Here you see the robust, cylindrical...
Here you see the robust, cylindrical vessel with sapphire crystal windows through which ultra-high speed video cameras are able to record combustion events that enables engineers and research staff at MTU to pinpoint and evaluate numerous properties associated with the complex process of combustion. The precision and accuracy by which these studies are conducted is remarkable. Clients include those from the new vehicle manufacturing sector as well as the academic and fuels communities.
Although the vessel can be used with a variety of fuel types, combustion involving a gaseous fuel helps assure a homogeneous mixture of air and fuel for further validation of a uniform air/fuel charge during tests. Since it's known that air/fuel mixtures (ratios) do vary within the combustion space of a running engine, the same mixture ratio may or may not be the same in a spark plug's gap from cycle to cycle, and cylinder to cylinder. So in order to remove this variable from the equation, MTU used a gaseous methane and air mixture to ensure uniform mixture homogeneity for these particular tests, again with the intent to remove yet another variable and further improve data integrity.
"We didn't want to inject liquid fuel into the vessel, run a test with one spark plug and then inject liquid fuel again for a comparative test, knowing that it would be difficult to verify that the differences we saw were attributable to variations in charge homogeneity or spark plug technology."
Actually, as you will note from the accompanying images, the results produced by MTU are particularly revealing. Since the images were recorded using the same time-based intervals, it's possible to draw direct comparisons between the flame growth rates of the two spark plugs tested. As previously mentioned, E3 had obtained data from tests conducted at other facilities, especially power data showing increases from the installation of their product alone, and wanted to scientifically verify that increases in horsepower and reductions in emissions were linked with the development of a more rapid flame kernel, utilizing their technology. Judging by the results gathered with the combustion vessel at Michigan Technological University, support for that belief is pretty clear. Installing products like this in otherwise "un-modifiable" racing (or street) engines appears to be a sensible consideration.
This series of combustion...
This series of combustion flame images was recorded in Michigan Technological University's "combustion vessel" and compares propagation rates (at the same time intervals) from the use of an ordinary spark plug and the E3 technology. The same homogenous charge mixture was present at the beginning of each test and the same ignition spark energy level was introduced at the plugs.
Note the increased rate of...
Note the increased rate of growth and activity using the E3 plug, projected to indicate a quicker rise in cylinder pressure and net torque gains. Even though each series of images was recorded in a scant 44 MS (milliseconds), you can still see the effects of the E3 technology.