ICE researchers: 50% gasoline-engine efficiency in sight

Speaking at the SAE High-Efficiency IC Engine Symposium preceding SAE's WCX19 conference in Detroit, the lead researcher for a long-running, Delphi Technologies-directed program to maximize the thermal efficiency of gasoline engines said the latest developments show promise for delivering a production-ready gasoline engine that approaches 50% thermal efficiency.

Mark Sellnau directed the program to develop Delphi's gasoline direct-injection compressionignition (GDCI) combustion system before leaving the company to join Aramco. He presented results of testing of the third-generation of the GDCI 4-cylinder engine dubbed Gen3X. Sellnau summarized the analysis in a recent SAE technical paper extensively detailing the Gen3X advances (SAE 2018-01-0901), by saying the advances applied to the Gen3X engine brought its brake thermal efficiency (BTE) to 43.5%.