Papp Engine

[zenmaster]

Is the size of the engine displayed in the video the same size as the engine they describe with that power?

I think that particular engine (the Harley conversion) can do like 250 hp, but a lot of of torque.

I'm assuming such engine would have similar applications as that sort of diesel engine?

Yes, a pump or an electric generator would be a good application as it's not very responsive.

What's the cost of the sort of gases needed to keep it running? How sustainable is the source of this type of gas mixture?

At 38min in video, Rohner pumped out -30 in/hg from a 200cc cylinder on his demo unit. at 39.30 then fills it up with the "exact Papp mixture" (given in the patent), which is not what they will be using apparently:

8% xenon $4000-5000 per cu meter
12% krypton $400-500 per cu meter
16% argon $5 per cu meter
26% neon $60-120 per cu meter
38% helium $30 per cu meter

At those prices, the mixture in demo is about a dollar. Unfortunately Helium is non-renewable for sure, not sure about the other noble gases. They said it can run a week continuously before the gases are spent (yes, they are consumed by the as-yet unknown process).

I think the most exciting part is how they expect the technology to be available for use by developers so soon. I wonder what sort of practical applications we can see from this particular engine? Will we see home generators? Cheap and clean transportation?

They are currently assembling their demo units, which will be shipped next month. The peswiki guy gets one to play with.

If scientists can figure out why the gas expands (temporary energy-state change of atom?), they should be able to reproduce more efficiently. As yet, there is no proven theoretical basis for this type of reaction.