European combustion engine cuts emissions and fuel consumption
A project supported by the European Commission has succeeded in developing a combustion engine with very low nitrogen oxide emissions and high fuel economy potential. The project, known as 4-SPACE (4 stroke powered gasoline auto-ignition controlled combustion engine) was completed in December 2000 after 36 months of work by six partners from three Member States: IFP (Institut français du pétrole), Brunel University, GIE PSA Peugeot Citroën, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Ford Motor Company Ltd and DaimlerChrysler AG. The project cost 4.6 million euro, half of which was provided by the European Commission under the BRITE/EURAM 3 programme of the Fourth Framework programme. 'I think without the funding of the Commission, this project would perhaps not have started,' project coordinator Pierre Duret of IFP told CORDIS News. 'The funding helped us to decide to go with the project, and at the beginning of the project, we were not sure that we would be successful, so it was very risky, but the results were very impressive.' The project's main achievements were to demonstrate that CAI (controlled auto-ignition) can be applied to automotive gasoline engines without any engine redesign, an increased compression ration or intake charge heating. The new engine has low hydro carbon and extremely low nitrogen oxide emissions, which meet the EURO 4 emissions target and fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 15 to 20 per cent compared with a stoechiometric 4-stroke gasoline engine. Mr Duret told CORDIS News that some of the partners, along with other companies are now working on the development phase of the project. He expects the engine to go to production in three to five years. 'From my point of view it's one of the most successful of all the projects in which we have been involved at the European level,' said Mr Duret.