Dedicated to the people of Uganda who were a source of Inspiration to take the problem of Lean Burn, and make it a Global Reality.

CEI was founded in 1977 to develop a low-cost, lean burn system which address two timely and critical concerns: fuel economy & global warming. In the year 2000, CEI developed the first true lean burn system in the form of a revolutionary ignition system applied to a low-cost 2-valve engine to create the world’s first true lean burn engine. It has a 30% higher efficiency of the diesel and a lean burn capability of over 30 to 1. It is backed by master patents in ignition and engine design, covering the years 2000 – 2007, with three critical patents issued in 2007. In the form of a renewed 2-valve engine, it can lead to a reduction - not an increase - in the cost of a high fuel efficiency engine. CEI’s purpose is to show the gains that can be made from its many patents, and the profound impact they can have on efficiency and power. See Technology/Market Timing.

In the last 12 years, CEI optimized spark ignition and lean burn in engines. The systems were critical to fuel economy, emissions and power. These technologies can be applied to spark ignition engines, but more optimally to the classic, low-cost 2-valve engine. For lean burn, they require a fivefold higher spark energy and fivefold greater tolerance to air-flow,exactly what the CEI ignition provided with its 42 Volt, 90% efficient power converter, giving the ignition twice the efficiency. Chrysler and Honda adopted an efficienct, low-cost, 2-valve, 2-plug engine, similar to the patented CEI engine but lacking its lean and fast burn. CEI set records in lean burn of 30 to 1 air-fuel ratio with 30% fuel economy gain, reported in an SAE paper 2001-01-0548, and in the Design News articles “Rebirth of Lean Burn Technology” and “Lean Burn Lives”. See Fuel Efficiency & Costs.

Unlike current ignition and engine technologies, the CEI ignition is low cost, easy to manufacture, light weight product covered by several master patents. No ignition has come close in comparison. It can deliver 5 times the energy and flow-coupling without increase in weight and size, and 10 times the energy when needed, e.g. to cold-start ethanol and natural gas. Not only has the ignition been completed, but the plug has been designed to minimize spark plug erosion and to optimize spark characteristics. See CEI Lean Burn Ignition.

A question is why we have not heard of CEI before this? The reason is that a production prototype was not completed until now, and its low-cost and high value was not established until now. Tests by GM, Mazda, Chrysler and Ford showed improvements in lean burn and fuel economy. But a system was not developed until recently, and tested by Champion on a 2005 Ford Focus. Tests were conducted as a direct replacement of the state-of-the-art, double-spark Visteon system, giving better fuel economy with EGR, and even better with lean burn. CEI completed production prototpes in collaboration with Champion/FM for introduction with car makers and with suppliers. See Progress/Competition.

CEI has a powerful base of much needed technology backed by a group of knowledgeable people, covering the fields of ignition, combustion, electronics, engine design and other. CEI now needs to tell car makers and suppliers that lean burn, suitable for any spark ignition engine, but more ideal for the low-cost, 2-valve engine, is available for implementation. The opportunity offered by CEI and its technologies is unequaled in the field of engine design and fuel efficiency. The ignition is ideal for the $3 billion annual ignition market and the over $10 billion lean burn engine market. From the Web site, you can learn about the company, the people, and the breakthroughs in CEI's patented products in ignition, lean burn and variable compression ratio. See Patents and Team.

Dr. Michael Ward, Harvard University, President; Robert Lefevre, V.P. Electronics; Dr. Fred Kern, M.I.T., V.P. Engines; Elaine Ward, Computers/Administration; David Breslau, Engines/Machining,