Just in case you don’t know what we’re talking about, here is how Lotus explained it in an older press release: “The first testing phase of Lotus Engineering's Omnivore variable compression ratio, flex-fuel direct injection two-stroke engine has been successfully completed on gasoline."
"In addition to exceptional fuel consumption results, the engine has successfully demonstrated homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) - where the engine operates without the need for the spark plug to ignite the fuel and air mixture in the cylinder - down to extremely light loads. Traditionally, this has been challenging but this combustion process results in ultra low emissions and has been achieved over a wide range of engine operating conditions, even from cold start."
"The detailed research has so far focused on lower speed and load conditions that represent a major proportion of an engine's operation in a real world environment. At 2000rpm and up to approximately 2.7 bar IMEP (Indicated Mean Effective Pressure), the ISFC (Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption) achieved is approximately 10% better than current spray-guided direct injection, spark ignition engines."
"Emissions results are an impressive 20 ppm NOx at less than 2.3 bar load and has four-stroke-equivalent hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions.”
Now that you understood the way it works, click on the link and you will get to play with the interactive demo offered by Lotus.
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