The railplug: Development of a new ignitor for internal combustion engines. Final report
A three year investigation of a new type of ignitor for internal combustion engines has been performed using funds from the Advanced Energy Projects Program of The Basic Energy Sciences Division of the U.S. Department of Energy and with matching funding from Research Applications, Inc. This project was a spin-off of {open_quotes}Star Wars{close_quotes} defense technology, specifically the railgun. The {open_quotes}railplug{close_quotes} is a miniaturized railgun which produces a high velocity plume of plasma that is injected into the combustion chamber of an engine. Unlike other types of alternative ignitors, such as plasma jet ignitors, electromagnetic forces enhance the acceleration of the plasma generated by a railplug. Thus, for a railplug, the combined effects of electromagnetic and thermodynamic forces drive the plasma into the combustion chamber. Several engine operating conditions or configurations can be identified that traditionally present ignition problems, and might benefit from enhanced ignition systems. One of these is ultra-lean combustion in spark ignition (SI) engines. This concept has the potential for lowering emissions of NOx while simultaneously improving thermal efficiency. Unfortunately, current lean burn engines cannot be operated sufficiently lean before ignition related problems are encountered to offer any benefits. High EGR engines have similar potential for emissions improvement, but also experience similar ignition problems, particularly at idle. Other potential applications include diesel cold start, alcohol and dual fuel engines, and high altitude relight of gas turbines. The railplug may find application for any of the above. This project focused on three of these potential applications: lean burn SI engines, high EGR SI engines, and diesel cold start.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG05-91ER12115
- OSTI ID:
- 10106254
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/12115-T1; ON: DE95004375; TRN: 95:000656
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 29 Nov 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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