Wichita inventor says his revolutionary engine will change the world

Matthew Riley believes he can change the world.

Riley, who is based in Wichita, is an inventor of internal combustion engines, and he says he has solved a problem that has puzzled automobile engineers for decades.

He is working in a well-understood technology called homogeneous charge compression ignition, HCCI, which is an alternative to conventional spark plug-fired gasoline combustion engines.

HCCI shoots a lean mixture of gasoline, air and exhaust gas into the specially configured combustion chambers of the engine’s cylinders and then compresses it until its temperature rises enough for it to ignite.

HCCI uses about 15 percent less gasoline than the conventional method, burns it more completely and, because it operates at a lower temperature, produces fewer pollutants.

But HCCI has always had a few basic problems. It’s hard to control exactly when the explosion happens and, in a running engine, the up-and-down strokes of the pistons must be timed precisely or the engine will quickly tear itself apart.

It’s also not very good at delivering sudden changes in power, such as quick acceleration.

Riley said he has figured out how to solve those problems with a revolutionary new design. An explanation and animated demonstration is available at nautilusengineering.com.

He’s not afraid to stake a big claim for his invention: “This is a game changer,” he said “It will be implemented on every car, boat and airplane with a piston engine.”

He is organized as Nautilus Engineering and works out of an office at the Labor Party, 216 N. Mosley. He has the technology modeled on his computer, a group of local investors and advisers, and five provisional patents.

And he’s got confidence.

He said that once key automobile engineers see what he has, there will be enough interest that he will be able to build a prototype and validate his ideas. The car companies will be interested, he said, because they are all looking for ways to increase fuel efficiency and cut pollution.

He will take the technology to the Society of Automotive Engineers world conference in Detroit in mid-April.

It was at the SAE conference in 2011 that Riley experienced one of his greatest achievements as an inventor: a “Best of the Best” award for an earlier, unrelated, two-stroke engine design that he built and worked to bring to market as Grail Engine Technologies.

But the company eventually faltered when the engine failed to work for some key uses.

This time, Riley said, he’s aiming higher.

“Everybody is hungry for something new, something that will revolutionize the future,” he said.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Wichita inventor says his revolutionary engine will change the world."