In any Internal Combustion engine (ICE) the importance of a Camshaft cannot be ignored. As we all know that the job of a Camshaft is to control the Valves, both Intake and Exhaust valves of any engine are governed by the rotating “Cam Lobes” of the Camshaft. However, no matter how efficient the working of the Valve train is or no matter what setup of Valve train it is (DOHC or SOHC), there is always inefficiency involved at the level of Valvetrain.
The opening and closing of the valves (both Input and Exhaust) involves certain amount of performance as well as fuel loses. Because of the mechanical operation of the valves through Cam lobes, no valve is able to open or close fully at a precise time, this resulting into inefficiency of the engine at both performance and fuel efficiency level.
The Swedish company FreeValve has come up with a revolutionary fully variable valve actuation technology also called as “Free Valve” technology. The concept of Free Valve offers an independent control over individual valve. Be it Intake or Exhaust valve the Free Valve system offers flexibility of controlling them individually in different engine load conditions. Based on the riding condition the system decides to open or close the individual valve for a specific time, making the entire operation more efficient and environment friendly at the same time.
Before the Swedish firm there was also other companies tried their hands based on the same camless technology (fully variable valve actuation engine) but they were all mostly based on either Electro-magnetic actuating engines or Electro-hydraulic ones. The Free Valve on the other hand utilized Electro-hydraulic-pneumatic actuators to overcome all the typical challenges the other free valve technology faced. The company also claims improvement of 12-17 percent in fuel efficiency after using the Free Valve system in internal combustion engines.
Despite of the Free Valve technology’s packaging disadvantages and higher cost, the automobile companies likes of “Qoros” have already demonstrated their engines featured with this technology. However, the production version of the automobile engine featured with the Free Valve technology is still to be rolled out but the future certainly belongs to it.
By: Farhan Kashif
The opening and closing of the valves (both Input and Exhaust) involves certain amount of performance as well as fuel loses. Because of the mechanical operation of the valves through Cam lobes, no valve is able to open or close fully at a precise time, this resulting into inefficiency of the engine at both performance and fuel efficiency level.
The Swedish company FreeValve has come up with a revolutionary fully variable valve actuation technology also called as “Free Valve” technology. The concept of Free Valve offers an independent control over individual valve. Be it Intake or Exhaust valve the Free Valve system offers flexibility of controlling them individually in different engine load conditions. Based on the riding condition the system decides to open or close the individual valve for a specific time, making the entire operation more efficient and environment friendly at the same time.Before the Swedish firm there was also other companies tried their hands based on the same camless technology (fully variable valve actuation engine) but they were all mostly based on either Electro-magnetic actuating engines or Electro-hydraulic ones. The Free Valve on the other hand utilized Electro-hydraulic-pneumatic actuators to overcome all the typical challenges the other free valve technology faced. The company also claims improvement of 12-17 percent in fuel efficiency after using the Free Valve system in internal combustion engines.
Despite of the Free Valve technology’s packaging disadvantages and higher cost, the automobile companies likes of “Qoros” have already demonstrated their engines featured with this technology. However, the production version of the automobile engine featured with the Free Valve technology is still to be rolled out but the future certainly belongs to it.By: Farhan Kashif