Ford Designing a Laser Ignition System

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This could be added to direct injection engines..

Ford is teaming up with the University of Liverpool to design a laser ignition system for automotive engines. According to the university’s web site, a fiber-optic cable will shoot the laser beam to a focusing lens that would create an intense pinprick of light. As fuel is injected into the engine, the laser is fired and produces enough heat to ignite the fuel.

University researchers claim that the new technology is more reliable and efficient than current spark plug technology. Although the laser will need to fire more than 50 times per second at 3000 rpm, it will require less power than current spark plugs. The lasers can also reflect back from inside the cylinders to relay information based on fuel type used and the level of ignition, enabling the control unit to readjust the quantities of air and fuel for optimum performance.

The lasers can be focused and split into multiple beams to give multiple ignition points, which give a far better chance of ignition and can really improve the performance of the engine when it is cold; a time when around 80 per cent of the exhaust emissions are produced and the engine is at is least efficient. The laser also produces more stable combustion so you need to put less fuel into the cylinder.

Ford said that it plans to implement the new technology into its top of the range vehicles within the next few years, and then make the laser ignition system available for its remaining models sometime thereafter.

Other advantages of laser ignition include:

§ Choice of ignition location and potential variation within a cylinder.

§ Non-invasive, there are no electrodes which can disturb the cylinder geometry and can quench a propagating flame kernel.

§ Possibility of varying ignition energy for engine control.

§ Multiple ignition positions in a cylinder.

§ Lower ignition energies needed for combustion.

§ More stable combustion and increased engine performance.

§ Reduced tailpipe emissions.

§ Combustion of leaner air-fuel mixtures.

§ Shorter ignition delays and faster combustion duration.