In the early to mid-nineties, Australia's Orbital Engine Corp was very popular in the auto industry. They had developed an innovative pneumatic direct fuel injection system that was paired up with two-stroke engines. Several of the big automakers (GM, Chrysler and Honda among them) had signed licensing agreements to use their technology and had even built prototypes to test. Unfortunately the only engines based on Orbital's technology that made it to production in the US were for marine applications.
Orbital has persisted, particularly with developing their direct injection technology. Recently they have been working on combining their injection system on a small displacement engine with turbocharging and E100 fuel. The small displacement DI turbo concept is one being pursued by many automakers but the use of E100 allows for running at even higher boost and compression. This allows for greater overall efficiency overcoming some of the reduced energy density of ethanol compared to gasoline. The use of ethanol in an application like this allows for even smaller displacements while maintaining performance and getting higher specific efficiency.
Related:
[Source: Orbital Engine via GreenCarCongress]
Orbital has persisted, particularly with developing their direct injection technology. Recently they have been working on combining their injection system on a small displacement engine with turbocharging and E100 fuel. The small displacement DI turbo concept is one being pursued by many automakers but the use of E100 allows for running at even higher boost and compression. This allows for greater overall efficiency overcoming some of the reduced energy density of ethanol compared to gasoline. The use of ethanol in an application like this allows for even smaller displacements while maintaining performance and getting higher specific efficiency.
Related:
[Source: Orbital Engine via GreenCarCongress]
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