The Wankel engine is an internal combustion engine type that uses an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. In contrast to the common reciprocating piston engine, which has pistons instantly and rapidly changing 180 degrees direction, all parts rotate in one direction. Let us have a deep insight into the pros and cons of the Wankel engine in this article.
Advantages of the Wankel engine :
- The Wankel engine is considerably lighter, simpler.
- There are no valve or complex valve trains.
- There are no connecting rods.
- There is no crankshaft.
- It has higher volumetric efficiency and a lower pumping loss.
- High reliability.
- A smooth flow of power, and a high power-to-weight ratio.
- It is very quick to react to throttle changes.
- The Wankel engine generally has smaller frontal area than a piston engine of equivalent power allowing a more aerodynamic nose to be designed around it so mostly used in remotely piloted aircraft.
- The simplicity of design and smaller size allows for saving construction costs.
- Due to a 50% longer stroke duration compared to the four-cycle engine, there is more time to complete the combustion This leads to greater suitability for direct injection.
Disadvantages of Wankel engine :
- It consumes a lot of fuel.
- Rotary engine produces very less torque.
- The spare parts are very costly.
- There is incomplete combustion of the air-fuel mixture. so the emission is heavy.
- The rotor seals don't last as long as piston seals.