Inside the Aston Aerospace Omega 1 Engine: How it Works and Why it's Unique

[@paulsaccani1115]

Thanks very much for your efforts getting information on this engine. If you think compressing hydrogen to 5,000 PSI is going to give you a liquid, you've got another think coming. Hydrogen won't liquefy unless it is very cold, in the order of minus 240° Celsius. If you have cryogenic tanks, you can boil it to keep it liquid. Liquid hydrogen is rarely used in automotive applications. 5,000 PSI just gets you compressed hydrogen, it is one of the big problems with this fuel, you have a very low energy density, you need a lot of high pressure gas cylinders to go a short distance. The idea that you can build a practical internal combustion engine to incredibly tight tolerances without any need of seals is rather bold. The massive leak demonstrated on the video is suggestive of the difficulties involved.

[@ryanhanseen2808]

Sounds like someone trying real hard to grasp a concept

[@iamhugry]

​@@ryanhanseen2808no he's explaining the truth about hydrogen engines

[@chisaomusician7752]

nice job reaching out to the company, that's what we're here for.

[@h2opower]

This engine looks promising and thumbs up for keeping us informed about how this engine works. I like the rotary engine as once the design flaws that were built into the engine are fixed the engine gives 270° of compression and the engine will have only three-six or so moving parts for the most part. Problem is I seem to be the one that needs to build it from scratch and I don't have a large enough CNC mill to do so right now.

[@ChernobylPoptart]

I look forward to your videos about this engine...seems like you're one of the few who talks about it.

[@jordanbrown7403]

Whos eager to see chris speak to the designers in person or at least in a stream,raise ya hands.

[@jayma2733]

No

[@sportsmad3278]

Sealing the high pressure combustion chamber will be challenging to seal off from the bearings that need space and lubrication to rotate

[@scottcox8816]

Thank you Chris. I'm glad to see people working on rotary style engines. I know piston engines have been perfected pretty well. Converting Linear motion to rotary is not as efficient as straight up rotary motion.

[@1apaladin]

What should the rings be in the hot part and the cold part to create compression in this type of engine. And look at the prototype it is leaking oil. I don't want to upset you, but I think it's a scam.

[@mikeornot9077]

This is very exciting

[@robertnicholson7733]

There are a lot of surfaces exposed to the combustion gases, I would be interested in seeing calculations on the thermal losses, the more energy lost that does not produce work the lower the efficiency of the engine. This was a problem in a lot of normal piston engine designs such as the Heron head, the piston crown losses significantly altered the combustion process. Of course, after Harry Westlake and Keith Duckworth, we now have properly designed pent-roofed combustion chambers with a lot of squish. It took a lot of time to work out the squish bit, till then pent roofed combustion chambers were just as horrible as all the others. I am not even going to attempt to talk about the exploding Diesel truck which in the normal mode of running is auto-ignition aka compression ignition or the fact that at high speeds spark ignition engines have their ignition significantly advanced and are firing the plug well before TDC.

[@donedwards6414]

Excellent report. Anything on the Omega 1 is fascinating......especially if it's your video.

[@ChrisVSCars]

Many thanks!

[@rjung_ch]

Thanks for getting in depth on this one. 👍💪✌️

[@ChrisVSCars]

Any time!

[@davidbsmith8944]

Amazing Engine, can’t wait to see this in my Diesel Vehicle instead!.

[@ChrisVSCars]

Same here!

