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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE it up to an oscilloscope for Smokey to use. tered dome on top of the electrode of the The next morning, Smokey asked Krupa to _ new plug that I had filed to accommodate come and work for him. Krupa politely _ it, and then I put a half a ring over it for the turned Smokey down, but the end result negative electrode, again holding all that was they became good friends. together with toothpicks. And when it Because of this, Krupa decided to take _ started firing, the amount of energy coming his first prototype of the FireStorm to _ off the plug was just crazy, and I said to Smokey. While witnessing the new spark myself, 'I've really got something here! plug firing on a portable test stand, Smokey "But I was inspired to do this because I declared: "After 30 years consulting for just knew there had to be a better way. Champion, I have never seen a spark plug That's why spark plug companies hate me. fire like yours. You are going to turn the They've got millions and millions of dollars automotive industry on its ear!" tied up in research departments and I was With that endorsement, Krupa knew he able to come up with the FireStorm proto- had a winner. That afternoon, he signed type in my basement in just under two Smokey up as a consultant to Krupa's _ hours." newly formed company, Century Development International Limited. Thad never heard of anyone doing this before, and wondered what the engine would run like at that ultra-low idle— another major fuel-saving measure. Krupa told me: "It just loped along really smooth, but it was constant. No hesitation; no misfires. And when I did that test on a T-bird and got a 44% increase in fuel economy, I was using the air conditioner at the time! And nobody uses the air conditioner when they test for fuel mileage. But, I was doing real-world testing. In fact, the EPA is thinking about revising their air/fuel testing so that it reflects real-world driving conditions. And even with the increased fuel mileage, I got 33 more horsepower out of a big-block Chevy just by adding FireStorm spark plugs and adjusting the tuning of the engine. "The other amazing thing I discovered while testing the FireStorm plug was that an engine can run further out in the rpm range. In other words, when they reach extremely high speeds the power curve starts falling off. Just by using FireStorm plugs, I can operate from 600 to 800 rpm faster past red-line with the power curve still heading up rather than down. "Bottom line, I can pull more rpm and power out of an engine and still deliver bet- ter fuel economy because even at extremely high speeds of operation the FireStorm plugs still produce plasma that burns all the fuel in the combustion chamber. A regular plug, with its itty-bitty little spark, can never fire well in a combustion chamber that's running at high speed. That size spark can't keep up with the increased speed flow of air/fuel mixture." Krupa showed me an amazing video of the FireStorm spark plugs running in real time on a test rig. I noticed that the power- ful plasma field coming from his spark plug filled the combustion chamber, but there was something else. It appeared that the plasma was swirling around like a small whirling tornado. When asked about this, Krupa explained: "T have coined the term residual ionisation to describe the effect of the firing of the FireStorm spark plug. When a generic spark plug fires in a pressure chamber or your vehicle, it will fire six to eight times and then misfire once. The misfire is caused by the residual ionisation left around the plug proper. When the charge comes down the centre electrode, it sees a high impedance and cannot jump the gap, hence a misfire. Figure 3: The FireStorm is being fired next to a standard plug in a working test. Genesis of the FireStorm f r. It was Krupa's unwavering determination ta to discover a better plug that led to the technical breakthrough of the first a i FireStorm prototype back in November ro 1996. When asked about that life-changing - event, Krupa recalled: "I was brought up by the NOS [nitrous 7 oxide systems] Racing guys in California. rt Their theory was a spark plug either works or it doesn't and there is no in-between. After a lot of investigation, I essentially found out that there was something special Performance and Testing about spark plugs. When I asked Krupa if there were any "During this time, I went through a 55- other advantages to using FireStorm spark gallon drum full of grimy used spark plugs. plugs, he explained: "If there is a vehicle I inspected them all very carefully and that requires premium fuel and they install found that the older the model of spark _ FireStorm plugs and perform the modifica- plug was, the more the centre electrode of _ tions I suggest...they could run regular fuel the plug was worn all around the side. It in the engine and it won't detonate, hesitate, took the shape of a small ball. It was a half ping or misfire. The only reason you need a ball—a dome shape, to be exact. higher octane fuel is for higher compres- "That's when I thought, 'If that's what the sion engines. And if an engine is pulling a spark plug wants to be, then why not start heavy load, it has a tendency to go into det- off with that shape and see what it does?' _ onation with a regular spark plug." So, I took a brand new plug and filed it This all seemed too good to be true, but down into the shape of a dome and fired it there was more good news. and noticed it worked a little bit better. But According to Krupa: "I know it sounds I still had a problem with the grounding — like smoke and mirrors. But this has all side. Next, I whacked the ground off and been documented. When I was doing some started putting different configurations of _ of the early testing on this, I hooked up an grounding electrodes on it, and I held emissions analyser to the car and I had everything together with toothpicks to equipment in the car while changing make it easier to change. air/fuel ratios and idle speeds. I was doing "When I put a half a loop on the ground- this at an automotive aftermarket speed ing side, it seemed to fire a little better. shop. The guys were coming over to see Then I took the head of a screw and bashed what I was doing. I had the test vehicle it with a hammer until it took a dome running at 250 rpm! Engines do not like to shape. Then I took the other side and dim- idle at 250 rpm. You can't do that with a pled it, creating a concave—an inverted _ regular spark plug. But you can do it with dome, really. I carefully balanced that bat- the FireStorm plug." Figure 3: The FireStorm is being fired next to a standard plug in a working test. 46 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2005