Revolutionizing the world

“There’s a fine line between determination and obsession. I think I passed it a long time ago,” he says with a laugh.

He explains it bothers him and continues to bother him that only one-third of the energy from gas or diesel in an internal combustion engine goes into direct mechanical horsepower with the balance going out the exhaust and radiator.

And he has done it, according to friend and thermo dynamics mentor, David Fraser, now owner of Absorption Refrigeration Services Canada near Bridgewater.

“I would call him a mechanical genius. I would like him to succeed at this.” He says it could revolutionize the world through helping not only the environment, but also the economy as well because of the high price of fossil fuels.

Fraser worked for over 30 years with various well-known large corporations – primarily in the food manufacturing industry where efficient refrigeration units are essential - before starting his own company.

He received much of his education at the University of Illinois and, although now semi-retired, is still considered an important thermo dynamics expert, especially in the field of refrigerants.

In simple terms, using explanations and literature provided by the two men to explain the engine, a heat source is used to gasify an ozone-friendly refrigerant inside a boiler chamber. The heat source could be a conventional fossil fuel, but could also be a renewable fuel such as ethanol or methane.

For industrial use, excess waste heat could be recycled as the heat source to drive large engines as could heat from compost heaps, geothermal wells, and geysers. Even waste heat from hydro generating plants could be utilized. Smaller scale installations are feasible for individual home use as well.

The rapidly expanding gas drives the piston system, then is cooled and returned to chamber in the closed loop system. There are no emissions from the chamber.

Because very little heat – compared to about 5,000 degrees at the flash point of an internal combustion engine – is needed, vastly less fuel as the heat source is required as well. If renewable, it would be emissions free and the vehicle, other than the engine, would not change in design.

Fraser says, “It is revolutionary. It has so many applications and it runs on low grade heat.”

Robar, who doesn’t wish his community of residence published, patented the first version of the engine in the United States and Canada at a time when patent concepts were rigorously tested. Fraser says this is another example of proof the engine will work. A video of the original engine depicts it working as well.

Robar grew up around a garage and salvage yard in Cookville, Lunenburg Co. and moved to Queens Co. in 1984. He has worked in numerous positions in the fishing industry and in business throughout the years.

But his passion lay inside his mind.

Twenty-seven years ago, he says, “I was looking for an efficient energy source and one day looked at a propane fridge. I saw that little flame creating all that energy – cooling, freezing and whatever. From that day forth, I said why not turn it into direct mechanical horse power.”

But, he says he knew little about refrigeration and refrigerants. “I finally built a small wheel with cylinders on it and somehow got it charged with Freon. Finally, I heated it with some warm water and the wheel would turn.” He says, however, shifting weight, or a “pendulum effect” caused this movement.

In 1987, he was directed to Fraser, who has helped him since.

They built a bigger wheel. One day, Fraser telephoned Robar. “When he called me, he was hopping around,” Robar says. “He said, ‘You did it. You made a complete circle.’” Despite the euphoria, they realized it only had “toy applications,” Robar said.

In 1988, he was struck with the idea to build a piston-based system that uses pressure off the gas of the vapourized liquid instead of weight in the cylinder system.

In May or June of that year, this new piston engine revolved for the first time.

The invention was used on two vehicle engines, which were subsequently scrapped. Robar explains the first motor was designed as a retrofit for existing engines, which limited its efficiency. Therefore, he set out to design an engine based on the same technology to completely replace the internal combustion engine and would still be inexpensive to mass produce.

He has now done it, according to both Robar and Fraser.

Robar needs to patent the engine. He adds throughout the years he has had some bad experiences with people over this and other inventions. He says he would only sell or license the engine if assured contractually it would be manufactured.

He adds there are also too many examples of inventions like this being lost to corporate interest in the status quo, mainly the “oil cartel.” Many patents have been purchased over the years and then disappeared, he says for example.

“I’m up for a fight. The only thing I’m short on is financing. That’s why I think people should know about it. We’ve got an awful disease in this world. It’s called greed. Many people tried to stop or control this and it was never my intention to build it for the sole reason of making money. It’s only my wish to put it into production.”