Mainstream Engineering Awarded Contract from the Department of Energy for Hybrid Electric Turbocharger

ROCKLEDGE, FL – January 21st, 2013 – Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 27-year-old Brevard County research and manufacturing company, has been awarded a contract from the Department of Energy to demonstrate their hybrid-electric turbocharger design for improved engine performance, reduced emissions, and energy recovery.

Engine turbocharging provides many advantages in terms of improvements in fuel efficiency and the potential for engine downsizing. However, current turbochargers are deficient in their transient response, effective operating range, and recovery of excess engine exhaust energy.

By decreasing the turbine spool-up time, the turbocharger’s response to acceleration events is quicker, making sports car enthusiasts happy. The quicker response not only results in faster throttle response but also results in improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, making environmental enthusiasts happy.

Mainstream’s unique turbocharger configuration will also allow the scavenging of waste energy from the exhaust, which would normally bypass the turbo at high speeds. In other words, this turbocharger acts as an energy recovery device, capturing energy from the exhaust when a normal turbocharger would be dumping this energy through the wastegate.

Mainstream is developing this turbocharger for both military and civilian applications. No word yet when this turbocharger will be available to car enthusiasts, but Mainstream successfully commercializes its military product developments for civilian use.

Mainstream has been heavily involved in engine research since the nineteen-eighties, investigating all aspects of engine design, including HCCI, PCCI configurations, improvements to engine breathing, improved fuel economy, reduced emissions, advanced fuel injection, and new supercharging and turbocharging techniques. Recently, Mainstream completed the design and fabrication of a new compact, lightweight turbocharged diesel engine, referred to as the AMD45. The AMD stands for Advanced Modular Diesel, since this turbocharged, three-cylinder four-stroke, common-rail fuel-injected diesel engine can also be configured in two-cylinder or four-cylinder versions. This unique engine uses a patent-pending integrated starter-alternator hybrid drive and was developed for military generators and hybrid vehicles. Among other commercial applications, this engine is planned for use in a high-MPG diesel-electric hybrid sports car.

Mainstream Engineering has a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all proudly made in the USA. Mainstream has job openings for engineers, visit our Careers Page for details.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation
Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development, and manufacturing small business founded in 1986. Our primary mission is to transition advanced thermal control, energy storage, and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe, green commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel/JP8-fueled engines (including generators and hybrid vehicle drive trains), advanced thermal control units, advanced biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers, and the QwikProduct™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of advanced research include thermal control, energy conversion, engine and emissions research, turbomachinery, biomass-derived fuels, chemical technologies, and materials science.