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Title: Lasers could replace spark plugs in car engines
Source:
BBC
URL Source: [None]
Published: Apr 24, 2011
Author: Jason Palmer
Post Date: 2011-04-24 06:54:01 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 273
Comments: 21
Car engines could soon be fired by lasers instead of spark plugs, researchers say. A team at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics will report on 1 May that they have designed lasers that could ignite the fuel/air mixture in combustion engines. The approach would increase efficiency of engines, and reduce their pollution, by igniting more of the mixture. The team is in discussions with a spark plug manufacturer. The idea of replacing spark plugs - a technology that has changed little since their invention 150 years ago - with lasers is not a new one. Spark plugs only ignite the fuel mixture near the spark gap, reducing the combustion efficiency, and the metal that makes them up is slowly eroded as they age. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote In the past, lasers that could meet those requirements were... big, inefficient, and unstable” End Quote Takunori Taira National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki But only with the advent of smaller lasers has the idea of laser-based combustion become a practical one. Ceramic powders A team from Romania and Japan has now demonstrated a system that can focus two or three laser beams into an engine's cylinders at variable depths. That increases the completeness of combustion and neatly avoids the issue of degradation with time. However, it requires that lasers of high pulse energies are used; just as with spark plugs, a great deal of energy is needed to cause ignition of the fuel. "In the past, lasers that could meet those requirements were limited to basic research because they were big, inefficient, and unstable," said Takunori Taira of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences in Okazaki, Japan. Spark plug Spark plugs only ignite the fuel mixture very near the spark gap "Nor could they be located away from the engine, because their powerful beams would destroy any optical fibres that delivered light to the cylinders." The team has been developing a new approach to the problem: lasers made of ceramic powders that are pressed into spark-plug sized cylinders. These ceramic devices are lasers in their own right, gathering energy from compact, lower-power lasers that are sent in via optical fibre and releasing it in pulses just 800 trillionths of a second long. Unlike the delicate crystals typically used in high-power lasers, the ceramics are more robust and can better handle the heat within combustion engines. The team is in discussions to commercialise the technology with Denso, a major automobile component manufacturer.
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
(Edited)
Oooooo boy, maybe they'll increase the efficiency of car engines to 15% from the current 13%. We're saved! On the bright side, we'll have our first generation of billionaire tow truck drivers. Internal combustion engines are a dead end. They'd be better off updating the idea of the Stanley Steamer. People could burn their garbage to drive down to the unemployment office. Or burn their ever increasingly worthless dollar bills.
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin
Yeah, I still think Chrissy needs to rename this joint Cynic4um. There's only two places your car will take you now. The poorhouse or jail. They will never allow technology to be applied in a way that benefits the citizens. Never.
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin
I just want frickin' engines with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads.
You made me spill my orange juice.
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
This will probably be mandated once GM buys up all the patents.
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
Goddammit, Dakkie, that's some cynical shit there, brutha. You're probably right. Maybe the lazers will be controlled by Windows 7. That'd be sweet.
Does anybody recall the Banning of gas turbines in the Indy Races in the early 70's? They were Too Efficient. Too much Power. No refills of fuel required.
Are you sue you want to slam on the brakes and swerve right? YES NO
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
Beautiful machines. What a shame. You're showing your age a little here. Mine too. ; )
As if there weren't enough flimsy, expensive electronic parts in cars now, they go and invent more!
Solutions for Ireland. Say NO to the IMF/World bank. Default on our debt. Print our own debt free currency. Nationalise the trillion euros worth of gas and oil off our west coast. Take back our fishing (200 billion worth). Get our farmers growing again. Done deal if our politicians had the backbone. ~ Jim Corr
Could be worse.. could be controlled by XP. lol
Solutions for Ireland. Say NO to the IMF/World bank. Default on our debt. Print our own debt free currency. Nationalise the trillion euros worth of gas and oil off our west coast. Take back our fishing (200 billion worth). Get our farmers growing again. Done deal if our politicians had the backbone. ~ Jim Corr
They had a lot of power, but nothing I've seen indicates they were fuel efficient. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it." - William S Burroughs
Beautiful machines. What a shame. I was at the Indy 500 where Parnelli Jones was kickin ass with his turbine engine (that ya couldn't even hear) when a real cheap part gave out forcing him out of the race. People there were saying that if all the cars were as quiet as his the race wouldn't be as much fun to watch.
Democracy: “a government of the masses. Authority derived through mass meetings or any other form of direct expression. Results in mobocracy. Attitude towards property is communistic-negative property rights. Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate, whether it is based upon deliberation or governed by passion, prejudice and impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences. It results in demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.” The 1928 Army Field Manual
Well, those engines do cause considerable vibration in the stands. I've always suspected those women on TV watching NASCAR races are just too cheap to buy vibrators.
I was with TRW then. Chrysler was doing it, with I believe Garrett Research. The fuel economy was great. The power output was great. So they mandated intake restrictors on them that choked them. The materials research has progressed greatly over the years, can't understand why no revival.
Our info was that No Re-Fuels were necessary for the whole 500. Another reason they wanted them out.
We were working with Granatelli, testing out STP. He wanted to buy the company. BTW, our testing showed STP did work, but not how they thought it did. The fact was that it came out of suspension from the oil first after shutdown, and coated all interior parts. Then the engine was prelubed at Startup. Cold or Hot. That's where nearly 80% of engine wear occurs. Doesn't do a thing in operation, except raise the viscosity about 2-5 points. He Bought STP on our info. BTW, it was "Paxton" not "Garrett" like I mentioned. >
It was a great era for engines, promptly stifled.
The approach would increase efficiency of engines...
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#2. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
#3. To: Eric Stratton, christine (#2)
Boy, this should really help lower maintenance costs.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#4. To: Esso (#1)
#5. To: Esso (#3)
(Edited)
#6. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
#7. To: TooConservative (#6)
#8. To: Tatarewicz, Esso (#0)
#9. To: Dakmar (#8)
(Edited)
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#10. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
#11. To: Esso (#9)
MS Stability Control:
#12. To: ndcorup (#10)
Does anybody recall the Banning of gas turbines in the Indy Races in the early 70's?
#13. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
#14. To: Esso (#9)
Maybe the lazers will be controlled by Windows 7.
#15. To: ndcorup (#10)
They were Too Efficient. Too much Power. No refills of fuel required.
#16. To: TooConservative (#12)
Does anybody recall the Banning of gas turbines in the Indy Races in the early 70's?
#17. To: noone222 (#16)
People there were saying that if all the cars were as quiet as his the race wouldn't be as much fun to watch.
#18. To: TooConservative (#12)
"Beautiful machines. What a shame. "
#19. To: Dakmar (#15)
"The fuel economy was great."
#20. To: TooConservative (#12)
1967 INDY Gas Turbine Car
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#21. To: ndcorup (#20)
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