A review on Free piston engines

-An alternative to
conventional engine
CONTENTS:
 INTRODUCTION.

 FREE PISTON ENGINE BASICS .

1) SINGLE PISTON.
2) DOUBLE PISTON.
3) OPPOSED PISTON .

 FIRST GENERATION .
1) AIR COMPRESSORS.
2) GAS COMPRESSORS.
 APPLICATIONS.
 ADVANTAGES & DIS-ADVANTAGES.
 CONCLUSION.
INTRODUCTION.

 Extensive use of fossil fuels as an energy source for both sea and land
based transport leads to significant amounts of co2 and other pollutants
being produced.

 Fuel cell engines were invented .But not reached the requirements.

 Free piston engines are being investigated by a no of research groups

world wide as an alternative to conventional engine generator sets or for
generating hydraulic power in off-highway vehicles.

 In free piston engines , the stroke of the piston is used directly to

produce Hydraulic , Pneumatic or Electrical energy .
FREE PISTON ENGINE BASICS .

 The Free-piston term is most commonly used to distinguish a linear engine from a rotating
crankshaft engine.

 The piston is ‘free’ because its motion is not restricted by the position of a rotating crankshaft,
as known from conventional engines, but only deter-mined by the interaction between the gas
and load forces acting upon it.

 This gives the free-piston engine some distinct characteristics, including

(a) variable stroke length and
(b) the need for active control of piston motion.

 Other important features of the free-piston engine are potential reductions in frictional losses
and possibilities to engine operation using the variable compression ratio.

a ) Single piston engine

b ) Dual piston engine
c ) Opposed piston engine
Single piston :

 This engine essentially consists of three parts a combustion chamber, a

load device , and a rebound device to store the energy required to

compress the next cylinder charge .

 Cylinder serves as both load and rebound device.

 Rebound device is used to store the energy required to compress the

Dual piston:

 The dual piston engine configuration eliminates the need for a rebound device.
 This allows a simple and compact device with higher power to weight ratio.
 The control of piston motion , particularly in stroke length and compression ratio
has proved difficult.
Opposed piston:

 It consists of two single piston units with a common combustion chamber .each
piston requires a rebound device, and load device may be coupled to both of the
pistons.
First generation of FPE
Free piston Air Compressor:-

The first successful application of the free-piston engine concept was as air compressors. In these engines,
air compressor cylinders were coupled to the moving pistons, often in a multi-stage configuration. Some of
these engines utilized the air remaining in the compressor cylinders to return the piston, thereby
eliminating the need for a rebound device.

Free-piston air compressors were in use among others by the German Navy, and had the advantages of high
efficiency, compactness and low noise and vibration .
Free Piston Gas Generator:

 This are the free pistons feeding hot gases to a power turbine.

 These are used in some large scale marine and stationary power plants
in themid-20th century , and attempts were made to use this principle
in Automotive applications.
Modern Applications

 Hydraulic free-piston engines.

 Free piston engine generators.
Advantages:
 Optimized combustion through variable compression ratio.

 High load efficiency.

 Multi fuel operation.

 Reduced frictional losses due to simple design with few moving

parts.
Disadvantages:
 The control of piston motion , in particular stroke length and
compression ratio has difficult in dual piston.

 Misfiring
Conclusion;
The basic design and features of the free piston engines
have been discussed.mny reports conclude that more research is
required to investigate potential advantages over conventional
technology.
QUERRIES……?
THANK U….!