Clem Engine

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re: Clem Engine

Post by ken_behrendt »

To me, it just looks like a novel high pressure pump. The idea is that, as the shaft rotates the central conical piece, fluid will be forced from the larger diameter end of the cone to the smaller end and carried there by the rotation of the spiral channels. I've attached the main diagram and abstract from the patent below.

It kind of reminds me a little of the Archimedean Screw which was used in ancient times!

I think Clem was just using a variation of this to inject his vegetable oil fuel into a regular diesel engine. There's nothing miraculous about any of it in my opinion...

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PumpPatent.JPG
On 7/6/06, I found, in any overbalanced gravity wheel with rotation rate, ω, axle to CG distance d, and CG dip angle φ, the average vertical velocity of its drive weights is downward and given by:

Vaver = -2(√2)πdωcosφ
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Jonathan »

From reading the abstract, it seems like the fluid flows from the narrow, to the wide, end.
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re: Clem Engine

Post by rlortie »

Jonathan,

I do believe and understand from past reading that you are correct, the enlarging the circumfrence or radius is what causes the increasing CF that exerts the pulling effect on the oil,. the nozzels then reduce this flow volume building pressure and increases the velocity.

Dave, I remember another tale about Clems engine the allegedly had to do with the oil getting so hot that it would exceed its kindling point and combust. I of course can not prove or disprove this statement.

IMO the physics are all present that if once understood makes this concept worthy of research as the possiblilities are present.

Note that the high pressure low volume drag pump abstract above is not Clems engine but where he got the idea that lead to the placement of a positive displacemetn pump and nozzles to maintain it after starting with the PDP.

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re: Clem Engine

Post by ken_behrendt »

Jonathan...

I reread the Abstract for this invention and I think you are right. Apparently, the oil experiences extra drag from the channel walls at the wider end of the cone and this somehow increases its pressure.

However, regardless of which end is the inlet or the outlet, I still think Clem made a fuel injector for a regular diesel engine that would spray vegetable oil into its cylinders. Perhaps the temperature rise following compression made it more likely to combust and it, therefore, burned more completely so as to deliver greater mileage per gallon of vegetable oil, but I think that is the limit of his invention's abilities.

I haven't been able to go shopping in supermarkets since last year (can't handle all the walking yet), but I would guess that a gallon of even the cheapest vegetable oil is probably selling for a lot more than a gallon of diesel fuel...

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On 7/6/06, I found, in any overbalanced gravity wheel with rotation rate, ω, axle to CG distance d, and CG dip angle φ, the average vertical velocity of its drive weights is downward and given by:

Vaver = -2(√2)πdωcosφ
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re: Clem Engine

Post by jim_mich »

Ken, you have NOT understood the Clem engine from your very first post on this thread. Go back to page one and reread keelynet or the rexresearch articles. The Clem engine does NOT burn the oil. It uses it as a hydraulic fluid circulating round and round through the pump while putting out energy.

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re: Clem Engine

Post by Dave »

As I was trying to investigate and get more information, the engine is NOT conical. Everything in the picture indicates this. So what happened, did Clem start with a conical engine then find a better design? The conical idea came from a back of a napkin sketch by a "friend". These are a few of the simple questions that I asked Keelynet but did not receive any significant reply. There is a lot of information that is suspect here and Keelynet is unable or unwilling to help resolve.
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Jonathan »

Jim, Ken knows that. He is saying that if the Clem engine does anything special, burning the oil would be the extent of it.
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Wheeler »

Ralph said
AS I recall there was an article about the "Clem engine in a monthly magazine such as Popular Mechanix, Mechanics Illustrated. Popular Science.


Would you happen to know what year it might of been? I have some the old magazines,and thought I might look through them.
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Dave »

Wheeler
I think it was 1972 but the 70's time frame is correct
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Wheeler »

Thanks Dave
I will go to the barn tomorrow and see if I have any from the 70s
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re: Clem Engine

Post by ken_behrendt »

Jim...

I think you might be right. I revisited some of the available information on the Clem engine and found this tidbit:

Immediately after the inventor had the heart attack and the papers were removed, the son of the inventor took the only working model of the machine to a farm near Dallas. There it was buried under 10 feet of concrete and has been running at that depth for several years.

In later conversations, our contact says the engine had been tested by Bendix Corporation. The test involved attaching the engine to a dynamometer to measure the amount of horsepower generated by the engine in its self-running mode.

It generated a consistent 350 HP for 9 consecutive days which astounded the engineers at Bendix. They concluded the only source of energy which could generate this much power in a CLOSED SYSTEM over an extended period must be of an atomic nature.

Construction of the engine was from off the shelf components except for the hollow shaft and the custom cone with the enclosed spiral channels.


Well, assuming that the Clem engine did, in fact, crank out 350 HP for 9 days without being refueled, then I would be forced to conclude that it was a lot more than a simple vegetable oil burning diesel engine or even a turbine engine of some sort. It sounds like a hydraulic PM device!

Supposedly, a working model of this engine still exists somewhere in Dallas, Texas, USA. If so, why are we not now using it?

It is, ultimately, impossible to tell anything exactly about the Clem engine from the reports and descriptions on the web or in local newspapers. Either Richard Clem discovered a way to generate free energy to power an automobile or he didn't. Apparently, his son holds the key to resolving this matter. He needs to be contacted and, if possible, arrangements made to study and test the engine to verify that, in fact, it is the real thing.

ken
On 7/6/06, I found, in any overbalanced gravity wheel with rotation rate, ω, axle to CG distance d, and CG dip angle φ, the average vertical velocity of its drive weights is downward and given by:

Vaver = -2(√2)πdωcosφ
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Dave »

Ken
You now see the point on why I have been trying to get more information from Keelynet. The test by Bendix is unsubstantiated and also the part about Clem being on the Letterman show. There is lot of suspect data and Keelynet is the only person to be able to approach the family or knowing friends to get more information. I think it is a dead end unless one takes out an ad in the Dallas area papers looking for information and hope someone comes forward. I asked about contacting Bendix and the reply was "Go ahead". Maybe I might, anyone got any ideas on which Bendix facility that might have done the testing?
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Wheeler »

Dave
Please forgive me as I have not yet looked for some of my old PM magazines.
I have been overwhelmed lately with too much responsibilitys.
I will look soon.
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re: Clem Engine

Post by ken_behrendt »

I found the attached diagram of the Clem Engine.

The immediate impression I have of it is that it is just a crude turbine type engine which is dependent upon the pump at the right side of the diagram to operate.

To be truly OU/PM, the torque being provided by the axle that runs through the cone would have to exceed the counter torque produced by the pump (which, although it is not shown, I assume is ultimately run by the axle attached to the cone).

Ordinarily, I would think that would be an impossibility, but, perhaps, Clem has discovered some new principle of hydraulics that allows for it. Perhaps there is some sort of weird Coriolis effect going on here whereby the motion of the Earth plays a role in accelerating the vegetable oil and increasing its kinetic energy as it moves through the channels of the spinning cone?


ken
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This either involves a new principle of physics or...it's a hoax...
This either involves a new principle of physics or...it's a hoax...
On 7/6/06, I found, in any overbalanced gravity wheel with rotation rate, ω, axle to CG distance d, and CG dip angle φ, the average vertical velocity of its drive weights is downward and given by:

Vaver = -2(√2)πdωcosφ
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re: Clem Engine

Post by Dave »

The conical shape of the engine was sketched on a napkin by a "friend" at lunch. All the pictures show that the engine is NOT conical! This is one of the questions that I tried to get Keelynet to answer. Did Clem start with a conical engine and the find a new design? How many engines did he build, etc?
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