Twelve-stroke engine

Model of the FlexWork engine with fully variable electrohydraulic valve control system. Image: Empa - In recent years, Empa has worked with an external hydraulics specialist to develop a fully variable electrohydraulic valve control system. called FlexWork, which can be used for internal combustion engines and other thermal/pneumatic machines. Fully variable means that the valve lift as well as the opening and closing timing can be freely adjusted - even from one cycle to the next. When used on an internal combustion engine, this flexibility provides new degrees of freedom for optimization. For example, the load on gasoline engines can be adjusted without a throttle valve and from one cycle to the next, the full load can be optimized and the engine can be adapted to different fuels "by software". The Empa team has built the valve train on a gasoline engine and is now exploring the possibilities offered by this new technology.