Friday, September 26, 2008
2008 R&D 100 Winner
Variable valve systems on modern internal combustion engines represent sophisticated engineering, with multiple sensors and computers providing variable control functions to a mechanical system that injects fuel and air and removes exhaust gas. The Fully Flexible Electromagnetic Valve Actuator (FFEVA), produced by Engineering Matters, Inc., Newton, Mass., along with three other partners, represents a new philosophy in valve control. The gas-exchange intake valves are replaced with a spring-mass resonant actuator that eliminates the camshaft and associated mechanicals. Stationary neodymium iron boron magnets interact with a stationary coil to move a stainless actuator beam connected to the valve.
Freed of cam-profile limitations, the electromagnetic FFEVA can be fine-tuned to deliver more power at low speed and lower the energy needed to re-start the valves, a feature that simplifies cylinder de-activation systems. The inventors claim the system will improve the fuel economy of an engine by 18%, cut emissions by 20%, and improve low-end performance by 33%.
Technology
Electromagnetic valve actuator
Developers
Engineering Matters, Inc.
Corcoran Engineering
DMF Associates
Pasch Engineering
