GM’s effort to redesign the internal combustion engine is starting to produce some very real results. A fairly old technology, the homogeneous charge-compression ignition (HCCI), is now starting to look like a better solution to the energy crisis then alternative fuels.
So what makes the HCCI process different from spark or compression ignition? It delivers a more complete, efficient burn at temperatures too low for the formation of harmful nitrous oxides. As a result, the job of cleaning the exhaust becomes much easier, resulting in fewer greenhouse gases being expelled into the atmosphere. It also requires a much leaner air/fuel mixture (less fuel, more air) for detonation than in a standard four-stroke engine—hence the 25- to 30- percent bump in fuel economy. Plus, burning gasoline at a lower temperature means that considerably less energy is lost through the exhaust pipe, or transferred as waste heat into the engine’s cooling system.
Full Article: In Efficiency Lab, GM Rethinks the Old-School Engine
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