Math Question

[neilaura at aceweb.net]

DI>Yes, and the key phrase is 'to an extent'.  There is still a lot of waste
DI>heat out the tail pipe and in the radiator and etc.  A turbo is a step in
DI>the right direction but there are still a lot of BTUs being 'wasted'.

DI>John

DI>On Wed, 18 Sep 1996, Mark Pitts wrote:

DI>> Surly that is effectively what a turbo does to an extent, esp. in diesels
DI>>
DI>> Mark
DI>>
DI>> ----------
DI>> From:  John Napoli[SMTP:jgn at li.net]
DI>> Sent:  Tuesday, September 17, 1996 11:15 PM
DI>> To:  diy_efi at coulomb.eng.ohio-state.edu
DI>> Subject:  Re: Math Question
DI>>
DI>> This issue of thermodynamic efficiency is one of my hot points (ouch).
DI>>
DI>> Fossil fuel plants use every trick in the book to recapture all the
DI>> 'waste' BTUs that they can.  If you neglect the power used to run their
DI>> pollution devices (a parasitic loss), their overall efficiency is pretty
DI>> good - I recall numbers in the mid-40s.
DI>>
DI>> Our gasoline engines in our cars do nothing to utilize the energy in the
DI>> waste heat.  Arre they 10%? 20% efficient overall?  I doubt 20% but lets
DI>> go with that number.
DI>>
DI>> If we were able to utilize a third of the waste heat, wouldn't that make a
DI>> big difference?  Instead of raising CAFE with smaller and lighter cars, we
DI>> would raise it by being more efficient.  I doubt that all the EFI software
DI>> in the world will make much more MPG than we see right now.  I would like
DI>> to see something intelligent about using the waste heat.
DI>>
DI>> John
DI>>
DI>>
DI>> I once read an article (I forget where) regarding a company that was using
superheated steam, made by wrapping copper pipe around the header, to drive a
small turbine, which was used to run the air conditioning and the alternator.
This obviously relieved the engine of these power sucking accessories, and
indirectly raised the efficiency. I don't know if any further research was done,
but it seemed like a practical idea.

Neil Powell  Neilaura at aceweb.net
DI>>
DI>>


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