Vendor Newsmaker Q&A Lou Camilli

Oct. 22, 2014
Leaving Major League baseball behind and armed with a mathematics degree from Texas A&M University, Camilli scored in the aftermarket by inventing the Pulstar spark plug and establishing Enerpulse Inc.

Described as an innovative entrepreneur and creative thinker with extensive experience in developing business opportunities and commercial products from raw technology, Lou Camilli came of age as a utility man – for real. Throughout the early 1970s he played several infield positions for the Cleveland Indians, memorably slapping his debut Major League hit into centerfield past the great Cy Young award-winning Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics.

During Camilli’s tenure with the Tribe, unfortunately, the team never rose above fifth place. Yet his four-year career in the Big Show did prompt a classic quip: “They ought to change our name to the Cleveland Light Company,” he observed at the time. “We don’t have anything but utility men.”

Leaving life on the diamond behind and armed with a mathematics degree from Texas A&M University, Camilli scored in the aftermarket by inventing the Pulstar spark plug and establishing Enerpulse Inc. He recently answered a series of questions posed by Aftermarket Business World:

Q: How did you invent your n-PAC technology? How did you get the idea, and how long did it take to perfect the concept?

A: Enerpulse has worked independently and in cooperation with the Sandia National Laboratories to apply pulsed power in an internal combustion engine ignition to improve performance. Enerpulse’s Nano-Plasma Assisted Combustion (n-PAC) technology finds its roots in the science of pulsed power. Our patented internal capacitor stores and compresses energy during the ignition cycle. This energy is then discharged in a high power pulse just prior to the spark event; conditioning the fuel charge with energy-rich plasma. This conditioned fuel mixture is highly excited, ensuring instant ignition and an accelerated burn.

The idea of putting a capacitor into the high voltage circuit of an ignition system to deliver a high power spark is not new. Early patents from the 1920s attest to this. But none of these patents ever developed into a commercial product.

For me, it’s been a 25-year overnight success!

In the late 1980s I was looking for commercial opportunities with technologies being developed at Sandia National Laboratories. It was here that I was introduced to the Ultra High-Power Electromagnetics Department (Pulse Power Group) and became an immediate fan.

With the help of Sandia’s Pulse Power Group I was able to design and patent a product that would survive in the underhood environment of a vehicle. Sandia became my first customer, purchasing my capacitor for use in their experimental nuclear fusion reactor known as the Z-Machine in 1992.

I continued to refine the technology and our original product became commercially available in 2001, under the name DirectHits, which was an add-on to conventional spark plugs. By 2006 I was able to incorporate the capacitor circuit into the body of a conventional spark plug, giving birth to today’s Pulstar spark plugs.

Since 2006 we have focused our efforts on increasing durability and performance. During that time we have succeeded in increasing the size of Pulstar’s plasma field by engineering higher capacitance, which delivers a higher nano-pulse discharge. In 2014, we launched the Pulstar with PlasmaCore spark plug. This version has both the increased capacitance with intelligent energy management and is much more durable over any of our previous design generations.

Q: What were some of the challenges and details of bringing it to market?

A: The biggest challenge has been educating consumers. Our core technology is rather simple in concept, and is used in every day appliances like flash cameras and microwaves, but even the discussions with the industry’s top ignition experts were difficult at first.

Our initial approach was to provide data from certified third-party laboratories, and other internal testing, to prove that Pulstar spark plugs improve engine performance and fuel consumption – while, at the same time, reducing tailpipe emissions. We didn’t think people who just wanted to heat up a Hot Pocket would want an explanation on how a microwave works; but consumers and automakers alike wanted to understand why we were producing these results.

Over the past year we have focused on providing hard data demonstrating how the plasma created by Pulstar spark plugs improves combustion consistency and efficiency in internal combustion engines. Combustion is a chemical process and we now have proof that the high-energy discharge of the capacitor produces an energy-dense plasma field with highly charged particles, ions and fractured hydrocarbon molecules that react very quickly to produce consistent ignition and a faster burn. Response to this body of definitive data has been extremely positive.

Q: How do your plugs differ from others in the marketplace?

