Not sure I want this. I’ve seen Star Trek. I know what happens when phasers go on overload and I don’t have a Scotty available to fix it just in time.
For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more efficient, and more economical vehicles.
[…]
Spark plugs work by sending small, high-voltage electrical sparks across a gap between two metal electrodes. The spark ignites the air-fuel mixture in the engine’s cylinder — producing a controlled explosion that forces the piston down to the bottom of the cylinder, generating the horsepower needed to move the vehicle. […] Spark plugs can ignite leaner fuel mixtures, but only by increasing spark energy. Unfortunately, these high voltages erode spark plug electrodes so fast, the solution is not economical. By contrast, lasers, which ignite the air-fuel mixture with concentrated optical energy, have no electrodes and are not affected.Lasers also improve efficiency. Conventional spark plugs sit on top of the cylinder and only ignite the air-fuel mixture close to them. The relatively cold metal of nearby electrodes and cylinder walls absorbs heat from the explosion, quenching the flame front just as it starts to expand. Lasers, Taira explains, can focus their beams directly into the center of the mixture. Without quenching, the flame front expands more symmetrically and up to three times faster than those produced by spark plugs.
Found by Brother Uncle Don
how do they deal with carbon build up on the lens/aperture of the laser? looks like that is an insurmountable problem to me
Will it work on my flying car?
What … no flying car?
Shit!
This is old news.
It works by focusing several IR laser beams into a central area away from the sides. But you’re right, fouling would be a problem.
Its just that they are actually putting laser diodes which have enough energy in a pulse.
But with diesel you don’t have any plugs or diodes to foul.
#1
“how do they deal with carbon build up on the lens/aperture”
I imagine a laser of sufficient energy to light the air/fuel mixture would be able to burn off any deposits as it operates.
uhmm sooooooooooooo
if we hit this with enough laser energy can we get fusion?
hhmmmm 😛
And only $10,000 a plug!
This means that you will only have to drive 1,000,000,000,000 miles to recover your investment.
“Oh, here’s the problem Mr. Dvorak. The lenses on your laser igniters are all covered with hydrocarbons. Don’t you ever clean them?”
How much efficiency improvement can you get from the ignition?
So now my mechanic will need a PhD in physics to tune my car?
I can’t resist
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw
#5 beat me to it but:
If you think gas is expensive, wait till you have to buy little beads filled with Deuterium.
if it can work and has a quantifiably better performance we should see it some place like Formula 1 first and then the real race to make it cost competitive sort of like the arc of Edison-base compact florescent bulbs
I think we can say FOR SURE, that you would not want to put these in your car now.
How will mechanics now take advantage of me at spring time and replace the spark plugs ?
I guess its an eventuality – first no more points with electronic ignition and now this
Still it makes it harder and harder for backyard mechanics to do simple work – its all electronics now and modular too in cars and car repairs
Where is Rand Paul on this? This is just another example of the government ramming something down our throat in the false name of conservation and efficiency. It is no different than compact flourescent lightbulbs. It is Americans’ god-given right to buy stuff that costs them money for energy that they don’t have to spend. If people want to throw their money away on inefficient engines and gasoline, keeping the oil companies rich and their billionaire executives free from paying taxes, this needs to be voted down NOW!!!
#16,
Alphie, have you been into that Kool-Aid again?
Of the many new energy technologies being developed right now, biodiesel from algae seems like a contender. So, no spark plugs needed, right? Just the glow plugs.
Even so, the fact that laser plugs can work with leaner fuel mixtures seems like a potentially good thing for other types of bio fuels.
Modern cars can easily get 100K out of a set of plugs. And new ones are only a buck a piece. I just don’t see the need for this.
So as a former Automotive tech. I wonder what the cost will be for such a failure vs a $5 or less cost for a spark plug? I can’t imagine a laser could be financial cost effective. Their is a old saying. “if it is not broke, don’t fix it” I think that applies to spark plugs. We have plugs that last 100,000 miles plus. Are inexpensive to replace and failure rates are very low.
#20 It is not a direct replacement for the current spark plug. RTFA. It’s an improvement over the spark plug. If it works out the way they say it will. They can get better gas mileage and better timing control. So they can cost more and get less life than current spark plugs with in reason.
No, Detroit is BEATING A DEAD HORSE !!! We want cars that NEVER GO TO THE GAS STATION (especially with $4 a gallon and up gas) !!!
So adding technology to a HUNDERED AND 10 YEAR OLD I.C.E. is not “Progress” !!!
Jetfire–the laser plug is not a replacement for the standard gap plug huh? Doesn’t seem very efficient to add another plug to the plug that is already there. Wouldn’t that require twice the number of holes in the manifold? More wires? Maybe another distributor if it even used one which I assume not?
Are your SURE its not a replacement?
#17 Mr Ed
He snorts the raw powder…
@ #19 Well, if past increases of efficiency is any indicator, this should allow us to add 2 feet and another 1200 pounds to our hummers while maintaining current mileage. Holes in the manifold,,,,,nyuk nyuk
#23
He means that it’s not a replacement for spark plugs in already existing engines. In other words you can’t substitute the laser plug for a regular spark plug in your current car.
Rather, it is designed to do the same job as a spark plug in engines designed to use the laser plug in lieu of the spark plug and to take advantage of its unique properties. The idea is to be able to burn leaner fuel/air mixtures.
All the same, I’m with the bio diesel crowd for the win in most applications.
#19, Joe,
If this creates just a bit of efficiency, for example 1% then it is worth the $5 each.
using $50 gas/wk is about $2600 /yr or $7800 for three years. 1% of $7800 is $78. PLUS less raw fuel blow-by into the crankcase. This gives cleaner oil and fewer pollutants released.
Small in creases in efficiency add up to big fuel savings.
If this can be made practical (cheap enough), it could lessen the amount of nitrogen oxides produced, leading to smaller, lighter (cheaper) catalytic converters, better mileage, longer lasting engines, engines able to use a wider range of fuel types and so on. But it will take 10 to 15 years to build up the infrastructure. It takes time to design new engines, electronic ignition control systems, build new factories, etc. The transistor was invented in 1947 but the first cheap transistor radios didn’t become widely available until the 1960s.
I wonder if this technology could help diesel engines run cleaner?
Seriously, if the Big Deal with laser ignition is being able to focus it in the center of the compressed space, couldn’t you make a spark plug that positioned the spark in the dead center of the compressed volume of space?
Like, you know, having it stand out from the head surface of the cylinder?
Oh, wait a minute…
It’s friggen 2011, out with electrogravitic propulsion / generator units and ceramic super caps already.
sheesh.
-s
For a blog that covers technology, you guys sure seem to hate R&D.
Without fail, every time a story comes out about a new innovation or some research study, most of you guys trash it.
Wha’sup’wi’dat? You guys seem happy for China to kids our future butts. Not me.
I am DELIGHTED that American automotive companies are developing new technologies. I say, EVEN MORE!
I doubt I’ll be buying these plugs for my Miata anytime soon. But they might have aeronautics applications. Or use in cars that run lower-octane alternative fuels.
Heck, this research might lead to whole new inventions. The ability to ignite a gas with a laser just seems useful.
Why are you guys so damned obsessed with thinking inside the box? A tech blog should be populated by people who love innovation and research.