MYT Engine, 150 MPG

I did some research on the web about the engine. They claim very large torque from a small engine and very high efficiency. Efficiency would be using more of the heat generated by burning the fuel than can be done in a standard Otto cycle engine. However, the efficiency of an Otto cycle engine is limited by a number of factors, including compression ratio. From the descriptions given, it appears that the MYT engine is still an Otto cycle engine.

In any combustion engine, the portion of the heat that is not converted to work must be removed from the engine. Standard internal combustion engines are maybe 25% efficient which means they need a very good cooling system to remove the excess heat. Even if this engine is 50% efficient (it's impossible to make a gasoline or diesel engine 100% efficient and it's probably impossible to even get to 75% efficient) there will be a lot of heat to remove. And by making the engine smaller, the heat issues get worse (if the engine produces lots of power in a small package, it also generates lots of heat in that small package). It's interesting that they're making a demonstration model that runs on compressed air. That way they don't have to address the heat issue.

I will be extremely surprised if we see this engine in real life applications any time soon. Actually, I'll be really surprised if this engine ever gets out of the lab.

Mike
 
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