AutoblogGreen Q&A with Transonic Combustion: can supercritical fluids give a 30% mpg boost?

Written by: Sam Abuelsamid on Friday August 27, 2010.

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, MPG, AutoblogGreen Q & A, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

Given that the traditional four-stroke Otto-cycle engine piston engine only has a thermal efficiency of 25-30 percent, there is clearly still plenty of room for improvement. While most of the green automobile attention in recent years has been focused on electrification, liquid fuels still have about 100 times the energy density of today’s best lithium-ion batteries, a difference that probably won’t change significantly any time in the near future.

With that in mind, there is still plenty of effort being expended on improving the humble internal combustion engine. These efforts range from completely different architectures like EcoMotors’ opposed piston opposed cylinder (OPOC) to new combustion processes such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI). One of the more interesting combustion-related developments comes from a California-based startup known as Transonic Combustion. In 2007, the company was claiming it could get an ICE vehicle to 100 miles per gallon. A lot has happened since then, and we finally have a better idea what the company’s technology is. We sat down with CEO Brian Ahlborn to learn more about what the company is working on, and you can read all about it after the jump.

Gallery: Transonic Combustion