The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Omega 1 Internal Combustion Engine is Light, Powerful, Efficient and Clean

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A single Omega 1 internal combustion engine from Astron Aerospace

The Omega 1 from Astron Aerospace is a brand new internal combustion engine concept and I really mean brand new. When I first looked at the images, I couldn’t figure out what was going on. It looked like some kind of stacked turbine, but it’s not. Then I thought it was a rotary of some sort, but it’s nothing like the rotaries we’ve seen before. It’s pretty ingenious, but you have to look at the video and study the descriptions and labels to understand it.

A single engine, as shown in the above, image weighs 35 pounds, produces 160 horsepower, 170 foot pounds of torque, idles at 1000 rpm and has a redline of 25,000 rpm. The engines can be stacked end to end and each additional unit adds the power of a single unit, two engines 320 horsepower, etc.. The power to weight ratio is incredible.

The engine is air cooled, the holes through the engine are surrounded by rotating shafts and the upper and lower shafts counter rotate eliminating gyroscopic forces.

The view above shows the interior of the engine and the colored rotors are the primary power producing components, the blue on the intake and compression side, the red on the power and exhaust side.

The intake air is compressed and passes to a prechamber between the rotors through a rotary valve where fuel is injected and as it enters the power side rotor it ignites, driving the rotor and then exits through the exhaust port.

Exterior views of the Omega 1

That’s the very quick and simplified explanation, but to see it all happening, watch the videos and stop frequently so you understand the process.

Initial applications are aimed at aircraft and the engines will make use of titanium for weight reduction, though anticipated uses cover almost every internal combustion application you can think of and where cost is a factor, aluminum will be used. They mention hydrogen as an ideal fuel for the engine and when doing so, emissions will be close to zero.

Potential applications include Aerospace, Generators, Commercial Trucking, Automotive, Agricultural, Marine, Recreational, Construction and much more. They mention its use as a range extender for electric vehicles, but if it performs as they expect, why use electric at all?

The assembled team is very experienced in the automotive sector, machining, engineering and product development and they are looking for investors and partners to keep up the momentum. They have a prototype that has run as a proof of concept, but it has a long way to go.

I think it shows great promise, but we’ve seen many engines with promise over the years and whether it can move to the next step will determine whether it can succeed on a larger scale. With the headlong rush to electrics, getting attention and backing for this project will be no small feat in itself. It’s hard to make your case when people refuse to listen.

Internal combustion engines are still being developed, innovators with ideas are still hard at work and those who think the future is simply electric everywhere need to rethink their plans. I would really love to see this succeed.

Thanks for the tip, Brendan.

Astron Aerospace

This video is quite long, but only the first half is about the Omega 1.

Comments

  1. Of course I was going to ask this: if the engine produces 170 ft-lb of torque and spins 25,000 rpm, how is it only putting out 160 hp? The math doesn’t work. It’s likely that they haven’t put this thing on a dyno. 25,000 rpm would only be ~33 ft-lb. The torque value is likely calculated based on rotor forces and diameter. 25,000 rpm is likely the upper limit of a large roller bearing and 160 hp is based more on a hypothetical torque and rpm or something that would sound good to investors.

    • Spending some time to look at the video, I see how it’s working. It does look like the combustion/exhaust has a really long dwell time. That’s a lot of heat to keep inside for a long time, two full revolutions. The ignition timing also occurs really late (“retarded” after “TDC”) so that the prechamber is closed before ignition occurs. This doesn’t help efficiency. I’m still trying to understand the value of the pre-chamber. It seems the intake velocity needs to come to a full stop and wait to be re-accelerated into the combustion chamber. There is energy/efficiency lost in stopping an intake charge. This is why piston engines can have volumetric efficiency in excess of 100%, the kinetic energy of the constant gas velocity acts like a small supercharger. This loses that benefit but does gain the benefit of long intake duration which will benefit high rpm. Interesting engine.

    • T curve and HP curve intersection? A roller bearing at 25krpm? It’s likely an oil pressure bearing. More of a constant speed motor and no idle. The large seals will wear fast. There’s hardly any t at low rpm. Interesting.

      • If T and HP were to be read off of the same scale, I would say the intersection would have to be at 5,252 rpm assuming torque is in lbf•ft.

    • Having.worked for Mack Trucks and Volvo as a Dyno Test Driver of trucks coming straight of the assembly lines (and having made a living on the road driving 5, 10, 13, 15, and 18 speed tractor-trailer (net weight loaded) 40 tons on the mountains and hills of Pennsylvania….
      The highest gears were used to do 70MPH and the lower gears pulling hills with the 4-ways on while driving 35-40MPH.
      ENGINE HORSEPOWER NEVER CHANGED.
      The lower gears were used to to move the load (inertia)
      Maybe the engine has the gearing in mind for it’s unique application.
      Just a thought.

    • This is vaporware I saw the YouTube video that was posted a week or two ago even the company has admitted that this is so so expensive even if it gets built will only be for aerospace to begin with and they don’t have a working model yet

      • Don’t have a working model = vaporware.

