Alternative engines

[Greg Hermann]

>On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Kurek, Larry wrote:
>
>> > Chrysler came out with a turbine powered car in 1962 or
>> > 1963... never made
>> > it into production and the test drivers said it took forever
>> > to get up to
>> > highway speed... Once it got up there though, they said it
>> > would accelerate
>> > pretty well.
>>
>> Huh? How does it accelerate if it has no torque? Maybe they just didn't gear
>> it correctly. Maybe a CVT type of transmission is needed to keep the rpm up
>> and multiply the torque accordingly. With electronic controls, it would be
>> an interesting project...run the turbine at a constant speed, and do all of
>> the throttle control/etc off the trans...hmmm..
>>
>The problem is that the gearing would need to horribly high to make it
>work when the car was moving really slow, now if you made it hybrid
>vehicle (motor/generater set with turbine running the generator) it
>could probably be made to work, it just may not be cost effective.
>
>The M1 tanks use turbins for power, and they are quite loud, but I
>have been told that they are quieter that the diesels the previous
>generation used at full bore.  I don't know how they made them work
>in a tank and solved these problems.

Hydrostatic transmissions?? (Turbine at constant speed.)

Greg
>
>				Roger