Yes, that Ohio State University presentation is instructive. Absolutely, check it out.
After 10 years of trying, Cyclone couldn't even make their simple, low pressure, low power Waste Heat Engine (WHE) run for 200 hours to be able to sell a prototype to their customer Phoenix Power Group.
So Cyclone hired Ohio State University to fix the engine. OSU analyzed the 6 cylinder Cyclone design, then threw it away and started over. They came up with the 3 cylinder model in the presentation.
The WHE division was split out last summer, and now trades under the name Q2Power.com. They still are nowhere near having a working product to sell. They still haven't met that 200 hour run time requirement, now more than a year after that OSU presentation.
But here's where it's critical for CYPW: If you can't make the water lubricated bearings work on a low pressure low power engine, they are certainly not going to work on the high temperature, high pressure, high power Cyclone Mark 5 engine.
For instance, page 19:
EXAMPLE OF CRITICAL PATH ISSUE: BEARING ANALYSIS
Page 30, BEARING ANALYSIS:
Little or no data exists outside Cyclone’s own experience for the use of water lubrication for either ball bearings or roller bearings in our environment and under our loadings.
Translation: Cyclone has already tested every bearing material and combination on the market, and found nothing that worked.
Calculated life using just the bearing load and the scaling factors for the viscosity of the lubricant indicate that very high ratio of load capacity to applied load is required.
Translation: Water can be used as a lubricant, but it's 250 times less effective than oil. That means that bearings need to have 250 times more load capacity if they are water lubed compared to oil lubed. Huge ceramic bearings = high engine cost.
Minimal data exists for the use of water lubricated polymer journal bearings in our environment and under our loadings.
Translation: Same thing for plastic bearings; nothing works.
Factors of a 4:1 increase in life have been shown with submerged operation, but little long term wear data is available with pressurized water lubrication.
Translation: Even with adding a complex pressure lubrication system to the engines, bearing life is still unacceptable.
For long term durability, we will need to test bearings and bushings under different lubrication schemes and determine to what extent the lubrication can extend the life of the bearing. Test data will be used to complement bearing analysis and will be used to determine accelerated testing factors.
Translation: Cyclone needs to spend a whole lot more for OSU consultants before anything useful is achieved.
We're more than a year past that presentation. The WHE engine still hasn't met its 200 hour durability requirement. Does anyone know of any progress OSU has made since then? I don't.
Bearings are yet another reason why the Cyclone engine will never work, and why CYPW is doomed.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.