Rotating Cylinder Valve (RCV) engine unveiled

This is augmented by a ‘static seal’ which closes the gas path around the back of the sliding seal.

The sealing mechanism is designed such that combustion pressure augments and hence reinforces the seal.

In addition to the above, a means is required to maintain intake air pressure stability and prevent the entrainment of lubricating oil within the inlet and exhaust gasses:

A secondary inlet and exhaust port sealing element it provided to act as a gas seal while the ports are closed.

Like a conventional piston ring pack, the RCV cylinder valve sealing system is as simple in its design as it is effective in its operation. The seal mechanism contains just four, low cost components which together enable the performance and emissions benefits of an RCV engine to be delivered in a practical to manufacture, robust and cost-effective design.

Application of advanced design technology

The impressive performance, engine-out emissions and fuel consumption figures achieved by RCV technology is due in no small part to the advanced CAD and CAE methods applied in the design of each new engine. At the company’s well equipped R&D centre, engine design engineers and analysis experts have access to some of the very latest CAD systems and simulation technologies, as used by the world’s leading automakers in the development of their own state-of-the-art products. Engine designs are typically developed fully in 3D CAD. Performance and emissions are assessed and refined and optimised using Ricardo Software’s WAVE package, which combines simulation of gas dynamics and combustion with the prediction of engine mechanical performance, exhaust emissions and fuel consumption. The complex and critical 3D shape of the port of the rotating cylinder is fine-tuned using the STAR-CD computational fluid dynamics package in order to improve flow dynamics for gas exchange and combustion. Finally, finite element methods are used by engineers to understand the thermal characteristics of the engine and hence develop effective cooling strategies to improve performance, durability and robustness. The combination of these advanced design technologies enables RCV Engines Ltd to resolve issues and achieve a high level of design optimisation well before prototypes are manufactured.

Future developments

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