In the past years, manufacturers of recreational marine outboard engines have relied upon the high specific output, the low engine mass, the small packaging size and both the low investment and piece cost of the two stroke engine. With pending emission legislation in USA and a growing customer demand for environmentally friendly products, the manufacturers are being challenged to provide the outboard for the future. With substantial capital investment in place for manufacture of a full horsepower range of two stroke outboards, marine manufacturers are not eager to make the large investments in alternative engines such as four stroke engines in order to meet emission legislation.
The Orbital Combustion Process (OCP) Small Engine Fuel Injection System (SEFIS), currently in the productionising phase, represents a cost effective alternative allowing outboard manufacturers to retain the desirable attributes of the two stroke engine, yet achieve the emission capability and fuel economy equivalent or superior to that of a four stroke engine.
The SEFIS system utilises the base OCP technology derived from Orbital's automotive two stroke engine programs. The function of the direct injection hardware required has been simplified and designed for low cost manufacture.