StarRotor Corporation
Encyclopedia
StarRotor Corporation is a startup company founded to commercialize technology from Texas A&M University
. It was incorporated in March 2001 by Dr. Mark Holtzapple and Andrew Rabroker. The company gets its name and logo design from the gerotor
the company designed to compress and expand gasses.
instead of the Otto cycle
found in almost all gasoline automobiles. It is predicted to be very efficient (45%-60% efficiency compared to 15% to 20% efficiency of other engines) and to produce fewer pollutants than traditional engines. Like turbine engines, the StarRotor engine will be capable of running on many types of fuel, including but not limited to gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel, alcohol, methane, hydrogen, and vegetable oil.
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. It was incorporated in March 2001 by Dr. Mark Holtzapple and Andrew Rabroker. The company gets its name and logo design from the gerotor
Gerotor
A gerotor is a positive displacement pumping unit. The name gerotor is derived from "Generated Rotor". A gerotor unit consists of an inner and outer rotor. The inner rotor has N teeth, and the outer rotor has N+1 teeth. The inner rotor is located off-center and both rotors rotate...
the company designed to compress and expand gasses.
StarRotor Engine
The StarRotor engine is being designed to use the Brayton cycleBrayton cycle
The Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the workings of the gas turbine engine, basis of the airbreathing jet engine and others. It is named after George Brayton , the American engineer who developed it, although it was originally proposed and patented by Englishman John Barber...
instead of the Otto cycle
Otto cycle
An Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle which describes the functioning of a typical reciprocating piston engine, the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in automobile engines....
found in almost all gasoline automobiles. It is predicted to be very efficient (45%-60% efficiency compared to 15% to 20% efficiency of other engines) and to produce fewer pollutants than traditional engines. Like turbine engines, the StarRotor engine will be capable of running on many types of fuel, including but not limited to gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel, alcohol, methane, hydrogen, and vegetable oil.
See also
- www.starrotor.com, Company website
- Sustainable Energy and Transportation, April 25, 2006 Texas A&M lecture by Dr. Holtzapple
- The race to 100 mpg, July 2007 article mentioning the StarRotor engine