ICE life extension: searching for more solutions

Whichever way you “slice” it, the future of the 150-year-old internal combustion engine is moving steadily into the hands of global emissions-policy regulators. New ICE programs are dwindling amid the electrification juggernaut. Fuels chemists and combustion scientists are fighting a rear-guard action to keep the “heat engine” viable in the face of ever-tighter tailpipe standards for both light-duty vehicles and commercial trucks and equipment. For many emission-control system suppliers, the sunset is already beginning. The key question is, how quickly will it arrive?

“The continued development of ICEs must support de-carbonization,” asserted Jim Szybist, senior research staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who kicked off the 2022 SLICE (Sustainable Low-Impact Combustion Engine) Symposium, held during the first day of SAE International's annual WCX World Congress in Detroit. Reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions is now the dominant driver in ongoing ICE planning and fuels/technology development, Szybist noted, particularly for the light-duty vehicle sector responsible for 57% of transport-generated GHGs.