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Ford Developing Laser Ignition to Cut Exhaust Emissions

Dr_Evil

Dr_Evil

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Ford Developing Laser Ignition to Cut Exhaust Emissions | Tilde Herrera on ClimateBiz

Ford Motor Co. and researchers at the University of Liverpool are developing a car ignition system that swaps spark plugs for a laser beam to start vehicles while generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

The team has just received nearly £200,000 (US$320,000) in grants to test the technology from the Carbon Trust, a government funded entity charged with helping businesses in the transition to a low carbon economy. The award is part of the Carbon Trust’s Applied Research grant that supports the development of low carbon technologies.

Ford reportedly plans to install the laser ignitions in a select range of vehicles in the next few years before expanding the laser ignitions on a larger scale. The technology works like this: The laser is quickly directed toward the combustion chamber where the fuel is most concentrated, allowing the engine to run on a more efficient mix of fuel and air. Bigger diameter valves that improve engine gas flow could be used in such a system because the thin fiber optic cable delivering the laser beam is smaller than a spark plug. The laser is also more reliable than a traditional spark plug.

The laser ignition may also overcome a significant barrier to widespread adoption of biofuels -- starting the vehicle when the engine is cold. According to the Telegraph, reflecting part of the laser back from inside the cylinder can deliver information on fuel type and ignition level to allow vehicles to optimally adjust the air/fuel mix.

“Laser ignition is a really exciting technology because it improves the efficiency of petrol cars and could, in the future, speed the uptake of cars run on biofuels derived from sustainable organic materials such as algae,” Mark Williamson, the Carbon Trust’s director of innovations, said in a statement.
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ford= found on road dead
fixed or repaired daily

anyone else?

ill wait for a chevy or an import...
 
chevrolet - can hear every valve rap on long extended trips

ford - first on race day

Hopefully Ford will keep this to themselves or charge a lot of money for using the technology.
 
so theres a laser for every cylinder? Or one laser that gets distributed to every cylinder via fiber optics?
 
I'm a bit esceptical about this, how long can a diode last if used continiously for several hours a day and at high temperatures?

...
 
I don't see how this would solve much of anything, even though I think the idea of using a laser is cool. First off, no matter how you ignite gasoline (or any other hydrocarbon-based fuel), you will still get the same sort of fumes and pollution. In other words, it doesn't matter if you light your cigarettes with a lighter or a laser, you still risk lung cancer all the same.

Also, the last time I replaced a spark plug in one of my lawn mowers it was pretty darned sooty and dirty. Lasers and dirt surely don't mix - even if the laser itself is away from the engine block and the beam delivered by fiber optics. We all know what happens if the lens or output window of our lasers gets dirty - you get degraded beam quality and if it's bad enough you won't be lighting or burning anything. This sort of thing has (and continues to be) a problem with the development of military lasers - keeping the optics free of the sort of dirt and grime that is usually found on the battlefield. I can't imagine how one could keep any sort of beam delivery optics clean in a car engine for any length of time.
 
Hehe, now there are three threads on the same subject. Niiice :)

Anyway, Slashdot | Laser Ignition May Replace the Spark Plug this should open up two more articles on the same subject.

For now they're thinking in optic plugs, as fiber optics are too complex and inefficient (20% parasitic loss and whatnot), but scientists think this could be overcome in time.
 
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