From ArsTechnica:
http://transientplasmasystems.com/" rel="nofollow - Transient Plasma Systems
has its roots in pulsed power technology developed for the Department
of Defense at the University of Southern California, specifically
nanosecond-duration pulses of power. Since 2009, it has been working on
commercializing the technology for the civilian market in a number of
applications, but obviously it's the automotive one that interests me.
In a conventional four-stroke internal combustion gasoline engine, which
works on the principle of suck-squeeze-bang-blow, the bang is created
by a spark plug igniting the fuel-air mixture in the cylinder. That
spark typically lasts several milliseconds, and although the control of
that spark is now controlled electronically rather than mechanically,
the principle is the same today as it was in 1910 when Cadillac added it
to its engines.
TPS's system does away with the conventional coil-on-plug approach.
Instead, much shorter pulses of plasma -- several nanoseconds -- are
used to ignite the fuel-air mix inside the cylinder. These have a much
higher peak power than a conventional spark; thanks to their much
shorter duration, however, the ignition is actually still rather
low-energy (and therefore lower temperature). Consequently, it's
possible to achieve better combustion at high compression ratios, more
stable lean burning, and lower combustion temperatures within the
cylinder. And that https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/06/swapping-spark-plugs-for-nanopulses-could-boost-engine-efficiency-by-20/" rel="nofollow - means a more efficient engine and one that produces less nitrogen oxide .
TPS says that using its system, it can increase the thermal efficiency
of an already very efficient internal combustion engine like the one
Toyota uses in the current Prius (which is ~41 percent) up to 45 percent
-- similar to the turbulent jet ignition systems that have recently
seen Formula 1 gasoline engines reach that level.
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