HEDGE engine

An High Efficiency Dilute Gasoline Engine (HEDGE) is a term coined by automotive engineers at Southwest Research Institute to describe engine technologies focused on improving efficiency and decreasing pollutant emissions from gasoline Fueled engines utilizing high levels of recirculated exhaust gas.

Research

Research within this concept focused on engine knock mitigation, ignition and flame propagation improvements, and air handling strategies for both light and heavy duty on-highway engines. The Primary objective of the research was to make gasoline engines more competitive with diesel engines as emissions requirements become more and more stringent.The research was performed through a consortium style framework where various OEMs and automotive suppliers contributed to the research budget, and all strategies and technologies developed within the program were disseminated to the contributors on a pre-competitive basis.

HEDGE II

In January 2009, it was announced that the original HEDGE program would be succeeded by HEDGE II. "The HEDGE II effort will include a consortium drawn from members of the transportation industry in Asia, Europe and the United States. They will represent a broad industry cross-section, including light, heavy-duty and off-road engine manufacturers, component suppliers and oil and fuel companies. SwRI says the consortium will seek to extend the fuel efficiency and performance gains from HEDGE I and develop supporting high-energy technologies impacting ignition technology, air handling systems and other hardware to address new combustion concepts for highly dilute gasoline engines."

See also

• Lean burn