Thanks to one of the largest grants
Michigan State University (MSU) has received, a team of its engineers and scientists intend over two years to build a new car engine with five times current fuel efficiency and 30 percent less cost.
Led by Norbert Mueller, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, the team will use the $2.5 million
U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) stimulus grant to build the bread box-sized engine that could replace current engine/generator technologies for plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Called a wave disk generator, or WDG, it builds on work already done in MSU labs converting gaseous or liquid fuel sources to electrical power.
“Our goal is to enable hyper-efficient hybrid vehicles to meet consumer needs for a 500-mile driving range, lower vehicle prices, full-size utility, improved highway performance and very low operating costs,” Mueller says. “The WDG also can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 95 percent in comparison to modern internal combustion vehicle engines.”
MSU’s WDG project is one of 37
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) recently funded by DOE. It was chosen from among more than 3,600 competitors.
Evaluations were based on the potential for high impact on ARPA-E's goals — to develop creative and inventive approaches to transform global energy production and efficiency, while advancing America's technology leadership, ARPA-E says.
It was part of the first round of projects funded under ARPA-E, which is receiving $400 million under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Source: MSU
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached
here.
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