A research group led by Professor Hideya Nishiyama and Assistant Professor Hidemasa Takana at Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University has made a trial model of a small gasoline engine in which combustion is enhanced by intake air with high ozone concentration using dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) in collaboration with Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

 The research group has verified that gasoline mileage improves especially when an engine is low load and low revolution by mounting an ozone jet device on the intake pipe of a two-wheel vehicle, and by highly activating some intake air. The device can produce ozone jet at a concentration of 2000ppm by consuming only several dozen of watts of power. The air activating device is operated only when the engine is underlow revolution, and ozone is generated at a low voltage and a high frequency because the self ignition is occurred in the inlet pipe or other parts when applied voltage increases too much.

 The group has also optimized electrode materials, their geometry, interelectrode gaps, voltages,frequencies, and air-intake to generate high concentration of ozone without consuming much power by integration analyses of numerical simulations and experiments.

 This technology is effective especially for idling and low-speed running, and can be applied to engines of passenger vehicles and motor generators.

(In the September 10, 2009 issue of THE NIKKAN KOGYO SHIMBUN, a Japanese newspaper that features advanced technologies.)

[Contact]

Professor Hideya Nishiyama

Electromagnetic Intelligent Fluids Laboratory, Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University

Tel: +81-22-217-5260

E-mail：nishiyama@ifs.tohoku.ac.jp