Axial Flow Supercharger
#2976
rock-->o<--hard place
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Oh, I didn't say I necessarily endorsed the idea -- just that when the geeks at a company like BMW release information about something, it's worth adding to the mix. Anyway, here's the gear in good ol' Popular Science
#2977
that is the stupidest thing i have ever seen. the numbers seem good but i would never own that. to superheat steam that hot you would have to be at a pretty high pressure. i can see it now... you get in an accident and the steam pipe under the floor board ruptures and you look down at your severed leg but at least your not bleeding to death cause its already cauterised, or your in an accident and steam fills the interior but you cant move cause your doors pressed up against your leg, although the worst is the thought of a family member being steamed like a lobster.
i apologize for the morbid pictures but that is not something that should be running throughout the body of a car.
i apologize for the morbid pictures but that is not something that should be running throughout the body of a car.
#2981
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BMW's Hybrid Vision: Popsci.com
Originally Posted by timbo
I read somewhere that BMW is working on a steam driven supercharger, with the steam a by-product of catalytic converter heat (insert detail). Food for thought
#2982
And I'm not so sure this new-fangled "gasoline" stuff should be allowed for use in motorcars. What if the carriage is involved in a prang-up and one of the supply lines ruptures and sprays the sinister stuff into the passenger compartment? Internal combustion becomes external! Think of the conflagration!
-Kabong
-Kabong
#2983
Originally Posted by Richard Paul
Let's look at this idea. First you have a water tank then pump it through a boiler/heatexchanger that makes it into steam. Then through a turbine that creates rotation and couples to the input on the supercharger. Some gearing may be required here.
then recapture the condensation and return it back to the tank.
Without going into the heatexchange itself I think we have enough hardware to make Rube Goldburg happy.
Steam is very dangerous stuff and I doubt you will ever get the feds to allow it.
If BMW is really working on this then you know why the charge so much for their cars.
then recapture the condensation and return it back to the tank.
Without going into the heatexchange itself I think we have enough hardware to make Rube Goldburg happy.
Steam is very dangerous stuff and I doubt you will ever get the feds to allow it.
If BMW is really working on this then you know why the charge so much for their cars.
#2984
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Go do a search for Bruce Crower and his 6 stroke project. That is an interesting use of steam. I find BMW's method to be a waste of complexity and weight.
Edit: Here it is:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...THISWEEKSISSUE
Edit: Here it is:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...THISWEEKSISSUE
#2985
Gotta Love Two Strokes
Originally Posted by MPG > HP
both in hydrogen and gas fueled modes, might we see from your device? Curiouser and curiouser!
Alcohol is a mutch better alternative than hydrogen, but there is not enough corn in the world to make enough alcohol, and at current fuel prices it costs way too much to produce. Now if we used something with much more inherent energy stores that grows fast such as sugar cane and sugar beets etc. it may make a decent alternative. I would be much more inclined to burn alcohol (with a trace fuel to be able to see it burn) than ever run something like hydrogen which is extremly dangerous not so much by the flamability but rather by the transportation, delivery and storage of a highly compressed explosive.
the idea would be electric cars running on huge non chemical (think capacitor) storage mediums that are recharged with solar panels, geothermal and linear flow hydroelectric turbines.
#2986
The BMW method is pretty complex, but it's at least a closed system.
And it's true a rotary engine due to its inefficiency and hotter exhaust gas would benefit from BMW's turbosteamer more than a conventional engine.
My question would why don't they use to turbosteamer to run a generator and store the energy in a battery instead of a boiler (which might explode). This would make the system more flexible and probably less dangerous.
Besides, you'd have enough electric energy on tap to drive an electric supercharger or a flywheel motor. For free.
And it's true a rotary engine due to its inefficiency and hotter exhaust gas would benefit from BMW's turbosteamer more than a conventional engine.
My question would why don't they use to turbosteamer to run a generator and store the energy in a battery instead of a boiler (which might explode). This would make the system more flexible and probably less dangerous.
Besides, you'd have enough electric energy on tap to drive an electric supercharger or a flywheel motor. For free.
#2987
Originally Posted by Hymee
Compared to the already dangerous things going on in a motor vehicle already, I don't see why it is so stupid. You need to have ideas and innovate, else we wouldn't be where we are today.
#2988
Originally Posted by patrick_andraste
it takes more energy to create the hydrogen than you realise from using the hydrogen in a vehicle.
Alcohol is a mutch better alternative than hydrogen, but there is not enough corn in the world to make enough alcohol, and at current fuel prices it costs way too much to produce. Now if we used something with much more inherent energy stores that grows fast such as sugar cane and sugar beets etc. it may make a decent alternative. I would be much more inclined to burn alcohol (with a trace fuel to be able to see it burn) than ever run something like hydrogen which is extremly dangerous not so much by the flamability but rather by the transportation, delivery and storage of a highly compressed explosive.
the idea would be electric cars running on huge non chemical (think capacitor) storage mediums that are recharged with solar panels, geothermal and linear flow hydroelectric turbines.
