By: Boom San Agustin
As I was browsing the web studying more and more about the AIR ENGINE, I stumbled upon a Rotary-type Air Engine that claims to have outstanding efficiency, constantly high torque, low parts count, is compact and light, with virtually no vibration, has smooth speed control and is virtually frictionless! In fact, it only takes 1 PSI of pressure to overcome friction! You read it right; only 1 PSI! I’m talking about ANGELO DI PIETRO’s AMAZING ROTARY AIR ENGINE!In his website, Angelo Di Pietro says, "There is no other motor as good as ours, years of research and analyzing other motors around the world gave me the confidence and obligation to say so. (By) ‘Obligation’, (I mean,) in the sense that people have been waiting for ages in relation to efficiency in order to take care of our environmental situation.” Now, “100% more efficiency than the competitors” is a very serious claim! It almost sounds like a challenge or some kind of publicity stunt in order to market their engine! But Di Pietro is very confident in claiming that his invention has a long list of important improvements over other motors and that his concept has the capability to change the way we use transportation and furthers the benefits we get (in terms of energy savings) from the motor’s stationary applications. Are his claims valid? Let’s, first, review his engine design.
Engine Design and Fuctionality:
Di Pietro’s motor concept is based on a rotary piston. Different from existing rotary engines, the motor uses a simple cylindrical rotary piston (shaft driver) which rolls, with virtually no friction, inside the cylindrical stator. The space between stator and rotor is divided in 6 expansion chambers by pivoting dividers. These dividers follow the motion of the shaft driver as it rolls around the stator wall. The motor shown is effectively a 6 cylinder expansion motor. The cylindrical shaft driver, forced by the air pressure on its outer wall, moves eccentrically, thereby driving the motor shaft by means of two rolling elements mounted on bearings of the shaft. The rolling motion of the shaft driver inside the stator is cushioned by a thin air film. Timing and duration of the air inlet and exhaust is governed by a slotted timer which is mounted on the output shaft and rotates with the same speed as the motor.
Varying the performance of the motor can be achieved manually by varying the time during which the air is allowed to enter the chamber; meaning, a longer air inlet period allows more air to flow into the chamber and therefore results in more torque; while a shorter inlet period will limit the air supply allowing the air in the chamber to perform expansion work at a much higher efficiency. This way, compressed air consumption can be varied for higher torque and power output depending on the requirements of the application. Motor speed and torque are simply controlled by throttling the amount of air pressure into the motor. The Di Pietro Motor boasts that it gives instant torque at zero RPM and can be precisely controlled to give soft start and acceleration control.Di Pietro’s Engine put to the Test by Melbourne Market Authority:
In August of 2004, Di Pietro, through his company, ENGINEAIR (in Brooklyn, Victoria) made good on his claims by developing “Market Burden” Carriers (vehicles used in ‘wet’ markets to carry heavy cargoes of goods from one point of the market to another), powered by his Air Engine for the Melbourne Market Authority (which operates a fleet of almost 300 Carriers hired by the market's users to collect and transport their choice of fresh fruit and vegetable produce from the wholesalers around the market) to be used in Melbourne’s Wholesale Fruit & Vegetable Market! Two (2) stroke petrol engine powered Carriers were being used by the Melbourne Market Center for the wholesale transport of fruit, vegetables and flowers over a massive 31 hectares of market. In an enclosed area, such as the market place, the emissions from the petrol engine carriers usually cause a variety of diseases to the vendors and patrons of the market! But since air drives Di Pietro's motor without any combustion or exhaust gases, his Carriers achieve zero-pollution mobility; which is an ideal concept for enclosed areas such as markets, factories or warehouses.Di Pietro’s Carriers must have impressed the Melbourne Market Authority since it has offered ENGINEAIR a grant to develop and build prototypes for new Carriers driven by Air Engines.
This information may be verified with the Melbourne Market Authority, through David Traficante via telephone (03-9258-6161); or via E-mail (david.traficante@melbournemarkets.com.au).
Angelo Di Pietro (Brief History):
Angelo Di Pietro, (1950, Avellino, Italy) qualified as Congegniatore Meccanico in Avellino moved to Stuttgart, Germany to work on the Wankel rotary engine at the Mercedes Benz research laboratories 1969 and 1970. In 1971 he migrated to Australia where he established a construction engineering company there. From his early experience with Wankel Rotary Engines, Angelo became interested in developing a more efficient engine than the traditional reciprocating internal combustion engine, and he has worked on various alternative concepts intermittently over the last 30 years. In 1999 he made a major design breakthrough. Recognizing the potential of his invention Di Pietro decided to fully focus on the development of the new motor concept. The principle worked with the first prototype and, although not built to fine engineering tolerances, its performance far exceeded expectations.Engineair Pty Ltd. (Company Profile):
Engineair Pty Ltd, established on 9 September 2000, with the objective to perform research and development on an innovative air motor design, invented and first tried by Di Pietro in 1997. In the first 2 years the company focused on developing prototype models to test the concept and understand the performance characteristics. During this period additional prototypes were tested, showing improving performance, power to weight ratio and air consumption. The current development status shows performance and efficiency to be superior over state of the art air motor technology. Based on these results the company is now entering commercialization of its technology. Engineair operates from modern dedicated facilities in Brooklyn, Victoria (close to Melbourne City). It houses facilities with an area of 1100 sqm (office and workshop area) and includes state of the art test and performance measurement systems.
Source: ENGINEAIR Pty, Ltd.
Bonus:
Below is a ‘YouTube’ video of a 2004 Report on Angelo Di Pietro’s Air Engine. Enjoy!
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