Extract from BE USA N ° 54 - French Embassy in the United States
Three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers filed a patent application for a system that would improve the fuel consumption of more than 20% gasoline engines for less than 1000 euros.
Turbochargers capture the energy of the exhaust gases to compress the air supplying the engine, which improves its efficiency. Their use on gasoline engines is limited by the risks of abnormal combustion (detonation) that can damage the engine.
The MIT team came up with the idea of combining the use of a turbocharger with the injection of ethanol into the combustion chamber of the engine when it is in high demand (coast, acceleration, etc.). The injection of ethanol reduces the risk of detonation which allows to obtain high compression rates in engines of smaller size.
The models used by the researchers suggest that an engine so equipped could provide the same peak power, but consuming 20 to 30% less fuel than an engine twice as big. The first practical tests in the laboratory confirmed the effectiveness of the process.
The addition of ethanol would remain low: approximately 1L of ethanol for 20L of gasoline. The cost of the device is lower than that of hybrid motors which makes this technology an economically attractive alternative and should facilitate its penetration on the market.
Regarding the use of ethanol as fuel (E85), the company BP announced that it would postpone the development of this fuel in its American points of sale following the announcement of Underwriters Laboratory (UL), a certification body, the suspension of authorization of their label on the components of pumps for E85.
Indeed, this label is only valid for mixtures including less than 15% ethanol. At higher concentrations, the mixture can become corrosive and requires the development of new standards, which could take between six months and two years to complete.
Injection of turbocharged ethanol in the room: 20% savings for ... 1000 euro
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