OUCH!

This is totally unrelated to my subject (hybrid Photovoltaic-Thermal solar collectors.) So if you are a purist just scroll to the next entry...

Mechanology (more stupid names for interesting products) is going through bankruptcy. Looks like a total liquidation as they have auctioned off their patents suite. I just happened to look them up today and saw that back on the 19th of July 2012 (just a couple of weeks ago as I write) they were putting all the gear and patents on the auction block. It seems they tried to sell themselves as a whole back in November of 2011 and it looks like that did not work.

I first learned about their Twin Intersecting Vane Machine back before 2000 I think. Certainly before 2003. The research was borne out of theoretical - seeming "pure mathematics" concerning toroidal geometry. Toroidal shapes are pretty interesting to me because they are DONUTS! I love, love, LOVE me some donuts. But in the hands of these Mechanology folks this same shaped space is occupied by a pair of vanes that, when spinning, create simultaneously a compression cycle (continuous) and an expansion cycle (also continuous) and to top it off: the ratios of expansion to compression can be different... All of this is a big deal.

For instance. The compression work done for a given amount of energy input was high enough for them to get a DOE grant to try to make them of plastic for fuel cell cars. Fuel cell cars for instance can get more energy from the same cell size (read same "weight") if they are run at higher pressures than atmospheric pressure. But these pressures come at the cost of the weight and energy appetite of the compressor.

But down the line, the real huge win could be a new format for an internal combustion engine. Imagine having a very efficient turbo charger on a rotary engine. But this rotary engine had an elastic power stroke that let it exhaust at nearly atmospheric pressure, in effect riding (extracting energy all the while) a larger fraction of the expansion cycle. They were years away from this but it was still a very interesting try. I thought.

I'll try to figure out what happened. Might be a classic "ran out of money" story. If the why is more interesting than that, I'll post it. Hey, if you bought the patents, let me know. I'd be curious to know what you are up to and if I can help.

OH BOY two blog post in a day. (you are welcome ;^) )