[@esmilner3]

Funny how ppl who are worried about climate change are not on this tech with a quickness. And here you are, looking forward to better tech than ur current diesel.... I'm one of those folks of course, except for believing in a multiplicity of technologies to serve our needs for transportation and climate future. I'm trying to get "my" people to pay attention to the possibilities of new gen rotary, or turbine, engines. They're all about EVs... argh. Speaking of metal melting temperatures, people are finally waking up to the risk of lithium battery fires, the sheer heat and difficulty of putting them out. Is there any info yet on what kind of risks these engines might have for fires, difficulty extinguishing if they happen, and risk of the kind of catastrophic failure that could send shrapnel through the passenger compartment and through you? thnx

[@BigMoPrepper]

If this engine will make a lot of power to weight ratio, they should look at a pump that can push H2 in. The reason I say this, is that compressed Hydrogen is very expensive to make and use. There are now ways to store hydrogen in a solid form, at the same amount as compressed, without the expense or danger of compression. For example, there is the PowerPaste solid hydrogen. I'd love to see this engine and hydrogen finally do away with the need for fossil fuel engines, and not have to resort to EVs.

[@stephenhumble7627]

It's a bit like a single lobe roots blower with 2 stages. The first stage acts as the compressor stage which feeds a second combustion chamber gas expansion power generating stage. Seems like thermal efficiency will be poor as much of the thermal energy of the combustion stage will go into the piston walls which are very large compared to the effective work generating surface. The piston is like a long curved tube so most of the heat will go into the long walls of the tube and not so much power will be generated by the force on the rather small piston head. And in the compression stage the gas compression will heat up the inner surfaces as the gas gets compressed leading to subsequent operation facing the challenge of trying to compress gas that is being simultaneously heated by the hot compressor walls. The length of the moving piston seal with this design is large compared to the piston rings of a linear piston head - seems it will be very challenging to get a good seal and prevent combustion gas from leaking out especially as the engine warms up or changes speed the components will distort and either cause the seal to rub leading to wear and friction losses or open up leading to loss of compression and power. It will be interesting to see how they can overcome these design challenges.

[@sokjeong-ho7033]

Great explanation. Seems like a good idea but I'm not sold on the super-high tolerances, feels like it would make it expensive to build and quicker to wear out.

[@em4703]

High tolerances are a problem when there's physical contacts with the parts (lubricated or not). Here it's not the case, so wear and tolerances increasing isn't as big of a problem like in a Wankel engine for example.

[@ChrisVSCars]

jup

[@sokjeong-ho7033]

@@em4703 Still there's the price. And even if there's no contact, it's still holding in a lot of pressure. I'm not saying it's impossible but I'll remain sceptical until they go into production.

[@FlyingSugarCat]

Similar to a rotorary screw compressor. They have very tight tolerances and they last a long time.

[@jebise1126]

well as long as its cheaper and more efficient than gas turbine with similar weight it will be huge success... as long as it works.

[@Teachaman2fish88]

I have been waiting to order this engine for years. Did Astron give any idea on production dates yet?

[@playgt326]

Now has the official name, is the H2 Starfire Omega 1 engine 🙌🏻, it will be amazing use this engine in a hypercar 🥵😋🏎️🏎️💪🏻

[@joshuagrasser5334]

Pretty sure this is supposed to be in a spacecraft as a backup generator(turns an alternator)/long distance travel propulsor with the exhaust recycled and/or sent to an ionic propulsor to further speed up exhaust gasses and add additional velocity to spacecraft as well as low cost course correction. Water can be found on a few terrestrial planets and so would be theoretically easier than trying to find oil on Mars etc. However would still require alternative fuel/engine to clear terrestrial planets. With no frictional losses in space and by wringing out the velocity of ejected water the minuscule mass ejected would add up over time.

[@elprof101]

Amazing and very code explanation. But the question now is, will ever see the light of the day in mass production ?

[@jebise1126]

if it works and have similar properties it certainly will... maybe not in your car but in my aircraft.

[@altruismfirst6489]

You can eliminate the top rotor by using a passive combustion sparkplug as used from Industrial machinery to increase efficiency as well as recent Formula 1. Eliminating the top rotor would allow a high psi supercharger without inter-cooling due to liquid Hydrogen. The pressurized charging is needed to increase hp and can balance the whole rotational forces by extra balance weights.

