Motors (ICE Conversions)
Internal combustion engines are stripped of their heads, fuel connections and exhaust systems, which are replaced with an actuator covering each cylinder, a high pressure air tank that feeds the actuators, a low pressure air tank that captures the pressurized exhaust, and a compressor that intermittently recycles the air from the lower pressure tank to the main tank.The 300 bar air that drives the pistons is preserved for reuse and blow-by loss is replaced with pressurized ambient air.The actuator works by having computer-controlled bursts of air inflate a bladder that flexes a diaphragm to put sustained pressure on the compressed air in the cylinder chamber, which then drives the pistons and turns the crankshaft as is illustrated above.
ACE motors use an enhanced alternator to produce their own electricity to drive the equipment and run the compressor, and so are able to operate free of external fuel. The compressed air that drives the pistons does get slowly depleted over time, but the system automatically refills the tank while idling to keep the system topped up. ACE motors are capable of powering cars, trucks, trains, and medium sized marine vessels.
Wear Characteristics
The actuator Controlled engine (ACE )reduces piston ring wear by 50-70% and extends crankshaft life to 1.5-2 million miles (vs. 500 k-1 million for ICE) due to lower pressures (1200-950 PSI vs. 2000-3000 PSI) and temperatures (100-150° C vs. 1000-2000° C). These numbers are substantiated by actual findings that compressed-air engines (e.g., MDI AirPod prototypes) show 2–3 times longer piston/ring life than diesel engines due to lower pressures/temperatures, supporting the ACE’s potential for 2 million miles with normal maintenance. That extended life factor also means that maintenance intervals are less frequent and are significantly less expensive (e.g., actuator diaphragm replacement vs. Engine tear-down for piston/ring repair).
Generators
Any of the ACE motors can easily be turned into a fuel-free generator by using it to turn a generator shaft. Our Water Energy System (WES) generators are targeted toward smaller portable applications like charge-while-you-drive for Vs and, larger industrial applications like powering data centers with clean energy. It uses an axial-flow pump to circulate water through an enclosed piping system that includes an actuator acting as a pressure-transfer chamber (PTC) to transfer energy into the water that flows into a turbine/generator. This hydroelectric generator system operates exactly like those in large pumped-storage systems, except that the Actutec generator is relatively compact and self-contained. These systems can scale up to 13 GW and can be located just about anywhere. What makes this system work is that the actuator simulates a tall column of water falling into the turbine when, in actuality, the pressure is caused by the bladder of the actuator flexing a diaphragm to transfer the simulated weight onto the turbine feed. Actutec generators produce clean energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and never need refueling.