Advanced Rotary Engine Developments for Naval Applications

Results of a 1983 U.S. Navy Study to define stratified charge rotary engine powered shipboard generators from 1000 to 1500 kW output are summarized. The study showed that a 6-rotor version of the 5.8 liter/rotor engine, designed in 1977 for the U.S. Marine Corps as a 4-rotor engine, could effect significant savings in total system weight and size over existing units while offering the advantages of good fuel economy, low vibration and noise inputs and ease of replacement or repair, enhanced by a proposed module approach. U.S. Navy sponsored turbocharging tests of a 1-rotor, 5.8 liter rig engine, conducted in 1984, are discussed as well as relevant background data. In addition, scaling factors are presented.