[@Firewolf35023]

Weird but, I know the guy from the outro lol. He works at WBRC fox 6 in Birmingham Al lol. He’s a great guy to, even has a show called Absolutely Alabama.

[@markbarber7839]

Thanks for the video. Its still not clear to me. Is the expanding gases only pushing on that nub? Nice would be more video and audio of the working motor

[@russellhawkins366]

This engine is a game changer. It ensures all government regulations are satisfied.

[@altruismfirst6489]

Both cavities in the middles could be used as electromagnets, water cooling area, water intercooling, alternator or any other accessory drive area. Love to hear one sound better than a broken tractor engine.

[@seogabonotjah6555]

Curious how the gearbox fitted tbh. But this ones is refreshing engine concept. No word about thermal eff number?

[@ChrisVSCars]

I was on the phone with him and he did mention the number, but I could not remember the exact number and didn't want to lie on the video haha

[@seogabonotjah6555]

@@ChrisVSCars no problem man, details still scarce as this is still prototype. Anyway nice updares to follow up new concept of various powetrain , alt fuel, technology , and other stuff, Keep it up the good work!

[@rixin1102]

The only issue I see is that the combustion chamber is donut like ,which means the rapid expanding gas will have to travel through a long narrow winding~ passage with lots of surface till reach the exhaust port ,thus lost energy along the way , so my point is the efficiency might be a big question mark . though the concept is quite unique.😁

[@Guds777]

There is no need to chase clean Hydrogen, witch is hard to store as liquid and has so small atoms that it can escape containers it is stored in. You can just as use Ammonia that is 3 part Hydrogen and 1 part Nitrogen. Or use Propane that is 8 part Hydrogen and 3 part Carbon, both burn clean and can be stored at room temperature as liquid...

[@JWats-ux1qk]

Put fan blades in the turbo and turn the whole engine into a self-feeding turbocharger!

[@RulgertGhostalker]

well i am sure they are putting more thought into it than i am, but i don't see how they are going to get compression ignition with no seals ..... i am envisioning a powerful starting motor on the next prototype, taking the engine up to about 3,000 RPM before it starts. ( on hydrogen this time )

[@stevenhirsch2084]

Soon is like in 10years?

[@Zelig2Cents]

I've lost sleep trying to come up with a cylinder that could move like a turbine, rather than the way reciprocating engines do, in order to achieve greater efficiency. After all, some of the power created is lost in pistons having to constantly come to a stop and switch directions. That being said, my gut instinct is that a startup company like Aston Aerospace is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to capital, compared to the large existing engine manufacturers. Something tells me that the big companies, especially the bigger car manufacturers, would not want to share any revenue they don't have to. Why pay Aston Aerospace a royalty for every engine that Aston licenses them to make, when, simply by not buying from Aston Aerospace will hamstring them for capital and at the same time, the big car companies can work on reverse engineering a product similar enough to get its benefits, but dissimilar enough that they can patent their own version of the technology? I'm fearful that this engine might be made out of unobtanium.

[@marcob4630]

It appears far from being prompt for a mass production on common vehicles. Pressurised oxigen is not a good solution because the costs are very high.

[@iamhugry]

I already know how to make this engine perform like 100x better, instead of injecting hydrogen just inject top fuel even if its a little sip mixed with nitrous, this way the explosion will release WAY more energy 😁

[@jimbosavage]

I would like to see one of these engines on a motorcycle. But then again you would have to engineer the vehicle to not explode if someone wrecks.

[@AlfonsoGutierrerzdeVelazco]

como puedo obtener informacion de tu producti por favor

[@flyonbyya]

You from joburg? Santon, Randburg?

