The TPS ignition system has been designed to work with existing engines.
Enlarge / This is the view the top of a cylinder would get as the TPS ignition module sends out a plasma pulse.
Transient Plasma Systems
In 2019, we took a look at an interesting new advanced ignition system from Transient Plasma Systems. It replaces the conventional spark plugs in a vehicle’s engine with an ignition module that uses very short duration (nanosecond) pulses of plasma to ignite the fuel/air mixture within the cylinder. Then, the technology was still being bench-tested, but now it’s almost ready for production after validation testing has confirmed its potential to increase fuel efficiency by up to 20 percent when fitted to an existing engine.
“We’re showing that the technology has ticked off all the things that an advanced ignition system would need to do to go to market,” said Dan Singleton, founder and CEO of TPS.
Aren’t we going all EV?
At this point, some of you are probably wondering why anyone is even bothering developing new internal combustion engine technology—after all, isn’t our future electric? But with the best will in the world, it’s going to be many years before countries like the US stop selling new internal combustion powered-vehicles, and longer still until they’re no longer allowed to drive on our roads.
“There’s been a lot of pieces, analyzing the data and basically saying look, we need to be real about what the adoption rate of EVs is. So, we do think that the future is going to be EVs. But the question is, what do we do while we’re ramping up? And I think if you look at the data, it’s pretty compelling that best thing you can do is to start getting CO2 emissions down now. So that’s really where we see this fitting in is, if you put this technology to market immediately. That’s what our data shows, is that there’s immediate meaningful CO2 reductions,” Singleton told me.
TPS’ plasma ignition system is designed to drop into existing cars with very little modification. An ignition module replaces the regular spark plugs, and there’s a power module to control it, but otherwise the only other modifications are in software, as the engine requires remapping to take advantage of the new technology.
“A lot of the OEMs we’ve been working with are freezing their engine designs, they’re saying “no more new engine block, we might change some parts out but we’re freezing the design.” So it has to basically just drop into the holes that already exist, which this technology does,” Singleton explained.
“The number one thing is you have to extend dilution limits—that’s either adding Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) or if you want it to go lean, you could do that as well. And that’s obviously the main thing the advanced ignition system does,” he told me.
Enlarge / An illustration and close up photos of the head of a conventional spark plug (top), and also the TPS ignition module that replaces a traditional spark plug (bottom).
Transient Plasma Systems
TPS commissioned a testing company called FEV to evaluate the pulsed plasma system, after fitting it to a highly efficient 2.5 L Toyota Camry engine that runs the Atkinson cycle, with a thermal efficiency of around 40 percent.
“Across the drive cycle, that is a really good engine. And what we were able to do was drop [the plasma ignition system] on, put a slightly different spark plug in the hole but still a spark plug and then our power supply and they were able to get up to 6 percent increase in fuel economy. This, with the stock engine pulled out of a crashed car, with just being able to open up that EGR valve a bit more and adjust the timing, and then we were able to get that benefit,” he said.
“Essentially, if you were to open the EGR valve more with the stock ignition system, you would start to lose combustion efficiency and so you no longer get the overall benefit. Whereas with us they were able to open up that valve more and preserve the combustion efficiency and therefore translates into better fuel economy because you have a lower temperature of combustion, you’re reducing heat losses,” Singleton told Ars.
The final stage of testing for TPS’ system is to prove its durability, but Singleton expects this won’t be a problem. “The technology uses all solid state, high voltage switches—these are switches that are used in applications where they’re run for millions and millions of shots. If you just did an analysis of the parts, you would say no problem, right? The testing that still needs to be done is, once you’ve put it into a package where it’s going to go to altitude and extreme heat extreme cold, you just have to do some design validation and tweaking,” he said.
A frequent question from Ars readers in 2019 was to do with aftermarket availability. After all, TPS designed it to fit in and work with existing engines, after all. “The main focus is getting it into new vehicles because that’s where we think we can impact the CO2 problem the quickest, but certainly, adoption in the aftermarket is a possibility,” he told me. It would require the engine to be remapped, but that’s something that enthusiasts and tuners are already more than familiar with.
As for when we might see the first cars fitted with plasma ignition on the road, Singleton was optimistic. “We are currently in discussions with a couple of Tier 1s and OEMs that are interested in acquiring the technology or working with us to take this market. The most aggressive timeline that one of those companies has told us is that they could get it to market in 18 months from the start of a deal. That’s aggressive. And typically it takes longer in automotive to do testing, but if they say they can do it, this is their world, not mine. So 18 months, I would say, from the start of a partnership,” Singleton said.
