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2007 Winner Entry
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Internally Radiating Impulse Structure (IRIS) Engine |
Category: Transportation |
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Corban Tillemann-Dick
TENDIX LLC
Denver, CO US
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Entered: 10/10/2007
Patented or Patent Pending
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Despite skyrocketing oil prices and mounting worldwide energy concerns, the vast majority of internal combustion engines we use for transportation and commerce run at approximately 25% efficiency. Current designs waste 75% of the fuel we pour into them. How to allocate energy resources among a rapidly expanding global consumer base is one of the defining challenges for this generation. Tendix LLC developed a new family of engines that promise to be part of the solution, dramatically enhancing fuel efficiency, effectively prolonging the viability of global petroleum reserves and significantly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The Internally Radiating Impulse Structure (IRIS) overcomes many of the underlying shortcomings of modern engines by fundamentally changing the geometry of the combustion chamber. In traditional combustion chambers only a small percentage of the surface – the piston head – produces power during a combustion event. The remainder of the chamber merely heats up, wasting massive amounts of fuel. A significant amount of energy also flows out the exhaust pipe as hot gases. Even under conceptually ideal circumstances, the efficiency of piston-in-cylinder and rotary engines is limited by these inherent shortcomings.
The IRIS changes the combustion chamber's design from one piston in a cylinder to six "chordons" which act as expanding walls. Existing chamber designs become longer during combustion. In contrast, the IRIS chamber expands in diameter. This design innovation means the vast majority of the IRIS's surface area reacts productively to the forces of combustion, generating torque throughout each combustion cycle. Surfaces exposed to combusting gases in an engine can react either productively, by moving, or wastefully, by heating. In traditional engines an average of less than 25% of the combustion chamber's surface area is productive. In an IRIS that average skyrockets to more than 70% of the chamber's surface area. Furthermore, because so much of the chamber is productive, gases can expand further than in an ordinary engine before opening the exhaust valves. This means that an IRIS engine also captures energy that previously flowed out the exhaust pipe.
IRIS engines avoid the shortcomings of alternative systems such as hybrids, electrics, or fuel cells. These systems offer only marginal increases in efficiency, negatively impact weight, range and power, or rely on infrastructure and technology still decades from viability. IRIS engines are substantially smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient. They are compatible with existing infrastructure, and are built with conventional materials and machining.
The IRIS design is a bridge for the next 50 years of global development. It is simpler than today's engines. It relies on proven technologies and sound physics to more efficiently convert fuel's chemical energy into usable power. It can be produced using current manufacturing technologies and components. In the future it can be adapted to run on alternative fuels such as biodiesel, natural gas, or hydrogen. IRIS technology can also be utilized to create dramatically more efficient pumps, compressors and medical devices. The IRIS represents a viable, rapidly deployable solution to some of the toughest problems facing the world today.
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Meet the Entrant, Corban Tillemann-Dick
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Contact Email: timber@irisengine.com |
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Association: TENDIX LLC |
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Profession: Student |
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IRIS Website: http://www.irisengine.com... |
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Number of times entering contest previously: 0
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Design Tools:
Pencil and Paper
Physical models
Image rendering software
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Software used:
TurboCAD Professional
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