MK2 Version Glass cylinder 4-stroke opposed piston engine.wmv

Very unique 4-stroke engine with opposed graphite pistons running in precision glass cylinders cut from a glass 20ml syringe. The combustion fires are visible through the glass cylinders! All made with standard lathing and milling from standard materials.
Self-sucking intake with one-way ball valve and rotary valve for the exhaust.
Designed and made by Jan Ridders; The Netherlands.

[@HEETGAS]

I always like to try unlikely things; it makes it exciting especially when it is successful. Thanks for your reaction and friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@AlfistaWayne]

Absolutely amazing work, as always. Beautiful design. Thank you very much for sharing the video with us. It is an inspiration.

[@daveg1208]

How can anybody give this a down vote? This is fantastic, Love the work it took to make it a running machine. Actually I think your machines are beautiful specimen of engineering and craftsmanship. I am a fan. Thank you for sharing these.

[@ManualdoMotorStirling]

Beautiful work! I have not really thought that the internal combustion engine, was blue. I was impressed that the glass syringes resist this heat. I also liked the position of the piston, not requiring balanciamento. Congratulations! beautiful work of art.

[@colemanadamson5943]

Beautifully done! This deserves more views and many more thumbs up!

[@heatherroseisrflyer]

Yet another fine piece of kinetic sculpture. Very inspiring.

[@JD2010whisperer]

Again, absolutely brilliant engineering. Greetings from The States,Scott.

[@HEETGAS]

Thanks. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@paulie1982]

Great craftsmanship, beautiful engine.

[@zOiNhUh]

That's so cool. Makes me wonder how a scaled-up similar design could fare in applications such as a motorcycle or even some small aircraft.

[@DickyHertz]

Very cool! Well done Jan.

[@vanityemm]

What we could do is make a stroboscopic video of the combustion chamber to slow the video down.. it would help if we got a close, steady shot of the engine doing its thing in the dark. That would be one of a kind.

[@HEETGAS]

Thanks for your compliment. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

Thanks for your compliments. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridder

[@HEETGAS]

@TheElsyd Thanks. Greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@hendraawaw4218]

great this is awsome i cant stop watching it, i lalways love miniature engine, i want to make it once but in my country is very expensive/hard to find the material

[@oscararriaga4346]

I love it excellent design !!!

[@jeffsnider3588]

Nice OPOC engine good teaching aid.

[@HEETGAS]

Glass is vulnerable for mechanical impacts, but that is not the case here. The combustion pressure causes a tensile force in the glass wall, but the tensile strenghts of glass is surprisingly high; not less than for aluminum for instance. So the rather thick glass wall (2mm) can easily withstand this combustion pressure. Thanks for your reaction, Jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

@AlexBalabanov Thanks for yur compliment. Friendly greetings from Holland, jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

@ARCHENBAL Thanks for your compliment, Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@vanityemm]

Impressive machine - this would look really cool filmed with a high speed camera

[@grzegorzk1177]

Super project.

[@HEETGAS]

@TheElsyd Thanks for your compliment, Jan Riddrs

[@robertling9872]

Beautiful 👍

[@Jeffrey314159]

¿What is the benefit of using opposing-reciprocating (boxer) pistons in an engine, is it for greater starting torque?

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

In normal commercial engines the combustion happens between the piston and the cylinder wall and some of the power from the combustion is inevitably lost as heat on the cylinder wall, the OPOC engine is supposed to make use of this energy instead by adding a piston on the other side of the cylinder so more energy manages to be converted into motion for the crank shaft. This is what is makes the system interesting as in optimal conditions this engine can be up to 45% more efficient than a conventional one. Some secondary things about the engine also include the lower weight, around 85% more torque, lower number of moving parts, reduced heat and vibrations. An issue about this OPOC system, though, is that the fore running models are all 2-stroke which kinda work against the promised lower consumption since you're constantly throwing out some oil into the exhaust but that's more a matter of time for engineers to find a solution to that and make a 4 stroke of this while maintaining all the promised upsides (there are also some other downsides like the excessive length in one direction of some models as well as the short stroke requiring an electrical compressor to throw the air in, but some of this stuff is still way over my head.

[@ARCHENBAL]

Veramente molto originale. Molto bello. Really very original, very nice.

[@HEETGAS]

Thanks for your compliments. The cold compression is about 4 ato, so the instant combustion pression will be about 15 ato. The power is rather low because of the small size of this model. I don't intent to drive something with it. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan ridders

[@roostersmechanics5131]

if the pistons are made out of graphite do the pistons lubricate the walls with there own material or do you use a diffrent lubrication for the cylinders thanks in advance for the reply brother

[@Mr3wheeledbike]

well thanks for showing it

[@HEETGAS]

@vanityemm Hello, Thanks for your compliment. I don't have such a camera; you can't have them all! Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@vardfriki7274]

So cool!

