Scientists from the University of Silesia in Katowice are co-authors of a high thermal stability pressure sensor, which can be used for controlling the combustion parameters in car engines.
Among other things, technological progress in engine construction leads to an increasing gas compression in the combustion chamber, which is why the measurement of compression pressure is one of the most important indicators in engine diagnostics. This is because it allows to assess the wear degree of e.g. valves, piston rings and smooth surfaces of cylinders.
The differences in compression pressure between particular cylinders should not be higher than 10%. If a parameter exceeds the permissible value, this proves a significant wear of the engine elements. This, in turn, leads to consumption of higher amount of fuel and loss of oil, as well as to a reduction of engine power.
Therefore, the key thing is properly designed sensors used in engines, which enable to examine the differences in pressure. The devices used until now have been structures with specific metal strain gauges or manometers characterised by high sensitivity to high temperature and low precision in measuring high pressure in modern cylinders of diesel engines (up to 10 Mpa). The satisfactory precision of strain gauges in these structures is only limited to a low range of temperatures – up to 200oC.
On the other hand, although the available strain gauge sensors ensure the dynamic measurement of hot gas pressure in high- and medium-power diesel engines, the poor tension insulation and large impact of disorders resulting from the presence of metal strain gauges limit the possibility of using these elements.
Therefore, the economic factors and safety concerns forced the necessity of searching for new solutions with respect to high-temperature pressure sensors, which has become the goal for the scientists from the University of Silesia and Gdańsk University of Technology. Together they developed a pressure sensor, which is built of metallic electrodes imposed on two parallel planes of the element made of dielectric material. Thanks to the applied solutions, this sensor is characterised by a high thermal stability, which makes it a great tool for controlling the parameters of processes occurring in the engine combustion chamber. The invention has been covered by patent protection.
The authors of the invention are scientists associated with the University of Silesia and Gdańsk University of Technology: Assoc. Prof. Małgorzata Adamczyk-Habrajska, Professor of the University of Silesia, Prof. Andrzej Molak, Prof. Eng. Dionizy Czekaj, Assoc. Assoc. Prof. Eng. Lucjan Kozielski, Assoc. Prof. Beata Wodecka-Duś, Professof of the University of Silesia, Aleksandra Kamieniarz, Msc, Zbigniew Machnik Msc Eng. and Daria Radoszewska Msc Eng.