[@ChrisVSCars]

Im from Randburg yes😂

[@flyonbyya]

I used to live at 4 Silverpine, Fontainebleau, Randburg

[@nauroticdax]

we'll see/hear it soon its been almost 2 years for all the talk of HOW it works we're yet to see that it actually does

[@ChrisVSCars]

We should hear it this year😂

[@nauroticdax]

@@ChrisVSCars I'm sure

[@nickford5549]

How are they going to span that thermal expansion with zero seals

[@jjampong]

I think the greatest challenge here are the seals, just like in the wankel

[@klausbrinck2137]

2:30 a NEGATIVE pressure wave !!! =Suction

[@aggabus]

Shaft ??

[@chiragpatil4132]

I'm not an engineer but wouldn't low fuel be death sentence to these engines!?

[@flyonbyya]

South African ?? I’m an American that lived in Yeoville in 1984-85

[@nroose]

"How it works" Seems like we should see some vehicle running with this engine before we can say it does work, and then we can say how it works.

[@playgt326]

I hope that this engine makes reality and be used in a hypercar 🤩, possible, a chinese hypercar 👌🏻😋♻️🏎️, running on hydrogen and e fuels 🤩

[@GntlTch]

Hype and more hype! No apex seals ==> no radial seals at all == totally dependent on machined surface contact. Expensive, unreliable and geometrically disadvantaged. Huge face seals are required and at 20K RPM with questionable lubrication will probably not last very long. Also HCCI is just bafflegab for diesel and hydrogen as a fuel is a non-starter.

[@lebic4]

Existiu um motor a vapor com o mesmo princípio

[@asdasdasddgdgdfgdg]

What is the engine called?

[@jebise1126]

wow... that pipe is empty so you can easy have some heavy machine gun shooting through engine and propeller...

[@salemsari]

very complicated 😕

[@en2oh]

If you can’t get the name right… (did you mean Atsron Aerospace)

[@en2oh]

Err Astron

[@aggabus]

H word

[@challacustica9049]

This engine will never be viable for anything outside large-scale aviation and racing with those tolerances. Building such high precision components exclusively out of metals with low thermal expansion is simple too expensive to warrant its' use in light experimental aircraft or cars that can be bought without a racing team. If they were to look into some kind of very low friction polymers like PEEK to line the lobes, it would be a lot more affordable. Nowhere near cheap, but cheap enough to be used in small aircraft and higher end cars. If the thermal efficiency is what it is claimed, then polymers are a viable option.

[@paulz2641]

Won't go into production

[@CDescardeci]

I think this engine, different from Wankel.., and many other weird inventions..., this is really promising and I'll be watching for its developments. But.., please .., wake up and don't expect anything from Hydrogen, because to produce Hydrogen and separate from water it's necessary enourmous amounts of energy, which will never pay back physically or economically, e.g., the efficicency will always be very low. And.., talking by myself I will never put a tank with 10k psi of pressure in my car and I'll never ride a vehicle with such a bomb. Other thing are the EV's ! As an Electrical Engineer I can say that they are far superior than the combustion car ! But...., the real problem is the Energy storage. It will be very .., very difficult to replace such a perfect "Energy Storage" as Diesel, Gasoline and specially Querosene are. We'll wait a long time for something really good !

[@tkorte101]

Hydrogen is a crappy fuel. It has very low energy density, it's difficult to handle, it can cause hydrogen embrittlement in metals, it requires energy to manufacture, and probably a few other things I can't be bothered to dig up. Natural Gas is better but still low energy density, propane is another step up but can be problematic at low temperatures. Jet fuel is basically diesel and it's successful because it has a high energy density, is easy to ship, store, and handle, and is not too flammable. If they can make this engine work with a decent fuel and prove its reliability in all kinds of conditions then it might be good for aviation, but it would require a reduction gear and that adds weight.

[@Swiv2020]

Prediction: The omega engine will be used in a production “petrol” car in 2027. Said car will sell less than 90,000 units before being discontinued. BEVs will dominate and petrol engine production will collapse 80% by 2030. R&D for a Hydrogen Omega-II terminated in 2032 😢 Omega: A great engine that arrived 7 years too late !!!