        Thanks for the info, explains the graphics without pictures.

    • It redlines at 25k, the peak torque and hp will be at different rpms as in any other ice engine

      • That’s fine, bur since the calculation for HP is based of torque and RPM the listed torque, max RPM, and HP really seem odd.

    • Some knows hp is only torque x rpm ÷ 5200 I would zlike to see a torque curve where is 170 fp torque

    • Have you ever seen a Dyno chart? People quote peak HP and torque, not average. Horsepower and torque are not flat thru the rpm range.

    • Are you sure about your calculations? Why don’t all engines produce HP and torque in this way? In a way that is so easily calculable. Have you seen Dyno charts? Stroke, bore, compression, fuel, air, and rpm all effect HP and torque, not just rpm.

    • You may be correct but normally peak torque and peak HP are quoted and they don’t occur at the same RPM. That could well explain this point.

  2. looks like some sort of compound positive displacement pump.
    I’ll withhold judgement until they show a running version

    • In the first video above, at the 8:56 mark, they have a short clip showing their prototype running. It’s very short, but it proves the idea works, at least in its basic form.

      • Except their “working” model was being run off of compressed air, and a model engine glow plug! And it had oil pouring out from the seals. It’s supposed to be air cooled, but there were no cooling fins to transfer heat and no fans (which are a parasitic power loss). There’s too many problems with their claims and specs, like sealing of internals, claiming no apex style seals. The “piston” must seal to create compression, duh! It also appears that the compressed air expands a bit in between stages, which is a waste of energy and power loss, having over compressed the combustion air, only to have it decrease before being detonated. The claims they make are hypotheticals, many of which aren’t possible, and they couldn’t even prove that it could run on it’s own in their press release.

    • Yes, it has all the high rev and smoothness advantages of a Wankel rotary from an RX-7 and has all the same side seal disadvantages that will wear over a short amount of time, failing emissions and efficiency.

      • Reminds me of a bastard cross between a two stroke and a rotary. I hope it works as advertised! If it does, way cool!

      • That’s what I was thinking. Theoretically, it’s a very cool design, but making it work in real life, knowing the tolerances that it will require, I think it will be a very long time before this becomes a reality. I think newly developed materials that don’t yet exist will be required.

  4. In all my 72 years I’ve seen many such alleged advancements of Ice engines. Despite swallowing up gobs of investors money, None of those alleged advancements were ever up to the mass production mark ever. The Wankel was the only one that ever came close, but that also had it’s serious issues that prevented it from ever making it a serious contender. This latest off, I can see will have similar issues. B T W I had issues finding where the power output shaft was supposed to be. Any suggestions?

    • Appears to me, it’s the lower hollow shaft, and probably (just guessing here), a gear would be mounted on the end where the upper hollow shaft does NOT extend out beyond the case. Maybe?

  5. Waist time,congress ant going to put it out there, until there pockets, shareholders billfolds are full,it’s how the USA works,thanks, personally,I think it’s the ultimate

    • I see no mechanical output shaft. Apparently the horsepower rating is derived from exhaust thrust not suitable to power anything but aircraft. Huge losses will be encured when convert this energy to lower RPM to drive anything mechanical.

  6. How are they gonna lubricate the compressor and combustion chamber? That’s 8 very large rotary surface against the housing. Recip engines have oil seals, oil scraper seals and honing marks to allow just the right amount of lubricant on the cylinder walls. The oil spray below the piston also helps control temperature which otherwise has no means for cooling.

    I don’t see either in this engine.

  9. The hot rotor is always hot. How will you seal it to the end plates?
    That rotor would be glowing white hot, combustion control would have to be manipulated to keep the rotor cool, rather than optimise for performance and emissions.

  10. Oh, no!!!
    Now this new version of Covid (Omega 1) is attacking internal combustion motors!
    Is the end of times…

  11. Sounds like this review was plagiarized from the Sterling engine review I read 30 years ago. Still waiting for that. Yawn. I’ll believe it when I see it.

  12. This looks like an inspired ICE design. That’s kind of a pity because combustion doesn’t make a lot of sense as a way to efficiently extract power from new energy economy fuels like hydrogen (which according to the designer of the Omega 1 is supposed to be the preferred fuel for the engine) because hydrogen power conversion is twice as efficient when the electrochemical/fuel cell route is taken.

    It’s a fool’s errand to burn hydrogen, even in a low emissions combustion engine like this one. You save space and weight (although, some of it is lost again, immediately, with major weight and space penalties imposed by the necessary battery or supercapacitor pack) and achieve higher energy efficiency by using fuel cells.

    Admittedly, this engine might still work alright using petroleum based or ethanol based fuels and maybe that’s how it will be used. However, the prospect of negligible emissions would probably be lost if hydrogen wasn’t used as the fuel for the Omega 1.

