January 2025 Update

I am pleased to announce that after two years of redevelopment work on the rotary valve of our engine, we have begun to achieve substantially longer and uninterrupted testing sessions, with no concerning signs of wear. The details of this valve, along with technical updates relating to the development, will be forthcoming soon. Much of the new valve design is proprietary, and we will pursue patents to cover them.

The engine valve has demonstrated minimal wear after 13 hours of run time with no load. We are using a modified head with liquid cooling to limit variables during testing, and as a result, the head temperatures have remained under control. The plan is to ensure a stable rotary valve system, then add cooling features to replace the liquid cooling system we are currently employing.

Furthermore, there is no external oil being provided to lubricate the rotary valve, except through a 50:1 fuel oil mix used in two-stroke applications. There is considerable work remaining to refine the design to eliminate external cooling, ensure performance under load, and conduct longer endurance testing, among other objectives. The design iterations are already complete, and we have begun to machine them at our facility. We aim to achieve a 100-hour endurance run soon.

Kind regards,
Landon Wilkinson

CEO - Avadi Engines

December 2024 Update

Hello,

The Avadi team has been focused on building and testing of the new rotary valve design since last fall, which is performing well after changes were made to incorporate a simple liquid cooling system. The MA-250, as shown in all prior marketing, has been air-cooled and we intend to produce and sell primarily air-cooled engines. The cooling system has proven useful in furthering our understanding of the rotary valve and how to improve its longevity, reduce oil burn, and increase power output - while keeping the cylinder head components at acceptable levels. Once we are satisfied with the rotary valve system components, we can better address cooling. Conceptual designs are in the works for locating a cooling fan which will simultaneously perform and function as cooling fins would in a stationary typical air-cooled head would. Since the fins will rotate this will prevent them from needing to be as large as would typically be necessary to dissipate heat, which is critical for the weight and size constraints of UAV and compact genset applications we intend to serve.

Within the last week, the team has achieved new records for uninterrupted endurance runs on the new valve and intends to achieve 100 hr endurance runs within the near future. Since the valve design was established in October, we have been testing various materials for compatibility. We are happy that this design is simple to construct, and does not currently employ elaborate materials or processes. Achieving success with these materials however is a delicate balance of weight, heat dissipation, surface treatments, wear, and friction considerations. If rotary valve degradation after these runs continues to remain minimal, the final step in our development prior to production will be cooling system optimization and performance tuning.

This year we have brought nearly all development processes in-house and local (whereas previously we had operations in Canada and the US), which includes the engineering design, CNC-machining, prototype development and testing operations. This has reduced our RnD cycles from months to weeks. We are excited about 2025, and continue to receive organic enthusiasm from the broader market - which encourages us to complete the engine development and aim for production as quickly as possible.

Thanks for your continued interest. Check out our instagram page for some more updates here.

Landon Wilkinson
CEO Avadi Engines

Avadi Engines Fall 2023 Update

In the spring of 2023 Michel Arseneau stepped down as CTO for Avadi Engines and was replaced by Dimitrios Dardalis. The initial focus of the work was to bring all drawings and design files from recent iterations into a current model that could be further analyzed to determine next steps with regard to our remaining work in valve seal development. We discovered unsurmountable deficiencies in airflow with the existing rotary valve design, and determined it was necessary to redesign the engine with a different valve approach in order to meet target performance objectives.

It took a few months of research locating prior art in rotary and sleeve valve design, and Dimitrios dedicated substantial effort to familiarizing himself with all available materials on the subject. Since our cylinder rotates as a part of our design, it seemed as though it was important to utilize that rotation to serve as our valve system. However it was the concept of an outsider (a huge thank you to Mark Cherry here) for the breakthrough design that we ultimately have proceeded with. If we did not have this solution presented, we may have had to add substantial weight and friction to install a more traditional valve train. What we have accomplished is an architecture which is both elegant and in comparison to our previous direction, very simple. In addition, the final concept provides theoretical power and performance figures in line with what we advertise for this engine.

It is important to us to develop an engine that is both incredibly reliable but that can also be competitive within the drone and UAV industry. We have developed relationships with contract manufacturers and defense contractors who are ready and willing to use our technology once we have reached maturity of the engine. Our focus this fall will remain on design of the new valve system, and we intend to be in prototype and testing phase by year end.

Thank you,
Landon Wilkinson

CEO

Avadi Engines Inc.