Patent ID: 7826061

Claim:
A high-speed spectrographic sensor for internal combustion engines comprising: a plug receivable into a combustion chamber of an operating internal combustion engine; a light source providing a multifrequency light beam having a substantially continuous broad spectrum composed of simultaneously transmitted multiple frequencies of light with wavelengths less than 3000 nm each with an intensity; at least one fiber optic light guide held by the plug and receiving the multifrequency light beam from the source into the combustion chamber and communicating a spectrally modified multifrequency light beam out of the combustion chamber after interaction with combustion gases; and a spectroscope receiving a spectrally modified multifrequency light beam from the fiber optic to isolate intensities of individual light frequencies in a spectrum, the spectroscope including a computer executing a stored program to compare a spectrum of the multifrequency light beam from the light source and the spectrum of the spectrally modified multifrequency light beam to determine absorption of different light frequencies by combustion products in the combustion chamber.