MSNBC is featuring a video-clip in their Tech Tour that reports on a revolutionary new take on the combustible engine...one that produces next to zero emissions. As stated on the website:
The Georgia Tech technology is based on a newly designed engine component called a combustor, specifically the Stagnation-Point-Reverse-Flow (SPRF) combustor. It is a combustion chamber designed to burn fuel with near-zero emissions of nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide gasses. A combustor is the part of an engine that converts fuel energy to thermal energy, which powers ignition in the rest of an engine. The SPRF design is most relevant to engines that premix fuel before burning, such as aircraft engines and turbines. The SPRF does no premixing, allowing for a simpler design, and burns fuel at a much lower temperature than traditional combustors. That lower temperature translates into a more stable and more efficient component than traditional combustors, leading to nearly zero pollutants. The design also means lower noise levels, a typical cause of damage in engines. The SPRF has one point of input and output, rather than two separate ones, and its shape allows the mixing to happen before ignition occurs.
While it still makes use of fossil fuels, which is not ultimately solving the larger problem our world faces, it might be a good way to at least bridge the gap between fossil energy and sustainable energy. Or perhaps a way to combine it's clean combustion with sustainable fuel sources could be developed. Either way, we're definitely interested! If anyone has more info on this topic or technology, we'd love to hear from you.
Image copyright MSNBC.com
Comments