Technical Director's Post

I recently visited Liverpool University's Acoustic Research Unit to test a new product in their large facilities. Visiting universities is something I do on a reasonably regular basis as Primasonics has good relations both with Liverpool and Salford University acoustic departments. Whilst there I was working with Gary Seiffert, a very knowledgeable and, incidentally, funny chap who mentioned some other projects he had heard about in the University. One of these really captured my imagination - within the engineering department staff and students are working with Ford to replace spark plugs in engines with lasers.

Now if you are reading this acoustic cleaning blog you are probably an engineer of some sort and would agree that in our world it is a truth universally acknowledged that lasers are fascinating. Not only do the lasers have less electrical demand than conventional spark plugs but they can be split and focused into numerous beams which produce multiple ignition points within the cylinder. These multiple ignition points make the engines more efficient, especially when starting from cold which means the same power for less fuel helping to reduce a vehicles carbon footprint. What made this fascinating to me was they have working engines right now in the lab - this is no pipe dream. It also made me wonder if this technology could change the shape of engines; valves don't have to stay out of the way of a spark plug any more. Indeed this may be the small trigger that ignites, if you will pardon the pun, the viability of some of the more radical engines we have seen such as the “Round Engine”.

We at Primasonics have got a lot out of working with Universities both in terms of practical advice from a single department and in terms of inspiration regarding different departments and disciplines coming together to make something great. It is also surprising how simple is the help that we as engineers and professionals can give back to these institutions - sometimes the difference between a young researcher getting a grant to allow them to study or not is a simple letter to say that the work may be useful in the industrial sector.
..... Alex Bergus