AN EVALUATION OF THE STATIFIED CHARGE ENGINE (SCE) CONCEPT

A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT IS PRESENTED OF PRELIMINARY STUDIES AIMED AT ESTABLISHING A RATIONAL BASIS FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE STRATIFIED CHARGE ENGINE AS A LOW-EMISSION POWER PLANT FOR LIGHT DUTY VEHICLE APPLICATIONS. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SALIENT ENGINEERING FEATURES OF THE STRATIFIED CHARGE ENGINE IS INCLUDED TOGETHER WITH STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF THE LIMITED EXHAUST EMISSIONS DATA THAT ARE AVAILABLE ON VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH HAND BUILT EXPERIMENTAL ENGINES. TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL BUT MISSING DATA, THE RATIONALE FOR AND THE DETAILS OF AN EXPERIMENT DESIGN FOR PRESENTLY AVAILABLE ENGINE/VEHICLE UNITS IS PRESENTED. NEW HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ARE ALSO IDENTIFIED. (MODIFIED AUTHOR ABSTRACT)