On the F1 engines of 2013

My fellow blogger James Allen has written about the idea of cars running only on electric power in the pitlane in the future. I am grateful to him for reminding me because I heard about the idea in Australia and then completely forgot to write about it! It is a great idea because while there is going to be plenty of noise out on the race track, the cars will be nice and quiet in the pitlane, a neat way of showing the world exactly what is possible with kinetic energy recovery systems, which uses the energy of motion to create electrical power, which can then be used to make an engine more powerful, or to give it extra punch at critical moments. We have yet to discover much about the new engines that will appear in 2013 but there signs are that these are going to be fascinating, and rather more interesting than the frozen lumps we have today. The key point is that while these may be more expensive, the technology that they will be developing is useful for the motor industry. There is nothing like competition to move the product forwards so F1 can have a little more technical relevance for the industry, in addition to continuing to provide global marketing value. In theory, at least, this means that it is more likely to attract car manufacturers than it does at the moment. The current lot may whinge about the need to invest more, but they have been gaining a great deal of value for a long time, based on very reasonable levels of investment. The reason that others have not joined in is that they are starting at a disadvantage and with the rules as they are there is no incentive to develop an engine which will become frozen at a certain point (it is cheaper to do what Infiniti has done and buy space on a car) and there is no technical value at all under the current rules.

The thing that will be fascinating is what kind of systems will appear. The signs are that in an effort to gain an advantage and better efficiency the engine designers will use direct injection systems, which will improve the volumetric efficiency of engines. In addition it is likely that the new engines will be supercharged and turbocharged. Superchargers compress air which is then forced into the engine, providing more oxygen than would normally be available. This creates more power, but also uses more fuel because the supercharger is traditionally powered by a belt or gear connected to the crankshaft of the engine, which reduces the power of the engine. Thus an engine might produce 500 hp without a supercharger and 700 hp with such a unit, but this is not efficient as an additional 100 will have been wasted powering the compressor. Thus if there is an electric supercharger the engine could produce 800 hp using the same amount of fuel.

Turbocharging is when the exhaust gases from an engine drive a turbine, and the power produced helps to drive the engine faster. Back in the 1980s Lancia developed engines for the Delta S4, which used belt-driven superchargers and exhaust-driven turbochargers, which used different valves to provide boost from the supercharger at low speeds and additional top-end power from the turbocharger, which helped to eradicate the problem of turbo lag when an engine is running at low revs. Using these turbines to create electricity which can then be used to provide additional power when it is needed is a much more efficient way of working an engine. Harvesting the energy from exhaust gases can be done with various other turbo-compounding systems, which have been developed since the 1940s, beginning with Napier & Sons prototype Nomad engine, which featured axial multi-stage turbines and compressors that powered a second propeller, while also providing jet-like boost.

With more efficient KERS and other energy capturing systems possible, the new engine regulations should provide a lot of technological options.