We keep hearing about how fuel cells can replace batteries, well how about replacing them with little engines? REALLY little, teeny, tiny little engines. Liquid hydrocarbon fuels are really energy dense which is why all of those batteries and fuel cells are having a hard time serving as substitutes since you need a lot more hydrogen or whatever else to make up for a small amount of gasoline.
Building on that idea, these guys at the Cambridge Combustion Research Centre and the Centre for Micro-Engineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Birmingham are developing these incredibly small engines. These engines can last 20 times longer than a battery and have a quick change fuel capsule. Potential uses include medical devices, military equipment, PDAs, notebook computers, mobile phones and toys.
The engines are 5x15x3 mm in size and produce 11.2 watts at 50,000 rpm. Very, very cool.
Thanks, Mark, for the pointer!
Brinskee says
This is really just incredible technology. I mean that’s amazing… think of the possibilities!
mark says
So we’ve seen the motorcycle with 24 (or whatever it was) chainsaw engines… how long till someone builds a motorcycle with 1000 of these? 🙂
aaron says
very cool, but for a hundred horsepower bike, (at 50K rpm!) you’d need 6660 of these!
Petri Sutinen says
Well, combustion mini-and micromotors ARE future, i think. There are big variety of tasks between 10-300w, including city traffic…
Think about if half of the cars could be replaced by 2lb weighing miniengine, put in auxliary task in a bicycle. Not a moped any more, truly auxliary bike could be done…
john says
wow, this is simply amazing, i love reading all the time about technology progressing. I would love to be apart of this. any need for a machinist 😀 i also do SLA and 3D printing :D.