GM joins engine design consortium

General Motors is the latest vehicle manufacturer to join the Model Fuels Consortium (MFC), a group that aims to develop, validate and apply advanced simulation methods to improve engine and fuel design, resulting in increased fuel efficiencies and reduced emissions.

The following companies are also members of the MFC: Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, Cummins Engine Co., Dow Chemical Co., Ford Motor Co., Honda, L'Institut Français du Pétrole, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Toyota.

Launched in 2005 by California firm Reaction Design, the consortium directs the expertise and resources of fuel producers, engine manufacturers and automakers toward a shared agenda: to develop the model fuels that are essential to accurate simulation of the complex chemical processes that drive combustion, said Bernie Rosenthal, CEO of Reaction Design.

To manage the ever-expanding range of design options and their inherent tradeoffs, engine and fuel developers have boosted their reliance on combustion simulation, thereby reducing their dependence on costly and increasingly inadequate empirical tests, Rosenthal noted.