W2 Energy’s SteamRay true rotary steam engine

United States Patent Number 5,720,251

W2 Energy’s SteamRay engine is a true rotary engine that converts energy, at very high efficiency, from steam or fuel combustion into a rotary force. Though sharing some similarities with the Wankel engine, the Wankel is an epitrochoidal rather than a true rotary design.

The Steam Ray is lighter and less prone to wear and tear, and more efficient than comparable piston driven engines.



The engine is comprised of inner and outer rotors within a sealed enclosure. Steam or a fuel/air mixture is inducted into the outer rotor chambers in sequence at predetermined points in the rotational path of the outer rotor. The exhaust port releases steam vapor or gases from the outer rotor chambers in sequence at a predetermined point around the rotational path of the outer rotor.

Each chamber of the outer rotor and the corresponding recess of the inner rotor just prior to reaching the exhaust port, will be full of spent fuel gases. These gases will still be at a relatively high pressure and a large portion of them will escape through the exhaust port primarily because of this pressure. Scavenging of the chamber will be further enhanced by fresh air entering, and also by the centrifugal forces resulting from the rotation. These three effects com­bined will force spent gases out of the chamber and dis­charge them through the exhaust port. Fuel for the engine can include steam, any hydrocarbon fuel in gas or liquid form, or pressure from any hydraulic fluid.

The two rotors spin together in unison at between 5,000 and 10,000 RPM’s.