Turbo-charged alcohol fed, DI engines could offer diesel like efficiency - SAE presentation

[JohnWxy]

http://www.green.autoblog.com/2010/11/04/study-turbocharged-alcohol-fed-direct-injection-engines-could-o/

In their paper, presented at the http://www.sae.org/events/pfl/">SAE 2010 Powertrains Fuels & Lubricants Meeting in late October (2010), Bromberg and Cohn wrote:

Small, very high power density, spark ignition engines which are fueled with ethanol methanol or mixed alcohols can be used as a substitute of heavy duty diesel engines, with higher engine thermal efficiency and much reduced size and weight. In this manner a 3.6 liter engine could potentially be used to replace a diesel engine with a displacement as high as 11 liters. These extreme downsizing indicates the potential of a SI, knock-free engine, operating at the same peak pressure as the diesel engine and higher engine speeds. However this aggressive downsizing may not be practical because other constraints (durability, exhaust temperatures). More modest downsizing up to 5 liters could offer a practical solution.

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Of course, it's worth noting that although the research was conducted on heavy-duty vehicles, both Broomberg and Cohn believe that:

"The high efficiency downsized alcohol engine approach could also be used in light-duty vehicles."

We're intrigued.

.....to the Office of the Secretary of Energy: "Is there anybody in there??"(LOL)