A UNIVERSITY team have achieved what could be a major breakthrough in the battle to create greener and cheaper motoring.
Simulation work has shown that a normal combustion engine might be able to be adapted into a new air hybrid engine at very low cost.
The work by the Institute of Engineering and Design at Brunel University in west London could lead to an engine which would be considerably cheaper to run and deliver significantly less carbon emissions.
The Brunel team is now looking to test the scheme with vehicle manufacturers.
The idea is that using the engine's compression to brake the vehicle not only could slow the vehicle down, but also the pistons could compress air and drive it into a compressed air tank.
It could then be used later to briefly power the piston and to provide compressed air for turbo charging during a period of turbo lag (normally at low revolutions).
The Brunel team believe they may have got round the problems which have beset engineers who have been attempting for some years to transform an existing combustion engine into an air hybrid.
Brunel has run successful simulations which require only small alterations to adapt a normal combustion engine into an air hybrid engine using production technologies. The simple and very cost-effective solution needs no transmission alteration or engine redesign.
Professor Hua Zhao, director for advanced powertrain and fuels research at the Brunel Institute of Engineering and Design, said: "Significantly reducing the cost of driving through reducing fuel consumption and lowering carbon emissions for commercial vehicles is an ongoing battle.
"Our simulations prove that we have achieved a major breakthrough. Now, we need to test it with vehicle manufacturers."
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