Ford to use lasers instead of spark plugs to ignite and burn fuel

by Bradley Wint on July 13th, 2009 at 9:38 am

Ford and scientists at Liverpool University are currently testing a newly developed technology where lasers are being used to ignite fuel within the combustion chambers rather than spark plugs. The new technology is supposed to offer more benefits than what we currently have available. With laser technology, it can be focused and directed to multiple points in the piston chamber to ignite many sources of fuel. Also, it is much more stable than spark plug technology, making it easier so crank up a car in cold and damp conditions. Because of the stability achieved, they also say that is uses a lot less gasoline to ignite the fuel, which will save money in the short and long term.

Currently, the tech is being tested in their labs and shall be first included with engines of higher end model Fords in the next few years before it goes mainstream.

Dr Tom Shenton at the Liverpool University says that the placement of the spark plugs in today’s piston chambers does not allow for proper ignition at the core of the fuel source. With the sparks coming from the top and bottom, they are not positioned properly to effectively ignite, but with laser technology, the beams can be focused precisely to the most effective point of ignition. Also, it is said that the laser itself will use less energy than the spark plug. With all these potential benefits, laser tech may be the way to go in the future (and people unfortunately will have one less reason not to be late to work).

Via: Telegraph | Image: Daily Galaxy (image not representative of technology mentioned above)

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