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#1 2005-01-24 21:19:27

ERRORIST
Member
From: OXFORD ALABAMA
Registered: 2004-01-28
Posts: 1,182

Re: Combined cycle automobile?

Why not use the wasted heat energy of the internal combustion engine to make steam so it can run a steam turbine that is coupled to the transmission of your car? You would get the explosive force of the fuel along with the heat to do the work of moving the car at the same time.

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#2 2005-01-24 21:34:35

Euler
Member
From: Corvallis, OR
Registered: 2003-02-06
Posts: 922

Re: Combined cycle automobile?

It would be big, heavy, and expensive.

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#3 2005-01-24 21:43:57

ERRORIST
Member
From: OXFORD ALABAMA
Registered: 2004-01-28
Posts: 1,182

Re: Combined cycle automobile?

It would be big, heavy, and expensive.

It would add about 150 lbs to the weight of the car. However, it would get better fuel mileage.

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#4 2005-01-24 22:27:03

Euler
Member
From: Corvallis, OR
Registered: 2003-02-06
Posts: 922

Re: Combined cycle automobile?

It won't improve the gas mileage very much because the engine is not really that hot, and most of the waste heat will escape in other directions.  The gas mileage might actually get worse due to the extra weight.

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#5 2005-01-25 04:46:45

ERRORIST
Member
From: OXFORD ALABAMA
Registered: 2004-01-28
Posts: 1,182

Re: Combined cycle automobile?

The exhaust could superheat the engine coolant and run the turbine. After it has done the work it could be condensed and returned back to the radiator.

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#6 2005-01-25 06:14:32

Cobra Commander
Member
From: The outskirts of Detroit.
Registered: 2002-04-09
Posts: 3,039

Re: Combined cycle automobile?

Weight problems and the dubious nature of the idea aside, that heat you want to harness from the engine isn't always "waste" to begin with.

Spend a winter in the northern Midwest and you'll know what I'm talking about.  :;):


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

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