Gas mileage and headers

[Chris Bennight]

|.  Fuels just carry carbons and air
| oxygen.  The right carbon to oxygen ratio is the most important thing in IC
| engines, A/F ratios are an easier way to look at it, but it still comes
| down to carbon balancing and stoichiometry.  Which brings us back to things
| like heat of combustion, cylinder pressures, and torque.


   But oxygen is the limiting factor in our type of engine.  You can always spray
in more of whatever fuel you have  - to get more "carbons" - but if you don't
have the oxygen to  oxidize the carbon's then it doesn't matter.   If you really
want to quantify it the best way would probably be to divide the heat of combustion
by the number of oxygen's required  (for same number of moles  of hydrocarbon/alchohol).  

  You can make more power with alchohol, but it takes proportionally MUCH more
alchohol than gasoline. 


  Chris Bennight

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