Eco-friendly Rotary Engine Generator
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When presented with the task of developing a sufficiently complex project to conclude an engineering design course, I led a team of fellow engineering students to create an eco-friendly generator powered by an innovative rotary engine design. Our first step in developing the generator was to create a Matlab script that generates the most efficient rotor and housing shapes for our application.
The outputs of the Matlab script - The rotor on the left and housing on the right
After finding the parametric equations which create our desired shape, we began to work on modeling the generator. This entailed the use of advanced Solidworks features, such as equation-driven curves and costing, and required us to perform numerous simulations to ensure adequate strength and weight properties. The project required the creation of over 75 parts and yielded an exceptional final result which garnered a perfect overall project grade of 100%. We utilized an innovative rotor shape and housing, allowing for a lightweight and powerful generator capable of delivering over 8000 watts to the end user. Further, we included removable panels to make future maintenance and repairs easier. In honour of the great Felix Wankel, we named our generator The FELIX - Fuel Efficient Lightweight ICE X.
A section view of the engine within the generator
The generator with maintenance panels removed
This project helped develop my teamwork, communication, and design skills whilst further improving my ability in Solidworks.
