Engineering engines for the bioeconomy

Developing more efficient ways to produce ethanol and biodiesel is only half of the biofuel equation. These fuels need engines designed for their specific properties to fully realize their potential.

Harold Schock, MSU professor of mechanical engineering, is working to develop clean diesel engines and improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines, as well as recover waste heat from exhaust that can be converted to useful work.

Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Visteon, Schock is working with colleagues Ahmed Naguib, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Farhad Jaberi, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

Schock is working on experimental analysis of combustion in a directly injected engine and the development and implementation of some new technology, including infinitely variable valve timing, controls to efficiently burn fuel in this engine, which could yield perhaps 15 percent better fuel economy than current engines achieve. Jaberi is modeling fuel/air mixing and combustion in this directly injected engine. Naguib's role is to develop a mass airflow sensor that will measure the forward and backward flow in the induction system, with the goal of precisely controlling the air/fuel ratio in an engine.

Schock and his team received $800,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to develop clean diesel engines. One of the major successes to come out of the EPA project has been the development of an "optical" engine that allows researchers to view combustion in a diesel engine under normal operating conditions.

Another DOE-funded research project in Schock's lab is a direct energy conversion project, funded for $7 million over 5 years. The project began in 2005 and involves a number of researchers from across MSU who are working to develop thermoelectric devices to recover waste heat from exhaust.