Dynamic Flow Engine Valve Configuration & Gas Flow

Challenges in Conventional 4-Stroke and 2-Stroke Engines:

For more than a decade, improvements in the thermal efficiency of conventional internal combustion engines have largely stagnated. At Dynamic Alpha Automotive Technology, we have identified that restricted gas flow capacity in both 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines is the primary bottleneck limiting performance and efficiency gains. In modern engines, the intake and exhaust gas exchange directly impacts energy generation. However, 2-stroke engines suffer from extremely short gas flow durations, while conventional 4-stroke engines suffer from restricted intake and exhaust flow rates compared to 2-strokes. These inherent limitations prevent both traditional engine architectures from reaching their full potential.

The Dynamic Flow Engine Advantage:

The Dynamic Flow engine overcomes these structural limitations by relocating the intake and exhaust valves outside of the cylinder and combustion chamber. This structural change accommodates significantly larger valves, enabling dramatically higher gas flow rates. Central to this innovation is the proprietary “Main Cylinder Valve,” a dual-purpose component that functions as an intake valve during the intake stroke and an exhaust valve during the exhaust stroke. Operating on a 4-stroke cycle, the engine maintains extended gas flow durations while leveraging higher flow rates, allowing it to outperform both conventional 2-stroke and 4-stroke technologies.

High-Power and High-Efficiency Design Flexibility:

Thanks to its increased gas flow capacity, the Dynamic Flow engine offers the versatility to target maximum power, optimized efficiency, or a blend of both. In a performance-oriented configuration, valve sizes can be expanded by up to 44%, yielding an estimated 44% increase in power output compared to conventional 4-stroke engines. Alternatively, for a high-efficiency configuration, the engine can adopt an undersquare geometry—where the cylinder bore is smaller than the stroke length—to maximize thermal efficiency while maintaining power output equivalent to current conventional 4-stroke engines.

Validating Dynamic Flow Engine 44% Higher in Gas Flow with Computational Fluid Dynamics Model

The valve configuration of the Dynamic Flow engine maximizes gas flow capacity, enabling high power output across high RPM ranges compared to conventional combustion engines. Our projections estimate a 44% higher power output than current 4-stroke and 2-stroke engines.

To verify our assumptions regarding superior gas and exhaust flow, we utilized Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling using OpenFOAM to compare a conventional engine against the Dynamic Flow engine. CFD analysis allows us to evaluate different engine platforms without building capital and time intensive physical prototypes from scratch. To evaluate the valve systems, we utilized pressure drop calculations; a platform exhibiting a lower pressure drop demonstrates higher gas flow capacity and reduced restriction.

For our baseline control model, we utilized data from a 2. 0-liter inline 4-cylinder gasoline engine, combining its four small cylinders into one equivalent single cylinder for simulation. Because 2. 0-liter inline 4-cylinder engines have been produced and studied for over a decade, their flow rates and performance are well established. A standard 2. 0-liter 4-cylinder automotive engine redlines near 7000 RPM, where its gas flow rate ranges between 150 and 200 liters per second.

For our CFD baseline, we modeled a single cylinder with a 5.5-inch diameter (equivalent in flow to a square 2. 0-liter 4-cylinder engine). Engine RPM redline represents the point of maximum gas flow and usable power, serving as the optimal benchmark to measure valve restriction via pressure drop. We estimate the baseline engine model move around 200 liters per second of intake and exhaust gases at its RPM redline.

Conventional Baseline Engine CFD Parameters:

• Single cylinder engine with a 5. 5-inch diameter (four cylinders combined into one).
• Intake and exhaust model flow rate: 200 liters per second.
• Intake and exhaust valves sized to the maximum limit allowed by the combustion cylinder diameter.

Conventional Baseline Engine CFD Results:

In our OpenFOAM baseline model, we observed a 10. 13% pressure drop in intake airflow and a 30. 67% pressure drop in exhaust gas flow. Higher pressure drops signify increased valve restrictions that negatively impact engine performance.

Dynamic Flow Engine CFD Parameters:

• Single cylinder engine with a 5. 5-inch diameter.
• Intake and exhaust model flow rate: 200 liters per second.
• Upper intake and exhaust valves positioned outside the combustion chamber, therefore their sizing is not constraints by the cylinder bore diameter.

Dynamic Flow Engine CFD Result:

In the OpenFOAM CFD simulation of the single-cylinder Dynamic Flow engine, we observed a 3. 79% pressure drop in intake airflow and a 4. 16% pressure drop in exhaust gas flow. Comparing these results confirms that the Dynamic Flow valve system exhibits superior gas flow compared to a conventional 4-stroke engine of similar bore size.
Specifically, the Dynamic Flow engine features 2.43 times less intake pressure drop than the conventional 4-stroke engine, validating our 44% horsepower increase projection. Reduced pressure drop allows the engine to breathe more freely, rev past 7000 RPM, generate higher horsepower at elevated RPM, and achieve a higher redline limit. Furthermore, as a 4-stroke engine, the Dynamic Flow design can utilize turbochargers and superchargers to further boost power, outperforming current 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines by a wide margin.

Computation Fluid Dynamics Study of a High Efficiency Dynamic Flow Engine

In our OpenFOAM CFD study of a single-cylinder Dynamic Flow engine featuring a 4.57-inch bore diameter and a volumetric flow rate of 200 liters per second, we reduced the main cylinder valve size by 33.4% to simulate an engine with a more undersquare bore design.

This adjustment to the bore and valve sizes resulted in a 7.09% pressure drop for intake airflow and a 7.54% pressure drop for exhaust gas flow. Furthermore, a comparison of the CFD pressure data between a conventional 4-stroke engine with a 5.5-inch bore and the reduced-bore Dynamic Flow engine revealed that the Dynamic Flow valve system surpasses conventional systems in gas flow capacity, despite its smaller physical dimensions.

Consequently, we can conclude that the superior gas flow capacity of the Dynamic Flow engine enables it to achieve a significantly higher thermal efficiency of 48% utilizing an undersquare design, all without sacrificing power output compared to conventional engines. This marks a substantial technological advancement in 4-stroke engine design.

Want to know more about this engine in detail…