Reforming the internal combustion engine
Current advances in internal combustion(IC) engine technology should improve fuel efficiency while reducing the size of IC engines. Improved fuel efficiency and reduced size will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and hopefully reform the negative opinion many hold of the IC engine.
In the February 2010 issue of Scientific American article,”Better Mileage Now”, new technologies for improving IC engine performance are examined and discussed. The potential modifications will improve fuel economy and reduce the size and weight of future engines. The technologies include both hardware and the software to run it, that when combined, can improve engine performance significantly.
IC engines currently convert only 20-25 percent of the energy in liquid fuels into power to run the car. Other technologies like hydrogen fuel cell and electric engines convert a much higher percentage of available energy into power. Different proposed changes would improve IC efficiency by increments of one to over seven percent for each new technology.
Combining different new technologies might provide a greater energy gain depending on the configuration(s) chosen. Not all of the new technologies work well together or provide a combined increase. Some of the new technologies also might not work with the proprietary engine technology of the individual car manufacturers.
Adding to the problem of getting the combination of technologies just right is also the added cost of each one. For example, changing to a Homogeneous charge
compression ignition from a direct injection ignition will improve fuel economy by 10-12 percent, but it will cost the consumer an additional $263 to $685 in the final cost of the car according to the Scientific American article.
Turbocharging can improve fuel economy by five to seven and a half percent while reducing engine size and weight. Smaller lighter engines mean lighter cars. Lighter cars require less power to move them or stop them, using less fuel and emitting fewer green house gases.
Combining an improved internal combustion engine in hybrids can only improve the overall performance of the vehicle. With the new fuel requirements expected from the EPA, improved IC technology may be the only way to meet the short term standards while depending on new electric engine and hydrogen fuel cell technologies to meet the long term standards.
Hydrogen fuel cell and all electric vehicles are coming but are still far enough in the future that improved IC performance is a great bridge from the past to the future of automobiles. The IC engine has gotten a bad rap as the culprit for a lot of pollution. These new tech changes should reform its image.
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