Ceramic engine

A ceramic engine is an internal combustion engine built from specially engineered ceramic materials, which tolerate very high temperatures, so that gases can be compressed and expanded without losing heat or damaging the engine. Research gathered pace after the energy crisis of the 1970s, when a gas turbine design promising high thermal efficiency needed a material that could withstand about 1,370 degrees Celsius, beyond what metals, superalloys and carbon composites allowed. Government funded laboratories in the United States, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom tried ceramics, and proof of concept engines of the early 1980s and 1990s beat metal engines on weight, efficiency and performance under laboratory conditions. Nissan and NGK made the first ceramic turbocharger, Isuzu built a diesel with ceramic pistons, rings and other parts, and Toyota put a ceramic engine in its Crown in 1988. An all ceramic engine has still not reached the car market, because large parts such as the block are brittle and stiff and hard to make, and the cost of manufacture is too high.