The Design and Engineering of Liquid Piston Engines

A liquid piston engine is a type of internal combustion engine that uses a liquid as a piston, rather than a traditional metal piston. This design is based on the idea of using a liquid to act as a piston, which can be raised or lowered to compress and expand the gas above it, similar to a traditional piston engine. The liquid piston engine was first developed by Alec, who experimented with different designs and materials until he came up with a working prototype.

Alec's First Attempts

Alec began by experimenting with different types of liquids that could be used as pistons. He tried using various oils and fuels, but none of them seemed to work well enough to power a go-kart. However, after some trial and error, Alec finally came up with a design that worked. He mounted the liquid piston engine on top of an existing scooter, which already had a two-speed gearbox.

Adding Customizations and Upgrades

To make the engine more efficient and powerful, Alec added various customizations and upgrades. He used CNC machines to create a mounting plate for the engine, as well as a bearing mount with a cool pattern. The mounting plate was designed to be sturdy and secure, while the bearing mount provided additional support for the engine. Additionally, Alec 3D printed a shroud to cool the engine and improve airflow, as well as an exhaust manifold made of metal.

The 3D Printed Components

Alec used various 3D printing techniques to create several key components for his liquid piston engine. The shroud was designed to be compact and efficient, while also allowing for good airflow to help cool the engine. The exhaust manifold was 3D printed in a similar way, providing a strong and durable component that could withstand high temperatures. Alec also 3D printed connectors to rotate the carburetor, which was an essential component for the engine's performance.

The Engine's Performance

After assembling all of the components together, Alec tested the liquid piston engine on his scooter. The results were impressive - the engine produced four horsepower, which was significantly more than the original two-speed gearbox could handle. However, there was a catch: the engine required constant acceleration to maintain speed, making it difficult to drive in curves or brake.

The Fun Factor

Despite its limitations, Alec's liquid piston engine was still a lot of fun to use. The scooter's acceleration and handling were improved significantly, allowing Alec to ride at high speeds with ease. He even claimed that the engine could run on almost anything, including moonshine, although he admitted that this was not recommended.

The Future of Liquid Piston Engines

Alec's work on liquid piston engines has sparked interest among enthusiasts and engineers alike. The potential for these engines to be more efficient and powerful than traditional designs is significant, and further research and development could lead to breakthroughs in the field. As Alec continues to experiment and innovate with his liquid piston engine, it will be exciting to see where this technology takes us in the future.

The Video Creation Process

Alec's video of himself riding the scooter with the liquid piston engine was well-received by his audience, who appreciated the humor and enthusiasm that went into creating the content. Alec gave away a 3D printer to the most liked comment suggesting a theme for a future video, and also announced that he would be giving away another 3D printer to the same channel in the near future. The video ended with Alec's usual message of encouragement and support for his audience, as well as a reminder to always have fun when building and experimenting with new projects.

The Importance of Community Engagement

Alec emphasized the importance of community engagement and interaction in creating engaging content. He encouraged his audience to subscribe to the channel, leave likes on his videos, and post comments suggesting themes for future videos. By doing so, Alec was able to build a loyal following of enthusiasts who shared his passion for building and experimenting with new projects.

The Role of CNC Machines in Engineering

Alec highlighted the importance of CNC machines in engineering and manufacturing. He used these machines to create custom components such as the mounting plate and bearing mount, which provided additional support and stability for the engine. Additionally, Alec used CNC machines to 3D print various components, including the shroud and exhaust manifold. This allowed him to achieve precise control over the design and construction of his liquid piston engine.

The Use of 3D Printing in Engine Design

Alec's use of 3D printing in engine design was a key factor in the development of his liquid piston engine. By using these machines, he was able to create complex components such as the shroud and exhaust manifold with precision and accuracy. This allowed him to optimize the performance and efficiency of the engine, which ultimately led to its success.

