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  1. Drag truncated cone pump-turbine

    Drag force turbine with truncated cone
    COP = ∞
    Inventor : Richard CLEM (US)

    The inventor

    Richard CLEM, a US citizen, was born in 1928 and died in 1978 in the state of Texas. He is the inventor, a little by chance, of drag force turbine with truncated cone, operating with vegetable oil.

    Richard Clem worked with heavy machinery for the city of Dallas and had noticed that certain kinds of high pressure pumps continued to run for short periods after the power was removed. His curiosity into this phenomenon led to the development of the Clem Engine.

    His death in 1978 has prematurely interrupted the development projects of this unique machine. Keelynet transcribed the history of this outstanding inventor through 4 articles published during the period 1996-2004.

    Description of the machine operation

    The machine manufactured from a patented pump, whose construction was abandoned by the Scottish Weir Industrial Group after acquisition of the US company Hazleton Pumps Inc. and of patent relating to this pump which it held the rights.

    Richard CLEM filling in its engine turbine with vegetable oil in the 70s.
    Richard CLEM remplissant son moteur turbine avec de l'huile végétale dans les années 70.
    Photographie transmise par la fille de Richard CLEM.
    Photography transmitted by the daughter of Richard CLEM.

    After starting of the machine by an auxiliary drive system, the rotation movement is self-sustaining as soon as the engine speed reaches 1,500 rpm.

    The device built by Richard CLEM and installed on a Ford car, allowed to develop according to its author a net power of about 350 HP (261 kW) for a weight not exceeding in 200 pounds (100 kilograms). Developed from a closed system engine, an auxiliary battery powered device enabled to start the converter (the pump-turbine) and power the lights and the horn. The engine ran on cooking oil at temperature of 300 F (149 °C). The vegetable oil used as motor fluid needed to be replaced only every 240,000 km (150,000 miles). The total amount of oil was 8 gallons (30 liters), volume of oil contained in the pump turbine, the heat exchanger and the tank. Always according to the inventor, he would have been able to reach the speed of 103 mph (166 km/h) with an imperfect prototype with a few design flaws. Operating pressure produced by the pump ranged between 300 psi (21 bar) and 500 psi (34 bar).

    The inventor has sought unsuccessfully to generate interest in his invention from investors such as Ford and nearly 15 other companies, of which one was located as far away as Taiwan. After signing an agreement with a coal company, he died in 1978 of a heart attack putting an end to the engine of development.

    According to the statements of his relatives, his workshop was raided by law enforcement officials and all his notes and drawings were removed just after his death.

    Evidence of operation

    When Clem finished his first vegetable oil engine in 1972, he mapped a 600 mile test trip to El Paso for the first engine model he had financed through his earnings.

    But he only made it as far as Abilene before the 'shafts and everything bent in it.'

    He blamed the failure on poor construction, too small a shaft and the use of chains instead of gears. Undaunted, he decided to try again, but said, 'I needed money to build this thing better.'

    The engine should have been tested by Bendix Corporation. The test involved attaching the engine to a dynamometer to measure the amount of horsepower generated by the engine in its self-running mode.

    It generated a consistent 350 HP for 9 consecutive days which astounded the engineers at Bendix. They concluded the only source of energy which could generate this much power in a CLOSED SYSTEM over an extended period must be of an atomic nature.

    Assumed characteristic parameters of the machine

    Les paramètres de développement durable sont les suivants:

    • REN=100% (aucune énergie fossile utilisée durant le fonctionnement du moteur),
    • EFF=90% (rendement d'une machine hydraulique tournant à la vitesse de 3000 tr/mn. Les pertes sont celles des paliers de l'arbre de rotation et du frottement fluide estimé à 9%),
    • COP = infini (pas d'énergie apportée par l'opérateur en fonctionnement stable. Une énergie auxiliaire doit cependant être apportée au démarrage par une pompe auxiliaire tant que la turbine-pompe n'a pas atteint une vitesse suffisante de rotation),
    • MDP= 0,45 T/MW, soit plus de 200 fois inférieur au ratio d'une centrale nucléaire (ratio calculé à partir des informations communiquées sur le site Keelynet),
    • DUR=20 ans(le frottement fluide sur les parois de la gorge de la turbine endommage progressivement les surfaces usinées),
    • GGO=0 (aucun combustible fossile n'est consommé durant le fonctionnement de la machine. L'huile de friture utilisée n'est remplacée que tous les 240 000 kms),
    • GGM=2,32 x 10-6 TCO² /MWh (émission négligeable de gaz à effet de serre correspondant au poids de matière ramenée sur une période de fonctionnement de 20 ans),
    • HEH=0 (aucune matière dangereuse n'est produite durant le fonctionnement ou la construction du moteur),
    • MRF=100% (toutes les matières utilisées pour la fabrication du moteur sont recyclables: aciers, huile de friture,....),
    • EIR=0 (on peut considérer que le moteur a une empreinte nulle sur l'environnement: très faible production de CO²).

    Le moteur n'a aucune empreinte négative sur l'environnement.

    Useful link

    The only website that collected all the information on the machine invented by Richard CLEM and whose editors were able to converse via email with the daughter of the inventor is KeelyNet.

    Link to Keelynet website Keelynet