[@HEETGAS]

@leandrojwfolha Hello, Thanks for your compliments. The burnig gas may be hot indeed, but the mass of it is very small and for that the heat content. The glass is not hotter than about 60 to 70 degrees Celsuis after 5 minutes running! By the way glass is very strong and can be very heat resistant but it is vonerable for mechanical schocks, but that is not the case here. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

@paulie1982 Thanks for your compliment Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

@heatherroseisrflyer Hello, Thanks for your compliment. Friendly greetings fom Holland, Jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

I mostly make the stroke about the same as the piston diameter; there are no big effects when you deviate from this with this kind of small models. I don't strive for best efficiency and performance; my main goal is to make the engines as simple as possible and reliable. I also choose for rather low compression because of an easy start-up. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@mc_cpu]

Very nice again. What's next? How about mounting the spark plug directly in the glass cylinder and getting rid of the metal in the middle. Then we can see it sparking away. :-)

[@AlexBalabanov]

very interesting engine.

[@HEETGAS]

May be, but it is blue and I can't change physics. Thanks for your reaction, Jan Ridders

[@HEETGAS]

@mc349iii I am planning to make such a 1-cylinder indeed and I am already busy with the drawing plan for that. Thanks for your reaction and friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@jamesday3277]

Beautiful engine, I am planning on making a two cycle, two stroke opposed piston engine using two recycled weed eater engines.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

interesting idea have you done this yet amigo?

[@Mr3wheeledbike]

glass heads? graphite pistons? so many things seem wrong here but yet, its just so cool. well any who good job

[@crispincurtis8585]

Would it function on methane or propane?

[@CaptZenPetabyte]

Beautiful work, almost silent too (or is that just the video?). How efficient is your little engine, do you have specs?

[@TheRealFobican]

want to see the inside with valve system

[@HEETGAS]

@mc349iii If you make the cylinder in on peace you have to screw not only the spark plug but also the intake and exhaust valve in it. I don't think that is possible; at least I can't do that! Thanks for your reaction and greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@samvandongen3795]

At first; very nice. I love how you designed something and built it as planned, with a result that is absolutely stunning! It seems everything works exactly as you wanted it to work. I have a question: how did you decide what the stroke should be with this bore? I would like to believe that there's some more energy left in the combustion stroke to increase the stroke. With that increasing compression as well? I'd love to know how you have decided these dimensions. 1000+ compliments for your work

[@Xgamer121X]

how is it virtually silent???

[@sburry1000]

Awesome!!!

[@richardingle7540]

That is a beautiful piece of engineering. ...the design is really impressive. ..I could watch it all day...would this run a small dynamo say 12v ??

[@fidelcatsro6948]

heck it will even run a car alternator

[@HEETGAS]

The engine is not silent but the audio part of my camera has become bad. I have to buy a new one I think. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@juliocesarsangamatang8761]

excelente saludos desde lima PERU

[@mc_cpu]

@HEETGAS How about a vertical single stroke engine with a glass cylinder and the spark plug entering the top set in a metal plate? The sides would be fully transparent allowing all the spark and combustion to be seen. I just wish I had the skills, equipment and time to duplicate what you do.

[@Priyodarsono]

Hope this design become a real engine. There only 2 stroke model for opposed piston engines that are operational

[@cvabds]

ever measured the torque?

[@HEETGAS]

Be my guest. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@machinesandthings9641]

Are any of your engines for sale?

[@ralfdeckers1703]

Nice

[@chasx7062]

How is that 4 strokes?

[@HEETGAS]

Glass is vulnerable for mechanical shocks but the the tensile strengths of glass is very high: about the same as aluminum. You can calculate that with a wall thickness of about 2mm it can withstand much higher gas pressures than the combustion pressure in this engine. I have explained this with figures on the concerning page of my web site; type my name (jan ridders) on Google Search and my web site is on top of the list (putting URL's is not allowed in this text box). Thanks, Jan Ridders

[@StirlingEngine123]

I just asked you about pressure bacause I realised that could be very high presures inside the glass cylinders and I was amazed how the cylinders didn't breake with such pressure (it's aprox 220 psi !!!! :O ). The glass used is special? I realy don't have any idea about the max pressure a seringe cylinder can hold so... But I guess you could produce some electricity with it... even if that's not you're propose. Congratulations again. (Sorry some bad english, but is boring use the tradutor) XD

[@StirlingEngine123]

This engine is very funny to watch! It should have a low center of gravity... do you have any idea about he pressure generated inside the cylinder, and the power that this engine can generate? (I know this engines are jus models, and experiments... but do you have any idea on this paramenters?) Tkx and good work again.

[@Aviator1681]

is this engine for sale?

[@johns78c]

she's running pretty lean mate - the flame should be more orange-yellow

[@fidelcatsro6948]

lets make a 2stroke version of this running on castrol 2 t premix waaaang waaaang

[@HEETGAS]

I am a 100% non commercial hobbyist and I never sell one of my engines. I need all my time for designing and making new models. Apart from that, making an engine takes so much time that it is not possible to make a reasonable price for it. I do make CAD drawing plans for my models; see for my available plans my web site; type "jan ridders) on Google Search; URL's are not allowed in this text box. Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders

[@chrismurphy6962]

3:32 WOE, not petrol.

[@PacoOtis]

How about some educational narration???

[@HEETGAS]

@mandeep1960 Thanks for your compliment, Friendly greetings from Holland, Jan Ridders