Back To The Future: Engine Technology

[Msterbeau]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive....html?series=19

[ttogreh]

You mean it's a diesel engine that uses gasoline?

Why not use this ALONG with alternative fuels and energy saving technologies, like that steam cogeneration thing?

[Head Wreck]

diesel engines get very warm mate.

i had a 1980 datsun that did 50mpg on petrol. bloody shame it went as it did, was showroom condtion... :(

[ttogreh]

Wouldn't the fact that diesel engines get warm be better for steam cogeneration?

[Head Wreck]

possibly, but you run the risk of overcooling the engine, but on the flipside, modern direct injection engines rarely use thier glowplugs nowerdays

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

They shouldn't use their glow-plugs unless they are starting up.

Diesel's require shit loads of heat and pressure to ignite the fuel. Heat, is energy loss. Diesel's are NOT energy efficient.

[ttogreh]

Well, that depends on your definition of "efficient", Gaf. I mean, they are most certainly more efficient at supplying torque. If that were not the case, Big Rigs would all be gas, right? Moreover, they are more tolerant of different fuel types. Any diesel engine with modern fuel lines and seals can run on waste vegetable oil, which aside for road taxes, can be acquired for free. Since vegetable oil in the form of algae grown in hydroponic rigs on un-tillable land can theoretically produce enough fuel to replace ALL domestic consumption needs, one can be forgiven if one thinks a diesel engine is more "efficient" than a gas engine.

Hey, have you read about the experiments with coal plant flue gas being fed to algae?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

1/8 of the energy generated is used for torque. The rest is lost/used as heat. People seem to forget the most important thing fuel does when it enters a engine... it cools it. If not for the cooling properties of the fuel.. engines would melt within mintues of firing up.

I had not read about that... got a link?

[ttogreh]

Well, it's from 2006, so it may be a dead-end technology, but here it is...

[Head Wreck]

indeed gaf, the plugs are used for starting up, but thr recent high pressure direct injection engines i've been using rarely use them, only occasionaly when the bonnet ("hood") is buried under snow all night. i've rather smitten by the peugeot HDi series tbh, the 110bhp 2 litres are not new (bout 8 years now iirc) but the emmisions testing machines still have trouble detecting that the engine is on

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Well, it's from 2006, so it may be a dead-end technology, but here it is...

Very cool. I have read about using algea to create fuels... but not this particualr technology... hrmmm.. perhaps they are still searching for the right algea.