Here we go again, High tech gas saver

[ALS]

Got this one in my Email
It is so great they are looking for suckers oh my mistake investors.

According 'Green Car Congress' a new spark plug, which is a "drop in" mod, can improve MPG 2.7%
*"Pulse Plug" Demonstrates 2.7% Improvement in Fuel Efficiency 23 January 2006
ENERPULSE, an ignition products company, announced today that its prototype pulse plug (Pulstar), has demonstrated a 2.7% improvement
in spark-ignition engine vehicle fuel efficiency over spark plugs in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tests.

Pulstar is the first capacitor-enhanced spark plug. The drop-in replacement for spark plugs uses the capacitor to store and then discharge the ignition's electrical power in a powerful pulse.

What makes Pulstar different from spark plugs is its built-in capacitor, which stores the ignition's electrical power and then discharges it in an intense plasma ball. Pulstar is capable of delivering up to 10,000 times the power of an average spark plug, which translates into greater fuel efficiency, increased torque and
horsepower and reduced hydrocarbon emissions. In fact, spark plugs can be compared to the low-power output of a flashlight, while pulse
plugs generate intense power like the brightness emitted from a camera's flash bulb.

—Daniel Parker, ENERPULSE CEO

Testing in the EPA's FTP 75 test resulted in a 2.7% increase in fuel efficiency. Internal tests conducted by Enerpulse demonstrated a nearly 9% improvement in fuel efficiency. This test also showed a 7% improvement in torque and a 10.5% improvement in horsepower output over regular spark plugs.

ENERPULSE plans to conduct extensive additional testing in 50 different vehicle makes and models to measure fuel efficiency, torque and horsepower performance.

Altira, a Denver-based venture capital firm, provided the first round of financing in early 2004 to develop the Pulstar prototypes and fund the necessary EPA and independent testing of the new technology. ENERPULSE is now seeking to attract a second round of investment capital to finance the market launch of the product.

Enerpulse had marketed an earlier version of the technology in a 2-piece sparkplug it called DirectHits.*

http://www.pulstarplug.com/

 

[kanling]

Adding a capacitor to a spark plug will only serve to filter and delay the spark.

quote:

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The drop-in replacement for spark plugs uses the capacitor to store and then discharge the ignition's electrical power

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Oh, they say this! Just what I want, a spark plug that holds the charge and then discharges it at a later time. I'm sure my engine will love it.

 

[Ryan00TJ]

Don't knock it before you try it! I added these and a few miles down the road my gascap blew off. Turns out my engine started making gas. It was shooting out like a fire hydrant!

 

[Bob Woods]

If any of these snake oil add-ons worked the car makers would jump on them like stink on you know what, to increase CAFE and get the EPA off their rears. At 40 bucks a plug it should come with an installer and a hottie to kiss you.

[ January 24, 2006, 06:04 PM: Message edited by: Bob Woods ]

 

[Shannow]

I made a capacitor with a spark gap in the coil lead of an older points ignition car that I had a few years ago. Car was fouling plugs.

Smoothed the idle somewhat...Nothing else.

 

[robbobster]

Bob,
The installer is the one on the left.
The hottie is on the right.

 

[Master ACiD]

im not an expert on old fashioned ignitions but dont points already come with a capacitor? seems to me that i remember those capacitors on just about every points setup i ever mucked around with.
funny, i dont see them on breakerless ignitions. anyone know what the capacitor does for points?

 

[MolaKule]

OK, I was curious about the physics and the claims made, so I read the original IEEE paper to examine some of the claims. [IEEE Transactions on PLASMA Science, Vol. 25, NO. 2, pp. 306-310, April 1997.]

By placing a capacitor of 80 picofarads ACROSS a non-resistor sparkplug with a gap of 0.30", one can cause a high energy oscillation of approx. 100 MHZ to occur, resulting in a spark that lasts for about 15 nanoseconds, but providing a PEAK current of 1020 Amps instead of the conventional 150 miliamp spark occurring over milliseconds. So what we have here is a high current spark delivered in a shorter amount time, thus increasing the ENERGY delivered over a smaller time frame.

Recall that Power = (Energy Delivered)/time.

So the physics are real.

Now small mileage gains are achieved with the capacitor plug by having a more efficient plasma (ARC) to combust the gasses.

The emissions reductions came from tests made on vehicles 5 years and older, specifically a 1987 S-10.

For engines less than one year old the,

quote:

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Results showed a minimal change in emissions with the peaking capacitor

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.

So the emission advantages are mith older vehicles only. As we all know, increasing the ignition energy on older vehicles always reduces emissions.

Interestingly, what they DIND'T addresss in the paper is how this 100 MHZ radio emission might effect computers and related sensors.

 

[wulimaster]

Nology already did this with plug wires years ago.

 

[mechtech]

The capacitor on a points ignition system is there to keep the points from burning.
The capacitor plugs and capacitor wires that are sold are very different. There are also true capacitor discharge ignitions sold, which are another separate entity.

 

[MolaKule]

Me too. I could make some comments about sparks and sizes of plugs, but......

Also see this Howstuffworks:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ignition-system.htm

 

[Dan4510]

There is already a company that sells this. Been on the market for over 10 years. Uses a capacitor right at the spark plug to store energy, then BANG. However, it suffers from extremely short burn duration and has a problem lighting off lean mixtures. For rich mixtures it works great. Need enough energy and enough time to light mixture properly. Too much energy and not enough time=misfire.

check out www.nology.com

Supposedly much better spark.

Dan

 

[robbobster]

Would this also work with coil-on-plig setups?

 

[Quattro Pete]

The "Pulse Plug" is a step in the right direction, but they're still missing the point. This is how a real spark plug should work.

 

[Kestas]

I wish robbobster's image had more resolution.

 

[LarryL]

Should we tell GM about these plugs? They could use some help, and spark plugs may do the trick.

 

[LarryL]

Should we tell GM about these plugs? They could use some help, and spark plugs may do the trick.

 

[stringsattached]

MolaKule is my hero for challenging marketing hype!

*stringsattached realizes he sounds like an idiot, walks away*