Laser ignition demonstrated in a real engine could boost engine efficiency by 27%

That looks quite good, although i remember the study done previously and that never materialised into anything.

Wonder what the price tag would be.


Matt

[Edited on 21/2/15 by MP3C]

Spot the key word:
"Laser ignition demonstrated in a real engine could boost engine efficiency by 27%"

it starts with 'c' and ends with 'ould'

I wasn't really interested in the "Could" boost engine efficiency as I'm not too bother about that, I'm more interested in the increased power output there would presumably be with the increased fuel being burnt + the extra modifications due to the speed of the laser able to be fired multiple times during the "spark" time.

If... IF it was to be commercialised what would the price tag be - was my question as I don't really have any cost experience when it comes to lasers capable of this.

It states spark plugs ignite from 1 side of the chamber and the laser will ignite from the centre
Most 4 valve engines run central plugs now so the flame front travel time will be the same
Lean burn could be an advantage.
I wonder how long the lense at the end of the fibre optic would last before it got covered in carbon especially with EGR fitted

Very high power conventional ignition systems do improved power and MPG, we have seen good results using MSD on rover v8s and old jags.
We have seen better mpg on a 4.0 TVR using MSD over coilpacks, so maybe it's possible to improve combustion further? Plasma ignitions promised a lot but never really became popular.

Normally, it's the poor burning engines that gain the most with fancy ignition, such as rover and Chevy v8s

Modern engines benefit less.

I'm good friends with a researcher working on this, can't answer some questions but I think I have a good overview of it (spent some time in the lab with him).

1) ignition from sidecentre -they mean centre of the chamber volume - you can project the focus point to any height in the chamber to start the ignition say 2cm down rather than at the wall of the chamber. Two benefits - one you dont have a disruptive hotspot spark plug protruding and two you initiate the burn centrally which gives more complete combustion rather than sticking at the walls.
2) The focusing optics dont get particularly dirty anyway on a modern engine, but they self clean with the laser pulse.
3) pricewise its not a million miles off the current prices, the solid state lasers they need are currently in development and the overall system cost is comparable.