The Significance of Tomatoes

Alec's final remark about tomatoes being disgusting added a humorous touch to the video. However, it also served as a reminder that not everything in life needs to be perfect or efficient - sometimes it's okay to take your time and enjoy the process of building and experimenting with new projects.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign engine I found a design online and I decided to build it it's basically a hot air engine that uses a literal liquid piston pretty cool right it's a science toy but is this useful in real life this video was brought to you by liquid piston a company that is changing the future of internal combustion engines and a company in which you should consider investing in links in the description the first idea was a liquid piston that's why the name of the company literally like a liquid piston literally if you think of a cylinder glitter bottle right exactly you have a liquid there a liquid X as a piston you can raise level or you can let it fall and it will act exactly like a piston so the gas above the liquid will be compressed will be expanded through the combuster you can do anything you want with it it's a beautiful system it's the only system that we considered that was able to execute this cycle high efficiency hybrid cycle 100 in theoretical sense this is Nikolai scholnik a Ukrainian physicist that had this weird idea of cherry picking the best features of three different types of combustion engine and then frankensteining them together into one supreme combustion engine I grabbed the air as much as I can I squeeze it I hold it at the constant volume I inject the fuel I combust it and then I expanded at the volume higher than when I started that's the cycle it's very simple that all sounds very simple on paper there's only a teeny tiny problem there's no engine on this planet that can pull that off not all at the same time at least like I said before the piston and crankshaft mechanism is too limited that's the reason why Nikolai thought of the liquid piston engine in the first place because it would be the perfect solution to run its theoretical cycle unfortunately he would have to reinvent the wheel to make it work which would be really really really hard we never built it wait wait wait wait it's been done it's used today in the fish processing industry I think it's called a Humphrey pump so it um in order to move fish around when they're processing the fish they'll combust over the tank and and use that Force to to move sounds like the idea uh like a 10 year old would have you know just exploded and push it but you know what this turns out to be much more gentle than mechanically pushing stuff around so the liquid piston is great to move fish around but not practical for an internal combustion engine physicists tend to dream of theoretical Solutions but the people that actually solve the problems are the engineers this is Alec nikolai's son and an engineer from MIT our engine actually dates back to I think 1806 it was a steam engine back then and then Felix Wankel put out a book and he went through a whole bunch of different rotary compressors pumps different types of rotary machines that could be made into an engine and our engine was in in his book and he said you can't you can't do it so we we kind of figured it out it's an oversimplification to say that you guys are just doing an inverted Wankel engine because the cycle is completely different right correct the Winkle engine still uses an auto cycle correct yeah so a four-stroke will have one combustion event per two revolutions of the shaft so the Piston has to come up and down twice the X-Mini with a single rotor it's performing three Cycles simultaneously so we end up with three combustion events per two revolutions of the shaft it's very much like a three-cylinder engine you can think of it kind of that way and then the new engine we're working on the XTS is a two-stroke implementation so it actually has six firing events per Revolution both sides of the road or do combustion at the same time um out of phase but uh so that that's combustion right and then combustion again on the four stroke this is doing intake and exhaust on the two-stroke this is doing combustion wow sponsor time on a serious note though this is a company that can actually change the world let's stop trying to optimize the technology that was invented 150 years ago and move on to a new technology that can efficiently make the most out of the limited fuels we have to produce energy and move us around if you want to help you can invest in the future of the liquid piston engine by using the link in the description down below our engine can be competitive with engines anywhere that they're used today uh 10 kilowatt generator it requires a trailer to move around it's so big and heavy it weighs like a thousand pounds so just imagine the impact if we can make that five or ten times smaller and lighter it's a game changer for the military you know for this reason they're extremely excited about us and they've been making significant investments into us we started working with DARPA which is the defense Advanced research project agency in 2016. we kind of graduated from working with DARPA and now we're working with with the Army on substantial contracts so in my head I hear about this engine that is much smaller and lighter but at the same time as the same power as a three-cylinder engine I really wanted to try it out so I did thank you it was a lot of fun riding that go-kart but the x-menie is a four horsepower engine and the go-kart normally needs a 5 to 13 horsepower engine which means that go-kart is a little bit too heavy for that engine it also means that if somehow I can take that engine from the go-kart and put it in something lighter I can go much faster luckily they had a crappy scooter laying around with a two horsepower conventional engine that I promptly removed actually I'm pretty sure it was a weed whacker engine because the acceleration on the scooter was a bit how can I put this nicely not Guild it was bad it was very slow The Next Step was putting this on top of this and for that I needed a mounting plate the liquid piston sharp had a lot of cool toys available so I used them and by I use them I mean Gary and Keith use them they have Decades of experience with CNC machines well I make CNC machine scream foreign the mounting plate though and I also designed this bearing mount with a cool pattern I thought it was cool Gary thought it was a waste of Machining time Gary doesn't understand that not everything in life needs to be quick and efficient sometimes you just want to take your time you know you want to go with the flow and make things cool and also make yourself feel like you're contributing talking about cool this black part here is a 3D printed shroud to cool the engine and also get more air into the engine also the exhaust manifold is metal 3D printed I didn't think this was 3D printing enough so I added more 3D printing by using their 3D printers to 3D printer connectors to rotate the carburetor carb car I never I can never say this word carburetor rotate the carburetor 90 degrees it was sticking out too much and I also 3D printed a clamp to hold the fuel tank after assembling the engine on the mounting plate we fixed all of that onto the scooter using cheap aluminum bars I know it sounds sketchy but not everything needs to be 3D CNC machine printed reinforced with inconel carbon fiber titanium sometimes you ought to keep it simple and make it work Yoki samyu the way of the tomatoes for transmission we use the go-kart clutch and a chain the scooter already came with a two-speed gearbox that was how can I put this nicely it was bad it was not good it was geared down too much what limited the max speed a little bit now you might have noticed this on the side of the fuel tank this happened because Alec was bragging about the fact that their engine can run on almost anything so I asked him can I run on vodka and he said I don't know but you can try it so I did see no matter what I ever heard did all the normal guys would never quit looking fun at me um foreign here's the thing it runs pretty good uh the problem is you cannot take your hand from the accelerator if you take it just a little bit it's like oh are you good so in the curves I would like I had to go accelerating just a little bit even the curves I couldn't break yeah this is running so good now it's really amazing I don't know if you guys want to try it but this is is worth the while I love your camera work it's just like I know what you're thinking did in Texas just ran one of the most sophisticated internal combustion engines on moonshine yes and it was a lot of fun going fast is fun but building stuff is funner is that a word if you like building stuff and you need a new tool on Your Arsenal I have the perfect thing for you on most video I gave away a 3D printer to the most like comment suggesting a theme for a future video If you also want to win a 3D printer all you need to do is subscribe to the channel leave a like on this video and post a comment suggesting a theme for a future video the most liked comment will win a brand new 3D printer um yeah that's everything for today thank you so much for watching and remember tomatoes are disgusting so yeah\n"