Ford Patent Wants to Save Internal Combustion [Hackaday]

View Article on Hackaday

There’s no doubt the venerable internal combustion engine is under fire. A recent patent filing from Ford claims it can dramatically reduce emissions and, if true, the technology might give classic engines a few more years of service life, according to [CarBuzz].

The patent in question centers on improving the evaporative emission system’s performance. The usual evaporative emission system stores fuel fumes in a carbon-filled canister. The canister absorbs fuel vapor when under high pressure. When the engine idles and pressure in the cylinder drops, the canister releases fumes, which are combusted with ordinary fuel/air mixture.

However, these fumes tend to reduce engine performance, which is why you should only use them during idle. If the engine exceeds the canister’s capacity without removing vapor, the residual gasses vent to the atmosphere.

The invention uses a pre-chamber that allows the engine to purge the canister more often and faster. The [Carbuzz] post claims this will improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and reduce carbon deposits on valves.

Of course, there are two big questions: will this be practical at scale production, and how effective will it be? We aren’t sure we could answer either of those questions, especially from arcane patent language.

Engines are an amazing bit of tech and even more complicated now that we care about emissions. The tiny ones are especially awe-inspiring. Then again, if you build your engines with Lego, emissions aren’t really a problem.