[@kermitahnenerbe3722]

yeah off course... and brandon didn't cheat at the election...

[@playgt326]

We need a balance, green electricity, biofuels, hydrogen and e fuels ♻️

[@Swiv2020]

@@playgt326 I tried to build a model a couple months back and even with $2.00 Hydrogen the BEVs always achieve 96% market share by 2030. I don't think people are aware of how fast things will change come 2025. Governments want to kill ICE vehicles, its not good. The positive is you'll be able to buy a BMW X4 for like $7,000 in a few years time.

[@esmilner3]

Meh, not really. You're assuming the whole world will go the same way. It won't because it can't. ICE are here to stay through at least 2050. Besides, it's not about the method, it's about the outcomes. But, talking about America. What could wrench the market into a multi-vector approach as we know is better than one single tech? Well, how good is our grid? Is it all nice and secure and resilient yet? Uh, no. And it won't be by 2025. It probably won't be by 2030, unless we do something like move to a war footing and accelerate production and implementation of the tech and equipment we need. Gee, what's it gonna be like with tens of millions of cars plugging in overnight? How many calories or joules or btu or whatever measure of energy must be swapped from fossil fuels to our grid? You don't think there's a serious bottleneck that will delay the full transutuin? Politicians can talk shit whatever, but the grid don't lie. Gavin Newsome can mandate no new ICE cars sold in CA after 20230, but his dumbash better get on that rickety electric utility if he expects that goal. They can't even operate without expecting a given number of power line failures and arcs every year, let alone handle new, enormous loads. But one single event could stop this neo-electrification fantasy in its tracks. A black swan event like a catastrophic grid failure would show the most liberal citizens how badly off we are with what is effectively a single point of failure. There's many ways it could happen, even without being as incompetent as Texas. One year with the right coronal mass ejection at the wrong time could knock it offline, unexpected weather that kills part of the grid could lead the rest of it to a failure cascade. Even if the nation recovers relatively quickly, even three days with heat, hot water, or mobility, will drive people nuts. We should assume our grid is fragile and brittle, if anyone thinks failures like that are impossible, just look at TX. People froze to death in 2021! In America. So, disagree, ICE is not a goner. It only continues if it continues to get better and more efficient, but there's little doubt that it will.

[@Iowa599]

Apex seals will be required because heat will change dimensions of the housing & rotor, so keeping tight tolerances will be impossible at all temperatures. That's why it needs seals that can adjust tolerances to compensate for temperature changes. Normal apex seals (ie: Mazda) are backed by a spring (so they adjust for temperature changes of the rotor & housing. Like that "seal-less" rotor, they don't ride on the housing/sealing surface, or else they fail. They also ride on a thin layer of oil, not water, because water isn't actually a good lubricate, because it boils below working temperatures & becomes a gas. That "engine" is a bad joke.

[@broughxtreme]

Why don't you show us a working engine in action? Computer simulations are one thing, real world is something else. This has a very small surface area for the expanding gases to apply pressure too.

[@ChrisVSCars]

Waiting for the videos. But according to the ceo it has been on a dyno

[@komolkovathana8568]

All rotary type engine (including previous "Wankel" of Mazda; rx- 7, rx -8)... All their trouble is.. too high operating RPM hence Air Leak--> Energy Loss+Over-heated Bringing-up High Fuel consumption (Lower Thermal Efficiency...).!?! Esp this one(type) Has no Seal at all.? They will consume Lube-oil --> lots of Smoke.!

[@ryanhanseen2808]

It’s a wankle with extra steps

[@annettenpaul]

Nice try, but not even close to a modern EV drive motor. Eventually when all the investor money is gone, they'll figure it out.

[@friedrich_k]

Bullshit. A pretty computer- aided design does not mean that this would work well in reality. I am sure in won´t.

[@kermitahnenerbe3722]

HAHAHA wtf, we already have wankel engine, mazda made them running on hydrogenen