Posted on 04/04/2010 9:50:12 AM PDT by Signalman
A startup company in Camarillo has created some buzz in the automotive industry with a new technology it says will improve gas-engine efficiency by 50 percent to 75 percent.
Officials at Transonic Combustion Inc. said they have developed a fuel injection technology in their Camarillo lab and testing facilities that not only provides better fuel efficiency but also could help reduce emissions.
“The heart of what we are doing here is improving how this fuel injection process works,” President and CEO Brian Ahlborn said. “Think about how much fuel you inject, and as it sprays, where is it going? Is it really going where you want it to go? Is some of it going out in the air?
“These are the things hundreds of PhDs spend their lives thinking about. If you can come up with a way to inject less fuel and still get the same explosion, well, that’s the most fundamental improvement you can make.”
Since being founded by Mike Cheiky in 2006, the company has been working on developing and patenting its eco-friendly technology. In 2008, Transonic was named by CNET as one of the leading green transportation technology companies in the United States, and last month its fuel injection system was featured on Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s http://www.technologyreview.com.
The “secret sauce” to Transonic’s injection system is converting fuel to a supercritical state, which unlike a direct fuel injection does not require a spark to ignite the engine, Ahlborn said.
In a typical gasoline direct injection, fuel is heated to about 100 degrees Celsius and mixed with air to create a combustion. The rapid firing pushes down pistons in the cylinders that turn the crankshaft that moves the vehicle.
Because mixing liquid fuel with air takes longer, gasoline droplets are injected into the chamber while the piston is still moving upward, wasting energy, Ahlborn said.
With combustion, gases are in longer contact with the cylinder walls, which causes more heat loss. The wasted heat escapes the cylinder wall, then travels into the car radiator and out through the exhaust.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, only 15 percent of the gasoline put into a car is actually used to move the vehicle.
With Transonic Combustion’s technology, the fuel is heated to 400 degrees Celsius, which turns it into a vapor, or so-called supercritical fuel. The vapor state allows it to mix with air much more quickly and enter the combustion chamber much faster, Ahlborn said. Once fuel reaches the supercritical state, the process of injecting the vapor gas also can be better controlled.
“In the supercritical state, we are able to inject the fuel more rapidly, and that helps reduce the piston’s negative work,” said Eric Sharp, Transonic’s director of marketing. “The supercritical fuel mixes much more effectively, and we use significantly less fuel to achieve the same amount of work to drive the piston down.”
Road tests showed a vehicle equipped with Transonic’s fuel injection technology got 64 miles per gallon on a highway, compared with a 2010 hybrid Toyota Prius that got 48 miles per gallon.
The company has patented its new fuel injectors, electronic control unit, high-efficiency fuel pump, pressure accumulator and advanced engine-control software and has secured backing from several investors, including Venrock, Khosla Ventures, Rustic Canyon and Saints Capital, Ahlborn said.
Car companies have taken notice of the research being done at the Camarillo lab, where Transonic Combustion’s team of engineers, chemists and machinists tests various forms of gasoline, build specialized parts and further develop the system.
Ahlborn said the startup already has been tapped by four major automotive developers. It hopes to expand its facilities in Camarillo and mass-manufacture the system by 2015, Ahlborn said.
“Our vision in 10 years is to be a major supplier of fuel injection systems in the auto marketplace and a key contributor in increasing vehicle efficiency by reducing fuel consumption and harmful greenhouse emissions,” Sharp said. “In addition, we plan to enter into other internal combustion engine markets that can also benefit from supercritical technology.”
If this invention proves out, obama will probably attempt to ban it, as he wants us all to walk or use bikes and rickshaws.
Is it just me or does someone else think that heating gasoline to 400 Celsius might not be a good thing unless very VERY controlled. ..... like doing so in a zero oxygen environment. I mean the ignition temperature is only 233 degrees Celsius.
I would assume analysis of the exhaust gases provides a very complete answer to this question.
My understanding is that the combustion process is quite efficient now. I don't think there 50%+ more efficiency to squeeze out, no mnatter what you do.
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