Automotive Engineering International 2012 SAE World Congress Tech Awards

The editors of Automotive Engineering International preview the most innovative supplier technologies to be displayed April 24-26 in Detroit at the SAE 2012 World Congress. The top five are highlighted on the following pages, but additional technologies and other event coverage can be viewed online at www.sae.org/mags/aei/saewc.

Pinnacle Engines has developed an ultra-efficient engine design based on a four-stroke, spark-ignited (SI), opposed-piston, sleeve-valve architecture using conventional engine manufacturing technology. The company says that the architecture, developed in-house in conjunction with FEV, incorporates two old efficiency ideas into one package, improving both in the process. Opposed-piston engines have been around for quite some time in two-stroke form, but suffer from an emissions perspective. Sleeve-valve engines had some decided advantages in knock resistance and power density, but they too had emissions-related challenges due to the sleeves' lubrication circuit.

The Pinnacle design addresses the problem areas for both architectures by combining and improving them. The use of sleeve valves enables a four-stroke cycle in an opposed-piston architecture, and the use of a novel sleeve valve that operates like a traditional poppet valve has allowed the lubrication circuit to be fully isolated from inlet/exhaust flow. The result is an architecture that provides better thermal efficiency through reduced heat loss, improved combustion, and a wider operating range.