Enlarge / This is the view the top of a cylinder would get as the TPS ignition module sends out a plasma pulse.
Transient Plasma Systems
In 2019, we took a look at an interesting new advanced ignition system from Transient Plasma Systems. It replaces the conventional spark plugs in a vehicle’s engine with an ignition module that uses very short duration (nanosecond) pulses of plasma to ignite the fuel/air mixture within the cylinder. Then, the technology was still being bench-tested, but now it’s almost ready for production after validation testing has confirmed its potential to increase fuel efficiency by up to 20 percent when fitted to an existing engine.
“We’re showing that the technology has ticked off all the things that an advanced ignition system would need to do to go to market,” said Dan Singleton, founder and CEO of TPS.
Aren’t we going all EV?
At this point, some of you are probably wondering why anyone is even bothering developing new internal combustion engine technology—after all, isn’t our future electric? But with the best will in the world, it’s going to be many years before countries like the US stop selling new internal combustion powered-vehicles, and longer still until they’re no longer allowed to drive on our roads.
“There’s been a lot of pieces, analyzing the data and basically saying look, we need to be real about what the adoption rate of EVs is. So, we do think that the future is going to be EVs. But the question is, what do we do while we’re ramping up? And I think if you look at the data, it’s pretty compelling that best thing you can do is to start getting CO2 emissions down now. So that’s really where we see this fitting in is, if you put this technology to market immediately. That’s what our data shows, is that there’s immediate meaningful CO2 reductions,” Singleton told me.
TPS’ plasma ignition system is designed to drop into existing cars with very little modification. An ignition module replaces the regular spark plugs, and there’s a power module to control it, but otherwise the only other modifications are in software, as the engine requires remapping to take advantage of the new technology.
“A lot of the OEMs we’ve been working with are freezing their engine designs, they’re saying “no more new engine block, we might change some parts out but we’re freezing the design.” So it has to basically just drop into the holes that already exist, which this technology does,” Singleton explained.
“The number one thing is you have to extend dilution limits—that’s either adding Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) or if you want it to go lean, you could do that as well. And that’s obviously the main thing the advanced ignition system does,” he told me.
Enlarge / An illustration and close up photos of the head of a conventional spark plug (top), and also the TPS ignition module that replaces a traditional spark plug (bottom).
Transient Plasma Systems
TPS commissioned a testing company called FEV to evaluate the pulsed plasma system, after fitting it to a highly efficient 2.5 L Toyota Camry engine that runs the Atkinson cycle, with a thermal efficiency of around 40 percent.
“Across the drive cycle, that is a really good engine. And what we were able to do was drop [the plasma ignition system] on, put a slightly different spark plug in the hole but still a spark plug and then our power supply and they were able to get up to 6 percent increase in fuel economy. This, with the stock engine pulled out of a crashed car, with just being able to open up that EGR valve a bit more and adjust the timing, and then we were able to get that benefit,” he said.
“Essentially, if you were to open the EGR valve more with the stock ignition system, you would start to lose combustion efficiency and so you no longer get the overall benefit. Whereas with us they were able to open up that valve more and preserve the combustion efficiency and therefore translates into better fuel economy because you have a lower temperature of combustion, you’re reducing heat losses,” Singleton told Ars.
The final stage of testing for TPS’ system is to prove its durability, but Singleton expects this won’t be a problem. “The technology uses all solid state, high voltage switches—these are switches that are used in applications where they’re run for millions and millions of shots. If you just did an analysis of the parts, you would say no problem, right? The testing that still needs to be done is, once you’ve put it into a package where it’s going to go to altitude and extreme heat extreme cold, you just have to do some design validation and tweaking,” he said.
A frequent question from Ars readers in 2019 was to do with aftermarket availability. After all, TPS designed it to fit in and work with existing engines, after all. “The main focus is getting it into new vehicles because that’s where we think we can impact the CO2 problem the quickest, but certainly, adoption in the aftermarket is a possibility,” he told me. It would require the engine to be remapped, but that’s something that enthusiasts and tuners are already more than familiar with.
As for when we might see the first cars fitted with plasma ignition on the road, Singleton was optimistic. “We are currently in discussions with a couple of Tier 1s and OEMs that are interested in acquiring the technology or working with us to take this market. The most aggressive timeline that one of those companies has told us is that they could get it to market in 18 months from the start of a deal. That’s aggressive. And typically it takes longer in automotive to do testing, but if they say they can do it, this is their world, not mine. So 18 months, I would say, from the start of a partnership,” Singleton said.