A: Conventional spark plugs initiate the combustion process with the 4000 degree Kelvin temperature created by the spark event and relies on the kinetic energy from fuel charge motion to propagate the flame. Pulstar’s novel design provides four times the capacitance and has a 50 percent energy transfer efficiency to the electrodes, whereas even the top performing conventional spark plug has less than 1 percent. The kinetic energy created by Pulstar’s high-energy discharge provides its own kinetics and is not reliant on fuel charge motion for flame kernel propagation.

The real key to Pulstar’s remarkable performance is plasma. Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter – solid, liquid and gas are the other three. Plasma is conductive, similar to that of metal, and is formed by the ionization of air or gas. The ionization process that creates this plasma dissociates molecular bonds. Once these hydrocarbon molecular strings are broken apart they become highly reactive, looking for something to combine with other unstable molecules. When the spark occurs, one billionth of a second later, these highly excited molecules react very quickly creating a large energy-rich flame kernel that burns much more rapidly than a flame kernel produced by conventional ignition. This accelerated burn creates higher peak combustion pressure (torque) from the same amount of fuel.

Q: What is the extent of your aftermarket distribution?

A: Pulstar can be purchased at AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Amazon.com, sparkplugs.com, and many other distributors, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Q: Does the repair and maintenance aspect of diagnosing/installing your plugs differ from standard plugs?

A: No. Diagnosing A:F ratio is identical, as is installation. The elegance of the product is that we were able to incorporate the high efficiency circuit and capacitor into the size and shape of a conventional spark plug. For the consumer, this is a plug and play product. Replace your current plug with Pulstar and immediately feel the benefits.

Q: Is special technician training required? If so, where can this training be obtained?

A: No special training is required for the consumer or the technician when the installation is for a factory stock vehicle. Customers with very high performance and racing applications are encouraged to call or email us for advice on how to tune to maximize the benefits of Pulstar spark plugs.

Q: What has been the response to your Refer-a-Friend promotion? How would you rate participation among professional repairers and DIYers at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show?

A: We have seen good results from the promotion. We expect to have close to 10,000 participants by the end of the promotion and have seen a lot of activity among members of automotive forums. Of course, our most successful demographic has been those heavily involved in social media.

Q: How did Al Unser Jr. become involved with the product line? How has he assisted in generating market interest?

A: Al was introduced to me by a mutual friend who is not only a fan of our product but uses it in all his vehicles. He suggested we get together to see if there was a mutual interest. Al was skeptical at first. Like most people he didn’t understand how a spark plug could improve a vehicle’s performance. But he is a genuinely nice guy, and we immediately hit it off. So he gave me the opportunity to explain the technology to him and to test it. He brought over his 2009 Chevrolet Suburban with the 5.3L V8 and we did two dyno tests, stock vs Pulstar. He was blown away that he had picked up five horsepower just from a spark plug change. He wanted to see more, and after driving through two tanks of gas he was pleased to find he had increased fuel economy by two MPG. His comment was that the engine was crisp, quick to respond to throttle and pulled harder when passing. Al is now our Performance Expert, not just a product spokesperson but also a member of our team.

Q: You’ve been in discussions with OEMs; how are these negotiations coming along?

A: Very well. OEMs are very reluctant to try new technology and are very thorough in their analysis. A product that has the effect on combustion that Pulstar does will see an enormous amount of testing before it is fully accepted and installed at the factory. We have a number of OEMs currently in that process.

Q: How would you assess the short- to long-term acceptance of the motoring public/commercial drivers regarding alternative-fueled engines?

A: This is a tough one. If the converters or the OEMs can make the transition to natural gas seamless it will be easier. And we help here considerably as natural gas is much more difficult to ignite and we solve that problem. But before that can occur the logistics of refueling must be solved. The BTU content of natural gas is about 22,000 BTU/lb. And it takes 5.56 pounds to equal the BTU content of one gallon of gasoline, which means driving range is reduced quite a bit so refuel stations are critical.

Q: What are some of the highlights, challenges and memories of your professional baseball career, especially your stint with the Cleveland Indians?

A: Biggest thrill: Walking into the Cleveland clubhouse and seeing a uniform and nice locker with my name on it.

Biggest letdown: The second day: “Now what?” It was a childhood dream realized and now I needed to set more goals.

Challenges: The move from AAA ball to the big leagues is a big one. All the players are great. I had to rethink my contribution to winning, which has carried through to corporate America.

For more information, visit www.pulstar.com.

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