Pulstar plug increases fuel economy

March 16, 2010

BY Luke Geiver

Posted April 14, 2010

Enerpulse Inc., an ignition products developer, has partnered with E-Fuel, a fuel products provider, allowing E-Fuel to use the "pulse plug." The plug, created by Enerpulse, will be used in E-Fuels Grid Buster, a generator designed to power E-Fuels MicroFueler, a household appliance-sized unit that creates E100 ethanol from organic waste. With an ignition power of 1,000,000 Watts the plug is intended for use in the auto industry and functions in the same way a camera operating on double A batteries does, producing an intense flash of light off a small source of power, according to Louis Camilli, president of Enerpulse.

"It is called capacitor discharge technology," Camilli said. "We've put an automotive sized capacitor inside the spark plug and are able now to apply this technology to the car park." While the partnership is for the use of the plug to aid in the power of the MicroFueler, Camilli said the new plug will drastically cut down on the number of spark plugs needed for the auto industry. The Pulstar plug will only need to be designed for four to five models, instead of 300-400 because of the intense spark created which can be applied to a wider range of cars.

After testing the plug in Norway at the request of the Norwegian Government, the New Mexico-based Enerpulse is now talking with members of the U.S. auto industry. According to Camilli, the biggest advantage to the plug comes from the plug's ability to ignite the fuel in the engine without requiring the fuel to enter a specific spark gap. "It just has to be approximate," Camilli said. Through testing in flex fuel vehicles, the plug combined with ethanol blended fuel earned an average of 8-10 percent higher fuel economy. Because ethanol blended fuel is harder to light, Camilli says, "With the ultra-high peak power of the Pulsar spark discharge, ethanol as a primary fuel becomes a reality."

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Upcoming Events

Sign up for our e-newsletter!

Advertisement

Advertisement