Diesel outboards and jetboat engines coming

Rotary Power International Inc. of Wood-Ridge, N.J., has signed a letter of intent with Norway-based distributor Rother Advanced Power AS for the development of high-performance diesel outboards and sport jet engines.

“The objective is to develop a revolutionary diesel outboard engine with comparable power, size and weight of the latest generation 4-stroke petrol outboards,” Henry Gonzalez, RPI’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.

The project will be a joint venture between RPI, RAP and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The new outboard will be based on the RPI Series 70, two (2) - rotor, 250 HP diesel fueled marine rotary engine. The first step will be the development of a prototype outboard engine ready for demonstration in August 2003.

RPI and RAP say they have great expectations for this development project.

“The RPI engine, Series 70 is probably the only diesel engine worldwide with such power to weight ratio that can be utilized in this manner,” Thor Henning Olsen, president and CEO of RAP, said in a statement.

Olsen said RPI’s diesel fueled outboards will be less flammable and offer better fuel consumption, wider rpm range, smaller size and lighter weight than traditional gasoline-powered outboards.

“It’s truly the technology of the future,” said Olsen.

This was reported today by Trade Only Today at www.tradeonlytoday.com

 

Dear Sirs,

I have the International protected patent rights of the air-cooled diesel outboard motor with a vertical crankshaft.

The motor weighs around 43 kg. It uses only 7,5 dcl (750 g) of diesel or bio-diesel fuel per hour at full power.

The prototype has successfully performed approximately 100 working hours. Compared to a 10 HP 2-stroke motor it has achieved cca 12 HP.

I would like to find a foreign company who would be interested in manufacturing these motors. Please give me a reply with possible suggestions of joint cooperation.


Yours Sincerely,


Boris Kunc,
inventor

 

Can you post the specifications? Also, I would like to know what kind of testing was done. The FICT motors were a huge failure and caused OMC to go bankrupt. Their testing was faulty and failed to find a significant design flaw. Also 100 hours is hardly enough to test the durability of a motor. In commercial use it would be the equivalent to 2-3 weeks.

 

Diesel Outboard engine

It sounds very interesting with the development of this diesel outboard engine. Could you please let me know how the status of the project is? Has there been testings, and when will the engine be available? I ask as the leader of the Polar Passage 2000 Expedition ( www.polar.ing.dk ). We could actually test the engine in Arctic waters!

Kind regards from Anders Bilgram

 

Mr

Dear sir,

We have developed a diesel engine that weighs 92kg and produces 105HP without a turbocharger. It was developed primarily for use in light aircraft and is undergoing CAA JARE certification. However is has subsequently been used by SOCOM (special operations command of the US military) for an unmanned UAV.
We are looking for it's use in other applications such as outboard motors for boats and we have slotted it into an existing outboard cowl of an existing petrol engine of similar power.

I came accross this webpage and noticed your reply to another engine builder and was wondering if you would be able to offer us some advice on this market and how to pursue it?

Please visit our website www.dair.co.uk and we would appreciate any response to sales@dair.co.uk


Kind regards,


David J Soul.

 

Whatever happened to the japaneze version. I think it was a tahatzu or a susuki prototype deisel outboard. They were working on it about 4 to 5 years ago. A local friend somehow got to test drive one of these motors for a year. It had awesome fuel milage/time. Something like 5 to 8 gallons a day.being run almost all day. Probably a third of the time running the rest trolling with an occasional stop for clamming. he said that the only problem that they had with it was the fuel shut off. The only way that he could get it to shut off was to unplug the fuel tank. It would run for another 15 to 30 minutes before it would shut off. After the year was up he sent the motor back and we havent heard any more about it. I think it was a 35 or 50 hp version and he had it on a 20 ft carolina skiff.
Howard

 

5150

Guys,

Yanmar have 2 fantastic diesel outboards. Check them out. The Australian Royal Navy use the extensivley on R.I.B's

One application even has them set up as twin-outboard with a single tiller steer!

Cheers,

 

president CMBi

Please keep us informed of the status of the development.

 

Mr. Boris Kunc!

Would you be interested in a test of your engine on a polar expedition?

Regards from Anders Bilgram

 

Diesel Outboard - Please, what is the projected availability date for the RPI-RAP?

Please, what is the projected availability of the RPI-RAP diesel outboard engine or has the project been canceled?

 

I thought the U.S. EPA had banned the use of Diesel outboards. I was inquiring about the availability of the Yanmar Diesel outboards and was told that they could no longer be imported into the U.S.

I would think that for a U.S. produced Diesel outboard there would be a lot of rings to jump through with the regulators.

 

The regulations are available to the public. There are no more "hoops" to jump than for a gas engine.

 

With the 2006 EPA requirements there are still plenty of hoops to jump through. And I might add with very little, if any, benefit to the environment. I'm all for moving ahead with Diesel outboards.

 

Years Away

Sounds like we are still years away from a viable diesel outboard. But keep trying. As Thomas Edison said, "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."

 

Anyone that has looked behind their boat after starting a new outboard can see the benefits to the environment. The old motors left a huge oil slick behind. Also, the 30-40% more economy of the new motors means that all that extra unburned fuel doesn't end up in the water. The regulations work, because the manufacturers and the public were not willing to spend the money to develop new technology.