Using the special hydrogels produced via microfluidic synthesis, it was possible to use higher hydrogels volumes without gel blocking (See in page Synthesis).

We use a hydrogel volume of 1 L . After optimzation of pressure and flow of the inlet (55 kPa, 200 mL/min) we achieve a Power of 13 W/kg. This Power is similar to the peak power that a female of 20 years old can produce during cycling.

With higher flow rates the transportation of liquid in the voids between the particles is faster which could improve the swelling rate; The practical limit was tested to be 200 mL/min as with further increased flow rates (e.g. 400 mL/min), the introduced pressure from the pumps will push up the particles from the engine bottom due to the gel-blocking under high pressure, hindering accurate height observation. So there is still a lot of things to be further optimized.

On the left, you can see the engine working in a short video.