the culprit

[Phil Lamovie]

W I R E D   N E W S
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The Little Engine that Might
 by Leander Kahney

Taking on the world's giant energy business, a tiny startup
is set to launch an engine that requires no fuel, produces
no pollution, and is free to run.

Naturally, the experts think it's too good to be true --
although they can't exactly say why.

Entropy Systems, a seven-person startup based in Youngstown,
Ohio, is scheduled to launch the Entropy engine early next
year, said the technology's inventor, Sanjay Amin, a
mechanical engineer and co-founder of the company.

The Entropy engine acts like a heat sponge, absorbing heat
in the atmosphere and converting it to power, Amin said.
Since it consumes no fossil fuels, nuclear fuels, or
electrical power, it produces no emissions, directly or
indirectly. Its only byproduct is cold air.

Initially, the technology will be used to create an outboard
motor for small pleasure boats, simply because it's the
easiest market to break into, Amin said. But as it is
developed, the technology could be used to run
refrigerators, air conditioners, generators -- even
automobiles.

"There's no reason it can't power a car," Amin said.

So far, Amin has built a prototype, which he said generates
one-tenth of one horsepower. The outboard motor -- yet to be
built -- will produce between two and three horsepower.

It will be roughly the same size as a conventional outboard
motor and only marginally more expensive. But, apart from
routine maintenance and lubrication, the engine will be free
to run.

Named after the unit in physics that describes the amount of
available energy in a system, the Entropy engine consists of
a central chamber, filled with air, that has a piston in the
center, Amin said.

The engine operates on a cycle. First, a starter motor spins
the engine to a high speed, which pushes the gas to the edge
of the central chamber, as in a centrifuge. As the gas moves
to the edge, it creates a partial vacuum in the center that
draws the piston out, compressing the gas.

In the second part of the cycle, the engine is slowed, and
the gas redistributes itself throughout the chamber, which
increases the pressure on the piston. Heat trapped in the
gas is converted into the energy that moves the piston,
which cools the air in the engine chamber.


The engine will run year-round in any climate, even in
sub-zero temperatures. Although it operates better in warmer
climates, it will work in any environment above absolute
zero (minus 273 degrees Celsius).

"In physical terms, even ice has a lot of heat," Amin said.

Amin claims to have patented the technology in the United
States, Australia, and Europe. He said he has published a
book on thermodynamics and in 1996 received an Engineer of
the Year award from the American Society of Engineers of
Indian Origin.

Always obsessed with engines, Amin built steam engines as a
teenager. He has devoted more than a decade to the Entropy
engine. He began by looking at gravity as a power source,
which eventually led to the idea of using atmospheric heat.

The technology was developed in part when Amin was studying
at Youngstown State University, which helped launch the
fledgling company.

 Bill Dunn, an associate professor of mechanical engineering
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said that
while he hasn't seen the engine in action, he has examined
the materials on Entropy's Web site. He said the logic
appears sound, but the outcome -- free power -- doesn't make
sense.

"It's the end result -- that you can create power from heat
at ambient temperature -- that flies in the face of the
basic laws of physics," said Dunn, who acknowledges that he
hasn't devoted time to figure out why the engine shouldn't
work.

"To track down where his thinking may be flawed is a
difficult thing to do," Dunn said.

In Amin's favor, Dunn noted that he has attracted backing
from "some very intelligent people."

Hedging his bets, Dunn said breakthrough technologies have
frequently been greeted with skepticism. "Every time someone
suggests something like this, you should at least give them
the benefit of an open mind."

Iain MacGill, an energy campaigner at Greenpeace, said that
because vehicle pollution makes up about a third of US
greenhouse gas emissions, a pollution-free engine would be
an incredible breakthrough. Nevertheless, it sounds to him
like fiction.

"It's got a flavor of 'too-good-to-be-true' about it," he
said. "I'm a wee bit skeptical."