Alcohol is a mutch better alternative than hydrogen, but there is not enough corn in the world to make enough alcohol, and at current fuel prices it costs way too much to produce. Now if we used something with much more inherent energy stores that grows fast such as sugar cane and sugar beets etc. it may make a decent alternative. I would be much more inclined to burn alcohol (with a trace fuel to be able to see it burn) than ever run something like hydrogen which is extremly dangerous not so much by the flamability but rather by the transportation, delivery and storage of a highly compressed explosive.
the idea would be electric cars running on huge non chemical (think capacitor) storage mediums that are recharged with solar panels, geothermal and linear flow hydroelectric turbines.
There are also a lot of unused sugar fields in Hawaii. Their sugar export has gone bankrupt and they no longer have any active mills.
I posted a link in another thread (and I think mentioned it in this thread which is an abyss where you'll spend a long time searching for what was said ) about how you can harvest hydrogen from algae.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,54456,00.html
#2989
Gotta Love Two Strokes
in the midwest you can buy gasohol, 80% alcohol, 20% gasoline at pumps.
out here on the left coast no such luck. I can by ethanol and methanol at Nelson Petoleum in 5 gallon/55 gallon drums, but it is very expensive, as in true cost, not gummint subsidised.
of course I am willing to pay $5+ a gallon for automotive fuel, if it was of reliable quality, I currently am spending $10.09 per gallon for what I run in my motorcycles and I have to drive 20 miles to get it, transport it, and essentially fuel up only at home.
out here on the left coast no such luck. I can by ethanol and methanol at Nelson Petoleum in 5 gallon/55 gallon drums, but it is very expensive, as in true cost, not gummint subsidised.
of course I am willing to pay $5+ a gallon for automotive fuel, if it was of reliable quality, I currently am spending $10.09 per gallon for what I run in my motorcycles and I have to drive 20 miles to get it, transport it, and essentially fuel up only at home.
#2990
As long as we're derailing about waste heat recovery, here is yet another method:
http://www.powerchips.gi/
IF this pans out, it would probably be a far better solution than the BMW turbosteamer or even the Crower engine. Just wrap these around your exhaust and radiator and have them charge a battery. Have a small rotary providing power from gasoline, and an electric motor for converting otherwise wasted heat into low end grunt.
http://www.powerchips.gi/
The projected Carnot efficiency should be 70%-80%, which compares to a 15%-30% Carnot efficiency of today's internal combustion motors and turbines.
IF this pans out, it would probably be a far better solution than the BMW turbosteamer or even the Crower engine. Just wrap these around your exhaust and radiator and have them charge a battery. Have a small rotary providing power from gasoline, and an electric motor for converting otherwise wasted heat into low end grunt.
Last edited by BaronVonBigmeat; 03-29-2006 at 01:36 PM.
#2991
rock-->o<--hard place
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Boy, I started quite a tangent here -- just another on the path tracking RP's progress
Reminds me of an airline analyst I heard a while back, who was lamenting the fact that in aggregate, all the world's airlines are seriously bankrupt. He said something like "if we'd have know this was going to happen back then, you would have gone out and shot Orville and Wilbur down!!"
RG, I like the Crower 6 cycle concept. However, the (sad) reality is most innovation is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Ford got behind the Sarich orbital engine concept 30 years ago, but it's still languishing. Mazda is really the only company that has stayed with a 'different' approach, but the challenge is how to make the rotary more powerful and efficient, so perhaps developments like axial flow s/c and closed system co-generative power might be key to that....which sorta brings us ...back...on...topic
Originally Posted by Photic
Yeah they said the Wright brothers were crazy too, and look how their contraption turned out.
RG, I like the Crower 6 cycle concept. However, the (sad) reality is most innovation is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Ford got behind the Sarich orbital engine concept 30 years ago, but it's still languishing. Mazda is really the only company that has stayed with a 'different' approach, but the challenge is how to make the rotary more powerful and efficient, so perhaps developments like axial flow s/c and closed system co-generative power might be key to that....which sorta brings us ...back...on...topic
#2994
A DIG engine for a rotary should help the low end a little bit, and if they kept the other technologies (phased injectors and multiple intake lengths) it would keep the flat torque curve.
I was just wondering if you could use water injection on the Axial Flow? I know that you can't really use them on centrifugals, and this seems more like that than a screw or roots. I wouldn't use it if I got one, but it could be a good way to get a little more power and detonation resistance.
I was just wondering if you could use water injection on the Axial Flow? I know that you can't really use them on centrifugals, and this seems more like that than a screw or roots. I wouldn't use it if I got one, but it could be a good way to get a little more power and detonation resistance.