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New Fuel-Injection System Could Double Engine Efficiency A test vehicle equipped with a fuel-injection system that heats and pressurizes gasoline before it is injected into the combustion chamber got 64 miles to the gallon at highway speeds.
The technology is being developed at a Camarillo, CA-based startup called Transonic Combustion. They also treat the gasoline with a catalyst that partially oxidizes it, further enhancing combustion.
The heat and pressure put the fuel into a supercritical state, and it combusts without a spark once it mixes with air in the cylinder.
The Transonic system can operate with the engine’s air intake open, resulting in a mixture of a lot of air and very little fuel in the combustion chamber during cruising.
An additional efficiency Transonic is developing is in proprietary software that times ignition so that the maximum amount of combustion energy can be converted into mechanical movement. In conventional engines, some energy is wasted heating up the chamber walls.
One uncertainty is the longevity of an engine in which the fuel is subject to such high temperatures and pressures. Venture-funded Transonic plans to build its first factory in 2013, with the technology implemented in production cars by 2014, rather than licensing it to other automakers. |
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