United States Military Academy USMA Digital Commons West Point Research Papers Fall 9-10-2018 Design Parameters for Small Engines based on Market Research Vikram Mittal United States Military Academy, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/ usma_research_papers Part of the Automotive Engineering Commons, and the Systems Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Mittal, Vikram, "Design Parameters for Small Engines based on Market Research" (2018). West Point Research Papers. 109. https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/usma_research_papers/109 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by USMA Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in West Point Research Papers by an authorized administrator of USMA Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 2018-01-1717 Published 10 Sep 2018 Design Parameters for Small Engines Based on Market Research Vikram Mittal US Military Academy Citation: Mittal, V., “Design Parameters for Small Engines Based on Market Research,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-1717, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-01-1717. Abstract A market survey was conducted of commercially available mall internal combustion engines outperform engines with power outputs less than 10 kW. The subsequent batteries and fuel cells in regards to weight for a range analysis highlights the trade-offs between power output, Sof applications, including consumer products, marine engine weight, and specific fuel consumption. These engines vehicles, small manned ground vehicles, unmanned vehicles, are analyzed to show the benefits and disadvantages of and generators. The power ranges for these applications are different engine design parameters including fuel type, typically between 1 kW and 10 kW. There are numerous number of strokes per cycle, number of cylinders, intake technical challenges associated with engines producing pressure, and cooling strategy. A Pareto frontier analysis is power in this range resulting in low power density and high conducted to identify the top performing engines based on specific fuel consumption. As such, there is a large range of the output power and the total power system weight. engine design solutions that are commercially available in Recommended designs are presented for different ranges of this power range to overcome these technical challenges. output powers. Introduction survey captured the dry weight, power output, and SFC of he last three decades have seen a significant growth in numerous small engines. internal combustion engine development especially in The collected data was further analyzed to identify the Tregards to increasing engine performance and lightest weight power systems over a given range of power decreasing specific fuel consumption (SFC) 1[ ]. Though the outputs. The power system weight included the weight of the bulk of these advancements are for larger automobile engines, fuel for this analysis. This analysis was used to identify engine advances have been made on smaller engines as well. These design guidance as a function of the required power. advancements are beneficial because smaller engines will continue to play a large role in different military and commer- cial markets [2]. While a significant portion of the energy market is moving towards batteries, several markets have Overview of Low-Power turned to small engines as a lightweight solution for providing reliable power for extended durations [3]. Technologies (<10 kW) These markets include small manned and unmanned vehicles, consumer products, marine applications, and Small engines have traditionally competed with fuel cells, generators. A common thread for these markets is that they batteries, and photovoltaics to power devices that require deal with portable systems where the weight is a key design less than 10 kW [5]. Since these power systems are typically parameter. If weight was not critical, these applications could for mobile or man-portable application, weight is a key simply use batteries and not deal with the complications asso- design parameter when selecting the appropriate ciated with an internal combustion engine. power solution. Since weight is critical for these applications, it is often An analysis of engines, batteries, fuel cells, and photo- necessary to approximate the total power system weight early voltaics was conducted to determine the lightest weight in the design process. Approximations are readily available solution over a range of powers and durations. This analysis for large engines based on automotive databases and practices; was performed for a robotic application; however, the overall however, these approximations do not readily scale down for trends can be expanded to other markets as well. The analysis smaller engines [4]. This paper sets out to develop these used standard design values and current development trends approximations and uncover general trends in the small for each technology to estimate the power system weight [6, 7, engine market through extensive market research. This market 8, 9] for a given power and energy requirement. The power © 2018 United States Military Academy. 2 DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR SMALL ENGINES BASED ON MARKET RESEARCH FIGURE 1 Map of lightest weight power solution for power A third major design challenge is associated with the draws between 10 W to 10 kW for durations between 1 minute engine exhaust [13]. The size and cost constraints on small and 200 hours. engines often result in the exclusion of mufflers. Additionally, emission requirements from small engines are less regulated than they are for larger automotive engines. Therefore, after- treatment technology, such as catalytic converters are often excluded. The noise and emissions create limitations on the use of these engines for certain applications, especially those that are used indoors. These issues are somewhat mitigated through new advances in after-treatment and active noise cancellation [14]. Commercial Markets for Small Engines As shown in Figure 1, small engines are the lightest weight power solution for applications that require portable power greater than 1 kW for durations greater than a couple of hours. system weight included the weight of the power source, acces- A large number of applications fall into this range of power sories (e.g. alternator), and any necessary fuel. These values and mission durations. were compared between the different technologies to deter- The markets for small engines are limited to those that mine the lightest weight option. This analysis focused on a have mobile applications. Although numerous non-mobile power range from 10 W to 10 kW and a duration from applications, such as air conditioners, fall within these power 10 minutes to 200 hours. The results are plotted in Figure 1. and duration ranges, those devices can simply be plugged into Figure 1 shows that a battery solution is optimal for the grid, reducing the need for a self-contained power source. shorter durations and powers below 1 kW. These applications The market survey found five main categories of portable include mobile phones, remote controls, flashlights, and some applications for small engines. power tools. However, as duration increases past an hour, and The first market is unmanned vehicles, which include as power demand is greater than 1 kW, an engine solution is remote control aircraft and ground vehicles. Though these optimal. Additionally, for similar mission durations, but lower markets have traditionally used batteries, increased range and powers, a hybrid system is optimal, where an engine recharges power requirements have necessitated the use of small engines a battery bank. Fuel cells and photovoltaics are the lightest [3]. These engines have small alternators to provide electricity weight solution for power draws less than 200 W and dura- for electronics; however, the bulk of the power goes into tions greater than 10 hours. turning wheels or producing thrust. A subset of unmanned Despite being the lightest weight solution over a large vehicles is sophisticated military unmanned aerial systems range of powers and durations, small engine usage has been (UASs), which are seeing increasing usage over the last decade. limited by several major design challenges. The largest chal- Many of the smallest, lightest weight engines have been devel- lenge is associated with their inherently low efficiencies4 [ ]. oped for UASs. Efficiency losses through heat transfer and friction scale with Small manned ground vehicles are the second market for the surface area; meanwhile, the power output scales with the small engines. Though most automobiles require in excess to volume. Therefore, as the volume decreases, the proportional 50 kW, smaller, single-passenger vehicles can require less than losses due to friction and heat transfer increase. These losses 10 kW. This market includes scooters, riding lawn-mowers, result in a lower efficiency, which equates to a higher SFC. and go-carts. Additionally, some hybrid vehicles use low Since this issue is fundamentally a geometry issue, recent power engines as “range extenders” to recharge the batteries. developments in novel engine geometries allow for decreases This market is increasing and the engine technologies are in SFC. Many of these novel engine geometries are being advancing due to the increased usage and regulation of hybrid applied to rotary engines [10]. vehicles and scooters. A second major design challenge is associated with