    • Not really. Record fuel cells have only 60% tank to wheel efficiency, it is less typically. Omega has 60% thermal efficiency, but much higher working temperature gives better possibilities for energy cogeneration (Stirling or Peltier).

  13. It will never work with any degree of success. First, any fossil fuel produces emissions that are harmful to air breathing life! There is no mention of sealing for compression and combustion. Just looking at the design, the rotating parts need seals that wear and cause friction, and require lubrication. Like a wankel, this engine will need an oil layer inside the compressor and combustor chambers, consuming and producing oil vapors. The upper, counter rotating mass is both inefficient and useless in design. It’s only purpose is for valving, but has external and internal sealing issues of its own. The cooling efficiency is poorly designed for air cooled purpose. Even with water cooled design, it is poor, as it will create hot spots around the intake and exhaust ports. I would love nothing more than to be proved wrong, like with an actual working model on a Dyno, but I highly doubt anyone, even the creators seeing that happen.

  14. Way too many issues here.
    1) how will this be sealed to prevent oil leakage between the parts? You still need to lubricate it so there will be oil burn.
    2) how will they prevent blow by between 2 round surfaces without seals or oil?
    3) when this heats up it will stall, too much friction.
    4) there’s no way to cool this thing.
    5) at 25k RPM this thing could make 150lb-ft but at 1000-5000rpm what does it make? 20-30lb-ft? What a joke.
    6) How do you maintain this thing?
    7) how much will it cost to make?
    8) burning hydrogen is inefficient. Just use a fuel cell.
    9) how much parasitic losses will this have when having to run all of a cars goodies on top of the wheels?
    10) the prototype was already blowing up and it was running off a compressor not fuel.

    • 1,2) You don’t, it is the same situation like in turbine blades. Much higher pressure is compensated by “air-gap-seal” length. Micro leaking is not fatal: it air to air or fumes to fumes only. Internal leaking is directly to… air cooling gaps (as far as I understand).
      Perfect loss of friction is compensation for this.
      3) There is no friction by design… bearings are cold.
      4) It is split-cycle engine. You don’t need to cool work “cylinder”, it is designed to be hot (as aircraft turbine). This way it can be isolated.
      5) I think opposite is true, max torque for 5k rpm. Practical rpm is probably much lower than 25k, but it gives huge elasticity to the engine, I suppose they can remove gearbox from vehicle (just reductor ( with clutch ) is sufficient.
      6) No apparent difficulties..
      7) 450 USD (but it is not a selling price, I suppose that aircraft worthy can be around 10-20K )
      8) Actually fuel cells are comparable, the best are 60%.

  16. Just another engine designed to use a taxable type of fuel!!! With all our GAINED knowledge of decades of insufficient combustion engine’s !
    It’s time to bring forth sometype of COMBINED cross engineering types of non taxable transportation.
    One suggestion stage 1 air powered engine with heat exchanges …stage 2 .electromagnetic compressionless engine…. think out of the box.
    Engineer’s go to university please learn / build, invent change , Don’t just re-invent THINK !
    So try engineering…
    That’s all folks 2022

  18. I so think it has a potenshall . But I see a proublum berring wewr and seales , from running at high speed will mean lots of heat and friction , but the oil would need to cooled and filterd with a very high grade and efichent filter . May be a using a trans coller witha a small pump to keep the oil flowing . And before strating the pump starts like a pree oiler . This will alow the engin to be lubed up before starting . no dry movment inside the engin . Other than that lookes good to me .

  19. Seeing that power is extracted from an engine by the pressure changes in the working fluid that occur during combustion, it’s important to minimise any heat that “leaks” out of the system. Losses due to friction, fluid flow, conduction, and a million other little devils sucking heat away, wasting some of the power that is needed to drive the load (dyno, truck, airplane, ship etc.)
    One of the biggest of the heat eating devils is conduction through the parts of the engine. Any surfaces that will be contacted by the hot gases will suck heat away from the process, lowering the gas temperature before it gets a chance to be converted to power.
    Modern ICE try to reduce the area of the machine surfaces (always at a lower temp than the hot gas). One example of parts that have gotten very well developed over the years would be by shrinking the size of the combustion chamber (4 valves, small squish volume, flat top pistons etc.)
    This is only one of the factors that would seem to limit the power output.
    Lets see a working example giving us dyno sheets showing the actual real power n torque output under real world conditions. Otherwise, it’s only hot air for now!

    The Omega 1 seem to have large, long passages where the gasses enter hot but will continually get cooled by the (cold) engine casings thereby reducing the gas temperature n limit the power output.
    Combustion taking place surrounded by relativily cool surfaces will be quenched by

  20. OT – well, sort of!
    Paul Crowe – Mr. Kneeslider

    I appreciate the results of your efforts, enthusiasm, and the continuing ticklers that you present to armchair bikers such as I. You continue to keep my juices surging and my mind engaged.
    Very Thank You
    Gus

    • With environmental regulations today, they probably wouldn’t be allowed without a methane capture device.