Research team reveals air-powered hybrid engine
By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
A major breakthrough has been claimed by a Brunel University research team that is designing a hybrid engine that runs partially on air. The team has been working on system that utilizes pistons in a standard combustion engine to compress air went the engine brakes.
The compressed air is stored and utilized to offer an additional boost of power which has no CO2 emission which, in a turbocharged environment, would work to counter turbo lag. Although the underlying theory behind air hybrid is not new, the breakthrough of the Brunel team consists of the minor revision to the existing engine or its transmission configuration. What this actually means is that the previously prohibitively costly technique is now theoretically much less expensive and is a more practical solution to hybrid propulsion in contrast to the standard gasoline-electric systems. A spokesman for the team admitted that revising an existing combustion unit in an electric hybrid system is quite pricey as it demands a redesigning of the transmission system. It also requires additional batteries making it put on more weight and more space is needed to accommodate these batteries which have a limited life-cycle. In contrast, the air hybrid is a simple and less expensive method with no or little transmission revision and engine modification.
[via autocar]
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