This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is dedicated to development and testing of Magnetic Valve System (MVS) enabling implementation of electronically controlled variable timing on camless internal combustion engines. MVS is an advanced actuator for intake and exhaust poppet valves utilized in internal combustion engines for control of flows of fresh charge and exhaust gases. LaunchPoint Technologies, Inc. will design and build the MVS actuator and demonstrate its operation on an experimental internal combustion engine. The advantages of MVS technology originate from the nature of the magnetic spring actuator that provides efficient control of the valve position and speed during valve opening and closing events. LaunchPoint?s cost-effective and robust technology will enable implementation of highly anticipated electronically controlled variable valve timing on a mass production engine. The broader impacts of this research are a combination of significant improvements in fuel efficiency, reduction of emissions, and improved power characteristics of conventional spark ignition and compression ignition engines. When a reliable, electronically controlled system is delivered, the economic and social impact of this technology will be broad. The MVS actuator can potentially be used in millions of internal combustion engines employed in automobiles, trucks, bulldozers, and stationary generators. It will enable implementation of emerging advanced combustion technologies such as Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition and Compressed Air Hybrid. Widespread adoption of MVS actuators would result in substantial decrease of petroleum usage, adverse effects on the environment such as air pollution and greenhouse gas production, and improve energy independence.
Variable valve timing (VVT) technology allows the timing of engine valve opening and closing events to be varied relative to the piston motion within the cylinder; unlike a conventional camshaft where the timing of the valve events are kinematically linked by the cam mechanism to the rotation of the crankshaft and the piston motion. A fully flexible VVT system would allow the engine computer to independently vary opening and closing times of both the exhaust valves and intake valves; and vary the timing for each cylinder independently. VVT technology has demonstrated a fuel efficiency improvement in gasoline engines of up to 20 percent, torque improvement of 5 to 13 percent, emission reductions of 5 to 10 percent in hydrocarbons, and 40 to 60 percent in NOx for conventional spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition engines. Fully flexible VVT is also an enabling technology for practical use of innovative Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines, in which the predicted emissions reduction is even more dramatic. The NOx reduction is predicted to be two orders of magnitude lower in comparison to a conventional SI engine with almost zero particulate matter emissions. Systems that enable partial VVT have been created by mechanically phasing the cam or by varying the pivot point of the cam rocker to allow the lift to vary (down to zero lift for a disabled valve). Almost all major automobile manufacturers provide one or more of these partial VVT systems commercially. These limited approaches to VVT improve engine performance but cannot achieve all the benefits that would be realized by a fully flexible VVT system. Researchers have promised fully flexible VVT systems for decades. Many attempts have been made to create a workable VVT system that can provide fully variable timing, including the ability to completely turn off a cylinder by deactivating a valve, and the ability to vary timing on a cycle-by-cycle basis to enable HCCI operation. A few groups have succeeded in creating systems for fully flexible variable valve timing that have worked in the lab or in limited road demonstrations, but so far, none have achieved commercial success. The systems generally ran into problems in at least one of five main areas: 1) Valve landing speed 2) Power required to run the valve actuation system 3) Cost and complexity of the system required to implement VVT 4) Size of actuator and space available under-hood on the engine 5) The switching speed or time it takes the valve to lift LaunchPoint Technologies has developed and experimentally tested a patented electromechanical valve actuator (EVA) for gasoline engines. A video of the valve operating on a 500cc Rotax engine can be found at our web site at www.launchpnt.com/portfolio/transportation/electromechanical-valve-actuator. LaunchPoint Technologies has designed its EVA to specifically address the five problem areas identified above that have stymied other VVT systems. LaunchPoint’s valve actuator achieves combined performance in all five key areas of concern that exceeds any of the previous VVT systems developed by our competitors. Through this NSF Phase I and II SBIR LaunchPoint Technologies was able to design, fabricate, and test a prototype version of the actuator on the lab bench and in an experimental engine. The actuator was tested for over 500,000 cycles to begin the process of validating the mechanism life. The actuator achieved the following technical specifications: Valve Lift: 8mm; Switch Time: < 3ms to 4 ms; Landing Velocity: .07 m/s; Power at 5000 rpm: 116 W; estimated cost per actuator < $100. When a reliable, electronically controlled system is delivered, the economic and social impact of this technology will be broad. The magnetic valve actuator can potentially be used in millions of internal combustion engines employed in automobiles, trucks, bulldozers, stationary generators, and many other applications. The actuator could eliminate many engine components related to camshaft drive, in turn, decreasing manufacturing and maintenance costs and increasing reliability. Magnetic valves could be designed into new engines and retrofitted to existing engines. The result of the widespread adoption of these valves would substantially decrease petroleum usage, adverse effects on the environment such as air pollution and greenhouse gas production, and improve energy independence.
