Akoschier -
no, so far I haven`t got an exact figure for the price. It also depends on the quantity of the manufacturing batch. I don`t expect to make more than twenty pieces a time since also the components are all high quality and consequently expensive. As a rough estimate, I guess a complete system including control panel and MIL connectors would be slightly more than 1000 Euros.
Stan -
no sorry, my engine control system unfortunately cannot change the thermodynamics of the Solar turbine. And this is responsible for the fuel economy. That`s also the reason that I question the statements of Innodyn, by just adding a state-of-the-art automotive-derivative fuel injection system to cut the fuel consumption by almost half... In one liter (or gallon...) of fuel, there`s only so much chemical energy stored that can be released by combustion. The Solar has an air mass flow of roughly one kilogram per second. To heat it to, say, 900C just before it enters the NGV (turbine nozzle guide vanes), just a certain amount of thermal energy is required which is released in the combustor by the burning fuel. And the combustor of this old Solar engine is quite efficient, I`m sure at the design point of the engine the combustor is about 99% efficient. This means, only about 1% of the injected fuel will leave the turbine unburnt (and hence is wasted). Modern engine`s combustors won`t perform mach better. The only way to a better efficiency is to increase the engine`s pressure ratio (the solar has a PR of round about 3.7) and turbine entry temperature. This both means basically stressing the materials higher, and consequently using more modern alloys for the critical components. By the way, this is exactly what a friend of mine and I are doing at that time, designing and constructing a state-of-the-art turboshaft in the same power class as the Solar. Yet, all the other figures will be completely different. We will reach the efficiency that Innodyn claims, the engine including reduction and auxiliary drive gearbox will weigh around 25kg and we will have an electronic fuel control system with a mechanical 100% governor as back-up. Many of the components for our prototype batch of five engines are already finished while we`re still struggling with some others. Especially the fuel control unit requires extremely close tolerances. So far, we already spent a small furtune on the stuff, working already four years on the design and will probably spend another fortune until the first prototype runs... Yet, I`m sure in the end our effort will be rewarded, also commercially. FYI, I attached a photo of our compressor wheel, custom milled from a forged billet of TiAlV4 (a special high-strenght titanium alloy) which is only 125mm in diameter and will run at 100,000 rpm (this is a whooping 650m/s at the blade tips). But that`s the only way to get a high enogh pressure ratio to achieve the desired fuel economy...
When the time is ripe, I´ll post more information on that new motor...
All the best,
Thomas