Will Igniting Fuel With Lasers Make Spark Plugs Obsolete?

[Jason M. Hendler]

Will Igniting Fuel With Lasers Make Spark Plugs Obsolete?

Link

Interesting possibilities - you could arrange a wave front in the ignition which would push harder against the piston - tuning it for speed / load conditions.

I still like the HCCI approach better, in which the fuel / air mixture is already critical for ignition, allowing much high compression ratios and more energy conversion.

[WVhybrid]

This is a subject, that, if I'm in Charge Depletion mode, I don't care about. In Charge Sustaining mode, I'm not sure it matters very much. I mean, how much difference can this laser powered spark plugs make to the overall oil imports, or the rate that oil fields are depleted? Say, compared to a faster shift to an electrified US car parc?

WVhybrid
Red Volt Lifetime gasoline fuel efficiency = 0.901 gallons / 100 miles (231 tablespoons / 100 miles)

[Jason M. Hendler]

This is a subject, that, if I'm in Charge Depletion mode, I don't care about. In Charge Sustaining mode, I'm not sure it matters very much. I mean, how much difference can this laser powered spark plugs make to the overall oil imports, or the rate that oil fields are depleted? Say, compared to a faster shift to an electrified US car parc?

WVhybrid
Red Volt Lifetime gasoline fuel efficiency = 0.901 gallons / 100 miles (231 tablespoons / 100 miles)

I think it will be decades before the internal combustion engine is obsoleted, because it is so cheap and effective, so it will continue to be pushed by regulations to get cheaper / better / lower maintenance, so these laser spark plugs could help.

Additionally, if we simply use hydrogen as the combustion fuel, these types of techs may see some use in the coming decades.