HydroICE project developing a solar-powered combustion engine
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Hot oil would be injected into the cylinder (Fig 1/Port A), water droplets would then be introduced to that oil (Fig 2/Port B), then the resulting steam would force the piston down (Fig 3)
A cut-away view of the prototype HydroICE engine, with cotton batten indicating how steam would be used to drive the piston down
The prototype HydroICE engine
Article Summary
OK, first things first – stop picturing a car with solar panels connected to its engine. What Missouri-based inventors Matt Bellue and Ben Cooper are working on is something a little different than that. They want to take an internal combustion engine, and run it on water and solar-heated oil instead of gasoline. That engine could then be hooked up to a generator, to provide clean electricity. While that may sound a little iffy to some, Bellue and Cooper have already built a small-scale prototype.
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