Goodbye to Spark Plugs

[olddog]

Snake oil.

So we run internal Explosion engines?

What I have read is it takes more energy to light more fuel not a lean mixture, but rest assured you can lean out your engine enough to melt parts with the spark plug ignition that is in it today. You do not need a frigging laser to burn leaner.

Seems I was told that air doesn't burn, but they say we need to burn more air. Humm?

The energy levels they stated seemed huge to me. Just how much energy is going to be consumed by these lasers and how much fuel will need to be burned to produce all this energy?

The information I have read stated that NOX increases as the fuel mixture goes either side of the ideal mixture (I would butcher the word if I tried to spell it).

For a bunch of scientist with new technology they seem to be very loose with their facts. Sounds too good to be true and most likely is not true.

[strictlypersonl]

Originally Posted by olddog

Snake oil.

So we run internal Explosion engines?

Close! But the idea is to have a smooth flame front. Explosions (called pinging or detonation) are bad. They are caused when there is a long flame-front path that over-pressures a pocket of mixture into igniting all at once: an explosion. The laser is able to move the initial ignition point closer to the center of the combustion chamber volume, making the flame front shorter, and lessening the likelihood of pre-ignition.
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The energy levels they stated seemed huge to me. Just how much energy is going to be consumed by these lasers and how much fuel will need to be burned to produce all this energy?

Maybe a little more than a spark system and maybe not. The laser energy need only be concentrated in a very small volume to start the ignition. Sparks take up energy too. At any rate, we're talking about a relatively large amount of energy over a very, very short time period, not unlike a spark.

The information I have read stated that NOX increases as the fuel mixture goes either side of the ideal mixture (I would butcher the word if I tried to spell it).

The system allows leaner mixtures and/or higher compression ratios without the dreaded NOx increase because the peak temperatures are lower - the main cause of NOx.