Germans developed a technology of microwave pulse ignition. This could allow combustion engines to use up to 30 % less fuel and it promises even better effects for emissions.
The constant increases in emissions limits are slowly but surely pushing car manufacturers towards electric cars. But maybe combustion engines aren’t dead yet. A German start-up says that they have a technology that may keep them around for a bit longer.
If you remember back to school to science classes about combustion engines you might remember that after the compression phase comes the expansion though ignition phase. This is realized by either an electric spark (petrol) or by self-ignition (diesel). It is exactly the expansion phase that engineers from MWI Micro Wave Ignition took a look at. They want to use microwave pulses to ignite the fuel. They say that this could result in up to 30 % fuel consumption.
But what may be even more important for car manufacturers, an engine with thus technology could produce up to 80 % less emissions of nitrogen oxides. This is because the fuel is getting burned at a lower temperature. And the lesser fuel consumption will positively influence even the carbon dioxide productions.
We even have information that several large Chinese and South Korean car manufacturers are already in talk with the developers of this promising technology. So maybe in a short time, we will get to have a microwave in our cars as well.
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