Withthe diminishing fossil fuel resources and unabated increase in energy costs andenvironmental concerns, engines using alternate energy sources such asbio-fuel, solar power, wind power, electric power, stored power, etc. are beingdeveloped around the world. However, such engines have many limitations.Production of bio-fuel takes enormous resources and they still pollute theenvironment.

They do not meet the ever increasing energy demand as well.Similarly, the solar power is not efficient. Added to all, the initial capitaland subsequent maintenance costs for machines that use alternate energy sourcesare very high. Hence, in the absence of a viable alternative, until now,switching to new technology by changing from traditional Internal Combustionengines has been a challenge.Ranjithkumar R,MechanicalEngineering,RMKEngineering College,[email protected]

com.       Magnetism is thebasic principle of working for an electromagnetic engine. The general propertyof magnet i.e. attraction and repulsion forces is converted into mechanicalwork. A magnet has two poles.

A north pole and a south pole. When like polesare brought near each other they repel and attract when like poles are broughttogether. This principle is being used in the electromagnetic engine In this engine,the cylinder head and wall contains electromagnet and a permanent magnet isattached to the piston head. When the electromagnet at the top is charged, itrepels the piston downwards and when the electromagnets around the walls chargedit pushes the piston upwards thereby rotating the crankshaft. This is how poweris generated in the electromagnetic engine. It utilizes only repulsive forcethat allows the field to dissipate completely.

The electromagnetic engineshould ideally perform exactly the same as the internal combustion engine. Thepower of the engine is controlled by the strength of the field and the strengthof the field is controlled by the amount of windings and the current that isbeing passed through it. If the current is increased the power generated by theengine also increases accordingly. The current that is used to charge theelectromagnet is taken from a DC source like a lead acid battery.

 The mainadvantages of electromagnetic engine are that it is pollution free. Also it iseasy to design an electromagnetic engine because there are no complicatedparts. Since the engine doesn’t have combustion, valves, water cooling system,fuel pump, fuel lines, air and fuel filters and inlet and exhaust manifoldsetc. can be eliminated from the engine.

The main challenge faced in designingan electromagnetic engine is that it has to be as efficient as an internalcombustion engine.