At the Federal Mogul Plymouth Technical Center, I was shown a new spark plug technology that the Federal Mogul engineers are developing called the Advanced Corona Ignition System (ACIS). ACIS looks like a conventional spark plug except, it has a crown on the end instead of the ignition electrode with the ground in front. ACIS fills more of the chamber with ignition-producing electricity, which will allow for higher compression ratios (about twice conventional levels), resulting in a cleaner burn with improved fuel economy and emissions. The engineer said that ACIS will be optimized with changes in engine design and that it may take a while before it is available in aftermarket applications for older vehicles.
New Spark Plug Design
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For a photo see the Federal Mogul product page and at 2:30-4:00 minutes into the Autoline Daily podcast Episode 1069 of Feb 12, 2013 YouTube link. It includes an interview with the engineer (Kristapher Mixell) who talked to us about it.
To my knowledge it’s not yet on a vehicle, if it requires any adaptation of the engine (if only software) then it takes a couple years to do the code and test performance and durability, and then approve the part as production-ready. It likely requires adding electronics / taking away other parts as it doesn’t require the high voltages of a traditional spark (but still uses lots of power, it still has to ionize and ignite the gasoline).
Despite, this technology being a few years away before we see it in a production car. The idea and practicality are very cool. I also found it interesting that the spark plug works like that of those plasmid bulbs that follow your hand around the outside of the container. The future is now!