Wankel engine

Wankel engine is nothing but a type of rotary engine and sometimes called by this name in honor of Dr Felix Wankel a renowned engineer from Germany, who is behind the whole conceptualization and development of the Wankel engine. It was introduced by him in 60’s first time in USA. Rotary engines are poles apart from the more popular piston engine and the engine goes in circular motion instead of the up and down motion which is the trade mark of the piston engine. Actually Wankel engine were used in aircrafts only but after the Japan company Mazda introduced it in their vehicles it revolutionized the Wankel engines output and it was used extensively in many transportation vehicles and different automobiles as well as motorcycle.

Advantages of Wankel especially as compared to Piston engine:

• The whole concept of Wankel engine is simpler than other complex engines especially the piston engine as it has less parts but provides the same amount of horsepower as the piston engine.

• In Wankel engine as the rotor unswervingly attaches to the drive train without any connecting rods which results in no valves or trains, lifters, cams etc which are related to valves there are no complications of the parts being worn out avoiding any emergency technical issue as is the case with piston engine which has number of valves etc fitted.

• Wankel due to its making which has an aluminum outer covering of iron rotor is very lightweight and weighs almost half or less than that of the piston engine. Lighter engines have always the advantages of powering vehicles that may be not as swift if it is powered by the piston engine. This is also one of the reasons why Wankel engines are popular in racing cars as well as helicopters and airplanes.

• Another interesting advantage of Wankel engine is that it does not operate in the same manner as piston engine. In case of any technical snag the piston engine usually stops functioning abruptly with no warning but Wankel engine has the capacity to go on working in case of any issues though at a lesser rate. Though the performance level of Wankel will not be optimum but the degradation will be a slow process and so the technician has time and he can work towards repairing or replacing the same. This comes very handy in aircrafts where one has the time to land and also automobile vehicles which can at least reach home in case of any issue and not get marooned anywhere.

Disadvantages of Wankel engine:

One may wonder after going through all the above advantages of Wankel and with so many positive factors like its simplicity and efficiency where in it provides more output in power than the others and its steady process of degradation what may be the problem that it has not got its due in the market.

One of the important observations about Wankel engine disadvantages factor is that though the above advantages fit in excellently in theoretical and practical ways but for any machine to run efficiently the technicalities should cover the important aspects and benefits. Some of the snags which could not raise Wankel engine to the highest popularity level are as below

• Wankel design works on seals which rotate which are not easy to maintain or even plan and design which results in lower pressure from the compressors which simultaneously even decreases the power which one should normally get from the engine. This is not an impressive factor thereby resulting in consumers being unsatisfied by Wankel.

• Though Wankel is designed in such a way that the air fuel mixing is done in a better manner which results in equal  combustion but large amount of fuel which are not burned remains which is instrumental in degrading the performance of the engine. This factor is not found in piston engine which reciprocates and burns fuel effectively.

• As Wankel is designed on the rotating factor it is difficult to work on more rotors as all have to coordinate simultaneously with the revolving shaft. But it is a known fact that more the rotors more power can be developed by the engine which is true in case of piston engines as they have more pistons and an up and down movement which results in more power.

Anyway with all the advantages and disadvantages Wankel engine is definitely worth conserving and utilizing it in aircrafts as well as automobiles.