How does a three-rotor generate electricity?

At the heart of the three-rotor engine is the rotor—essentially equivalent to a piston in a conventional piston engine. The rotor is mounted on a large, circular camshaft positioned on the output shaft. This camshaft is offset from the central axis and acts like a crankshaft on a winch, providing the necessary leverage to drive the rotor and generate output torque. As the rotor spins inside the housing, it pushes the camshaft into rotation; for every full revolution of the rotor, the camshaft completes three complete turns.

　　If you look closely, you’ll notice that the offset cam on the output shaft rotates three times for every single revolution of the rotor. As the rotor moves within the housing, the volume of the three cylinder chambers formed by the rotor will change. This variation creates a pumping effect. Now, let’s examine the four engine strokes experienced by one face of the rotor.

　　When the rotor's top passes through the intake port, the intake cycle begins. As the intake port connects to the cylinder chamber, the chamber's volume reaches its minimum point. As the rotor continues rotating past the intake port, the cylinder chamber's volume gradually increases, allowing air to be drawn in. - The fuel mixture is drawn into the cylinder chamber. When the top of the cylinder chamber passes through the intake port, the chamber becomes sealed, and compression then begins.

　　As the three rotors continue to move within the housing, the volume of the cylinder chamber decreases, compressing the air. - Fuel mixture. As the rotor’s surface turns toward the spark plug, the cylinder chamber’s volume once again approaches its minimum—this marks the ignition point of combustion.

　　Most three-rotor engines feature two spark plugs, and their combustion chambers are long and narrow. If there’s only one spark plug, the flame would spread slowly. When the spark plug ignites the air-fuel mixture, it rapidly generates pressure, which in turn drives the rotor into motion.

　　Combustion pressure will drive the rotor to move in the direction of increasing cylinder volume. The combustion gases continue to expand, pushing the rotor and generating power—until the rotor’s apex once again passes through the exhaust port.

　　When the three rotor tips pass through the exhaust port, high-pressure combustion gases are released into the exhaust system. As the rotor continues to move, the cylinder chamber begins to compress, forcing the remaining exhaust gases out. Just as the cylinder chamber volume approaches its minimum, the rotor tips align with the intake port, and the entire cycle restarts.

　　One of the highlights of the three-rotor engine is that the three faces of the rotor always contribute to a specific part of the cycle. ——When the rotor completes one full rotation, there will be three combustion strokes. However, note that for every single rotation of the rotor, the output shaft turns three times, which means there’s only one combustion stroke per revolution of the output shaft.

　　Compared to traditional piston engines, the three-rotor engine boasts the following outstanding advantages.

　　Compared to a four-stroke piston engine, the three-rotor engine has significantly fewer moving parts. The three-rotor engine primarily consists of just three moving components: two rotors and one output shaft. Even a simple four-cylinder piston engine has at least 40 moving parts, including pistons, connecting rods, a camshaft, valves, valve springs, rocker arms, the timing belt, timing gears, and the crankshaft. Fewer moving parts mean greater reliability.

　　In a three-rotor engine, all components rotate continuously in one direction, eliminating the need for the drastic directional changes required by pistons in conventional engines. By using specially designed counterweights that rotate in a controlled manner, the three-rotor engine effectively cancels vibrations, achieving internal balance.