Scientists have built the world’s smallest petrol engine that is tiny enough to power a Watch.
The mini-combustion engine can run for two years on a single dose of a light fuel.
To give you an estimate of the power, it produces 700 times more energy than a conventional battery despite having a size less than a centimetre long . If the technology continues to innovate with the same pace, it could be used to power laptops and mobile phones for months.
Energy evangelists believe that this new mini-motor can make batteries look conventional and even phase them out in half decade.
The engine has been produced by engineers at the University of Birmingham.
“We are looking at an industrial revolution happening in peoples’ pockets. The breakthrough is an enormous step forward. Devices which need re- charging or new batteries are a problem but in six years will be a thing of the past.”
These tiny engines would find applications in other fields such as medical, military gadgets, and future robots.
Today, charging an ordinary battery to deliver one unit of energy involves putting 2,000 units into it. This is due to the fact that energy is wated at several steps before it is effectively stored. On the contrary this engine produces energy locally, and hence is far more efficient.
Micro engines have been produced several times in the past, but all of them failed at dissipating heat to surroundings, and burned themselves over a small period of operation. The Birmingham team overcame this by using heat-resistant materials such as ceramic and silicon carbide. They brought together all the engineering disciplines, both materials, chemical engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering.
We’re excited about this more than Bloom Energy, a new Energy revolution.
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