My Take on Rotary Valves Back in 2002

Back in 2002, I was working at a multinational oil company with huge ties with an important F1 team, my favourite free time obsession.

I already have collaborated with the F1 team once via Intranet we could communicate with any other person in the company around the world.

I did read in the news that the F1 team they technically sponsored did have a great problem: they were injecting extra gasoline in the combustion chamber to refresh the engine, with a weight penalty a the start of the races. Then I send a text message with a simple solution: as the exhaust is very close to the engine, simply apply a heat shield to reduce the heat irradiation back to the engine. I didn't have any direct answer but in the next race they have a fancy gold heat shield over the engine and a few weeks later, all teams follow them. Coincidence? I'm sure not!

Using the F1 design philosophy in my research, I was designing around the smaller and most efficient engine possible; (any similarity with present downsizing?) when I saw plastic globe valves to garden faucets at the hardware store and thought: the problems are similar to the engines so you can have much better valves.

I did research about it on the internet and received some patents from a highly placed consultor inside one of the greatest car makers in Europe that without any effective results, did believe my work, but this a history to another publication.

Getting back, I did find out that the worst problem was sealing the valves and anyone else fail to do it at a reasonable cost and working life.

So I did 'use' the same sealing system that works so well in the pistons fixed on the heads to do its magic on the rotary valves and sent it by e-mail to that technical team in F1.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any return aside some intimidation from the guy that instead help me as designated by his boss, did take advantage of my work for himself only.

So, here we are more than twenty years later.

At the same time as we all already understood that all cars will go electric soon or later, we will have to use internal combustion engines for some time; so, why not do it better?

My contribution is here free of charge! Obviously, it needs 'some' development and I would love to help; but I think that if the rings can seal in the bottom, a similar system can also do it at the top of the engine.

Currently, we have several rapidly prototyping tools like metal 3D printing that could speed the development of these new valves from years to months. I hope it will not be designed with too much complexity or over-engineered too, as was done in the past to disregard it from the start.

Oh yeah, I was forgetting: after this e-mail, the technical regulations of F1 were written with the obligatory adoption of 'pop-up' valves, which wasn't there before.

Did you notice how this head is smaller, simpler and lighter; with much fewer internal parts and less interference for the flowing gases and with the possibility to be turbocharged internally and counter-rotating the crankshaft?

And you, what do you think? Rotary valves can improve our good old internal combustion engines, extending their adoption until all of our transportation go electric once and for all?

I hope so! All the best! See you in the next interaction.