Smallest Petrol Engine

[rob c]

SMALLEST PETROL ENGINE

 

 

 

SCIENTISTS have built the smallest petrol engine, tiny enough to power a WATCH.

 

The mini-motor, which runs for two years on a single squirt of lighter fuel, is set to

 

revolutionize world technology. It produces 700 times more energy than a conventional

 

battery despite being less than a centimeter long (Not even half an inch!). It could be used

 

to operate laptops and mobile phones for months doing away with the need for recharging.

 

Experts believe it could be phasing out batteries in such items within just six years.

 

The engine, minute enough to be balanced on a fingertip, has been produced by engineers

 

at the University of Birmingham . Dr Kyle Jiang, lead investigator from the Department of

 

Mechanical Engineering, said: "We are looking at an industrial revolution happening in peoples'

 

pockets. The breakthrough is an enormous step forward. Devices which need re-charging or new

 

batteries are a problem but in six years will be a thing of the past.." Other applications for the

 

engine could include medical and military uses, such as running heart pacemakers or mini

 

reconnaissance robots. At present, charging an ordinary battery to deliver one unit of energy

 

involves putting 2,000 units into it. The little engine, because energy is produced locally, is far

 

more effective. One of the main problems faced by engineers who have tried to produce micro

 

motors in the past has been the levels of heat produced. The engines got so hot they burned

 

themselves out and could not be re-used. The Birmingham team overcame this by using heat-

 

resistant materials such as ceramic and silicon carbide. Professor Graham Davies, head of the

 

university's engineering school, said: "We've brought together all the engineering disciplines,

 

materials, chemical engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. What better

 

place to have the second industrial revolution in nano-technology than where the first took place,

 

in the heart of the West Midlands.

 

 

[old man emu]

If it was used in a heart pacemaker and was running on E10, could it make you fail an RBT?

 

OME

 

 

[robinsm]

be a bug.er to do a valve grind on....

 

 

[Marty_d]

Think I'll stick with a 912 for my build...

 

 

[mAgNeToDrOp]

I recall this story doing the rounds a few years ago, is it legit?

 

 

[SDQDI]

The pic is from the Birmingham uni website but I'm not sure whether the story has been 'fabricated'

 

 

[SDQDI]

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/mechanical-engineering/bio-micro/index.aspx

[planedriver]

Was it the April 1st edition?

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

Petrol powered pacemaker eh? Seems a valid reason for exhausting hot gasses and fumes. Gnu's have a powerful microbiome.

 

There was talk about powering stuff with micro-turbines a couple of years back, seems similar.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

The pacemaker would have to pass an exhaust emissions check. Where would they put the sensor?

 

 

[Marty_d]

The pacemaker would have to pass an exhaust emissions check. Where would they put the sensor?

Jeez, I know some blokes whose exhaust emissions could use some limiting.

 

 

[pylon500]

If you did a gas conversion on it, and ate beans, it would be self fuelling...