Partnership Develops Real-Time System for Measuring Gas Temperatures

September 9th, 2005

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.; Stanford University; and Physical Science Inc. (PSI) have developed the world’s first system to measure in-cylinder gas temperatures and analyze the combustion in ‘real-time’ during engine operation. The new technology is expected to contribute towards developing future generation engines with improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

The system uses a semiconductor laser to calculate the temperature from measurements of gas concentration in the combustion chamber. This technology can be applied to any type of automotive engine, thanks to the development of a very small temperature probe that can be installed in a spark plug, enabling non-intrusive, real-time measurements.

Previous methods to measure combustion gasses required modifications to the engine. It was difficult to acquire useful data from methods such as attaching sensors inside the cylinder wall or estimating the temperature from camera images of the flame obtained in a specially modified optical-access engine.

This industry-academy collaboration began in November 2002 when Carlos Ghosn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., gave a speech at Stanford University. PSI subsequently joined the project to assist in the development of the new technology. Nissan’s specific role was in the optical design of the temperature probe and overall project management, while Stanford University researchers were in charge of creating the basic concepts and methodology. PSI took charge of laser device development.

Detailed results of this study will be published by the Institute of Physics and by the Optical Society of America in 2006, and also by the Society of Automotive Engineers International.

Entry Filed under: Powertrain Test, Test Equipment