Automotive Supply-Chain - New Piston Ring Coating Improves Fuel Economy and ...

SOUTHFIELD, August 12, 2011: Federal-Mogul Corporation has developed a new piston ring coating that supports vehicle manufacturers' efforts to make gasoline engines more fuel-efficient. The company's patented CarboGlide® coating delivers a direct improvement in fuel economy and CO2 emissions by reducing ring friction by up to 20 percent as compared to nitride or other commonly used coatings. CarboGlide's high wear resistance will withstand an engine's full operational life -- even in the latest generation of high-output gasoline engines with turbocharging or direct injection. CarboGlide additionally protects the cylinder surface from scuffing and scoring, especially under the most critical lubrication conditions, because of its high chemical and physical stability.

"CarboGlide provides engine manufacturers and vehicle owners with a strong advantage over other coated rings in the market by delivering an extremely low friction coefficient, superior wear resistance and long life," said Rainer Jueckstock, senior vice president, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Energy. "Our CarboGlide-coated rings provide engine manufacturers with an immediate, cost-effective fuel economy improvement that is easy to implement. The friction-reducing, fuel-economy improvement benefits contribute also to reduce the carbon footprint of gasoline-powered vehicles," Jueckstock added.

CarboGlide's superior coating properties are achieved due to a multi-layer microstructure and a special coating composition that contains carbon, deposited in diamond-like form, as well as hydrogen and tungsten. The unique structure can be produced for a coating thickness of 10 microns, more than three times that of the industry's latest state-of-the-art DLC coating. A specialized advanced process based on the combination of Physical Vapour Deposition and Plasma-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition, specifically developed for piston ring application, is used in applying CarboGlide. The coating's multi-layer architecture, together with the company's surface machining and finishing expertise, ensure the integrity of the coating structure, optimal adhesion of the coating and high coating stability on both steel and cast iron rings.

"Federal-Mogul tests on engines, using both cast iron and high-silicon aluminum cylinder surfaces, have shown that CarboGlide-coated rings minimize friction and scuffing for the full expected life of the engine, even in the challenging environment typical of GDI turbo engines," said Dr. Marcus Kennedy, Federal-Mogul's manager, Physical Coatings. "It is highly stable due to its non-metallic nature. The unique combination of low friction, low wear and scuffing resistance also makes the technology attractive for application to other Federal-Mogul products developed for extreme conditions like face seals on construction machinery," Kennedy added.

What's the Deal with Avgas? - MAF Blog

So what is avgas? And why does it always seem to be in short supply?

The short answer is that avgas is aviation gasoline used to power airplanes with piston engines. (For a more in-depth look at avgas, listen to the MAF podcast where I interview instructor pilot Jason Risser.) These engines are used primarily in smaller aircraft or recreational planes. Commercial airplanes use jet fuel, which powers planes with turbine engines. MAF’s new fleet of K has turbine engines, eliminating the need for avgas with those airplanes.

So why the short supply?

In the U.S., avgas shortages rarely occur due to the large number of private aircraft that require it and the suppliers’ financial incentive to meet those demands. Additionally, the infrastructure within the U.S. lends itself to easy distribution. But in the places where MAF serves, the demand for avgas is much lower and getting avgas to the MAF bases can be a challenge due to the relative remoteness of the locations.

In my discussion with Jason Risser about this, he related the story of how getting avgas to some MAF bases in Indonesia sounds like something you would see in an expedition movie scene – guys floating 55-gallon drums of avgas across the river, tied together with a rope. And that’s after a long trek to the interior over challenging roads. It’s not like there are fuel trucks cruising down a nation’s highway to deliver avgas. Sometimes it is simply shipped in drums and delivered in the crudest way imaginable.

So, what does this mean for MAF?

It means a few things:

Avgas is expensive. If suppliers don’t have a substantial demand, it’s not as lucrative to produce, meaning the cost of the fuel is driven upward. Because of these challenges, MAF has to order avgas in bulk for some bases, adding to the difficulty of the avgas delivery. Planes can be grounded, limiting MAF’s impact in a particular area. When there is no gas, there are no flights – it’s that simple. Some programs have grounded their piston-powered planes for weeks while awaiting the arrival of a new shipment of avgas. MAF is actively seeking solutions. The ongoing transition to the K aircraft gives MAF access to remote areas without the worry of fuel shortages. However, that is a costly endeavor and will take many years to complete.

Digest of United States patents of air, caloric, gas, and oil engines, 1789-1905, chronologically arranged under two hundred and five subdivisions ...

Knight's American mechanical dictionary, A description of tools, instruments, machines, processes, and engineering; history of inventions; general technological vocabulary; and digest of mechanical appliances in science and the arts

Official gazette of the United States Patent Office

Engineering

Popular Science