

: which draws in a mixture of fuel and air

Compression

: which squeezes the fuel-air mixture into a smaller volume

Combustion

: which uses a spark from a spark plug to ignite the fuel

Exhaust

: which expels waste gases (the byproducts of combustion)

from the engine compartment

Quasiturbine engines with carriages work on the same basic idea as this

simple

design, with added design modifications that allow for photo-detonation.

Photo-detonation is a superior combustion mode that requires more compression and
greater sturdiness than piston or rotary engines can provide.
Quasiturbine with Carriages
The main Components of this engine is described below.
The housing (stator), which is a near oval known as the "Saint-Hilaire skating rink,"
forms the cavity in which the rotor rotates.
The housing contains four ports:
A port where the spark plugs normally sits.
A port that is closed with a removable plug.
A port for the intake of air.
An exhaust port used to release the waste gases of combustion.
The housing is enclosed on each side by two covers. The covers have three ports of
their own, allowing for maximum flexibility in how the engine is configured. For
example, one port can serve as an intake from a conventional carburetor or be fitted
with a gas or diesel injector, while another can serve as an alternate location for a spark
plug. One of the three ports is a large outlet for exhaust gasses.

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Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

The rotor, made of four blades, replaces the pistons of a typical internal
combustion engine. Each blade has a filler tip and traction slots to receive the coupling
arms. A pivot forms the end of each blade. The job of the pivot is to join one blade to
the next and to form a connection between the blade and the rocking carriages. There
are four rocking carriages total, one for each blade. Each carriage is free to rotate around
the same pivot so that it remains in contact with the inner wall of the housing at all times.
Each carriage works closely with two wheels, which means there are eight wheels
altogether. The wheels enable the rotor to roll smoothly on the contoured surface of the
housing wall and are made wide to reduce pressure at the point of contact.

Dept. of Mechanical Engg.

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Seminar Report 2015

Dept. of Mechanical Engg.

Quasiturbine

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Quasiturbine

The Quasiturbine engine doesn't need a central shaft to operate; but of course, a car
requires an output shaft to transfer power from the engine to the wheels. The output shaft
is connected to the rotor by two coupling arms, which fit into traction slots, and four arm
braces.

Operation of Quasiturbine with Carriages

In the Quasiturbine engine, the four strokes of a typical piston Engines are arranged
sequentially around the oval housing. The housing surrounds a four-sided articulated
rotor, which turns and moves with in the housing. The sides of the rotor seal against
the sides of the housing and the corners of the rotor seal against the inner periphery,
dividing it in to four chamber

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Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

As the rotor blade turns, the volume of the chambers changes. First the volume
increases, which allows the fuel air mixture to expand. Then the volume decreases,
which compresses the mixture in to a smaller space. Before the end of the compression
the fuel air mixture is burned by spark plug. Thus power is produced. One combustion
stroke is ending right when the next combustion stroke is ready to fire. By making a small
channel along the internal housing wall next to the spark plug, a small amount of hot gas is
allowed to flow back to the next ready-to-fire combustion chamber when each of the
carriage seals passes over the channel. The result is continuous combustion.
The four chambers produce two consecutive circuits. The first circuit is used to
compress and expand during combustion. The second is used to expel exhaust and intake
air. In one revolution of the rotor, four power strokes are created. That's eight times more
than a typical piston engine.
Turbine Comparison
Hydraulic, pneumatic, steam, gas and fuel combustion produce primary energy in the
form of expansion and pressure. Being a hydro aero static device, the Quasiturbine
directly transforms this pressure energy in to mechanical rotation motion with optimum
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Seminar Report 2015

Quasiturbine

efficiency. Whatever low or high is the pressure. Conventional turbines are hydro aero
dynamic and efficiency of conventional turbine falls rapidly if the flow velocity moves away
from the optimum. Because the Quasiturbine does not require the pressure energy to be
converted in to the intermediary form of kinetic energy it has numerous advantageous
over the conventional turbines, including on the efficiency at all regions.
Wankel Comparison
The Quasiturbine is superficially similar to the Wankel engine, but is quite distinct
from it. The Wankel engine has a single rigid triangular rotor synchronized by gears
with the housing, and driven by a crankshaft rotating at three times the rotor speed,
which moves the rotor faces radically inward and outward. The Wankel attempt to
realize the four strokes with a three-sided rotor, limits overlapping port optimization, and
because of the crankshaft, the Wankel has near sinusoidal volume pulse characteristics
like the piston. The Quasiturbine has a four-sided articulated rotor, rotating on a circular
supporting track with a shaft rotating at the same speed as the rotor. It has no
synchronization gears and no crankshaft, which allows carriage, types to shape almost at
will the pressure pulse characteristics for specific needs, including achieving photodetonation.

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Quasiturbine

Efficiency at Low Power

The modern high power piston engine in automobiles is generally used with only a 15%
average load factor. The efficiency of a 200 KW gas piston engine falls dramatically
when used at 20 KW because of high vacuum depressurization needed in the intake
manifold, which vacuum become less as the power produced by the engine increases.
Photo detonation engines do not need intake vacuum as they intake all the air available and
mainly for this reason, efficiency stays high even at low engine power.
The development of a photo detonation engine may provide a means to avoid
that low power efficiency penalty, may be more environment friendly as it will require
low octane additive free gasoline or diesel fuel. May be multifuel compatible, including
direct hydrogen combustion and may offer reduction in the overall propulsion system
weight, size, maintenance and cost.

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Quasiturbine

Advantages

1. Simplicity and small size.

2. Zero vibration because the engine is perfectly balanced.
3. Faster acceleration without a flywheel.
4. Higher torque at lower rpm.
5. Nearly oil free operation.
6. Less Noise
7. Complete flexibility to operate completely submerged or in any orientation
even upside down.
8. Fewer moving parts for less wear and tear.
9. It increases the fuel efficiency.
10.It can run on different kinds of fuel.

Disadvantages
The design of Quasiturbine engine is typically built of aluminium and cast iron,
which expand and contract by different degrees when exposed to heat leading to some
incidence of leakage.
The Quasiturbine engine is still in its infancy. The engine is not used in any
real world application. It is still in its prototype phase.

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Quasiturbine

CONCLUSION
In the future, however, you will likely see the Quasiturbine used in more than just your
car. Because the central engine area is voluminous and requires no central shaft, it can
accommodate generators, propellers and other output devices, making it an ideal engine
to power chain saws, powered parachutes, snowmobiles,

air

compressors,

ship

propulsion systems and electric power plants.

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Quasiturbine

REFERENCE
www.quasiturbine.com
www.howstuffworks.com
www.google.com
www.answers.com
www.wikipedia.org

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