Archive for May, 2009
Car Giants Seek To Increase Engine Power From Waste Heat
One might think that the steam engine is an outdated technology that had its heyday centuries ago but in fact steam is once again a hot topic with vehicle manufacturers. Indeed the next generation of hybrid cars and trucks may incorporate some form of steam power. Honda for example has just released details of a new prototype hybrid car that recharges its battery using a steam engine that exploits waste heat from the exhaust pipe.
Typical cars only convert about a quarter of the energy produced during combustion into work with the rest being lost as heat. Honda has managed to increase this efficiency by 4 to nearly 29 by using some of this lost heat to generate electricity.
Hondas heatrecovery system is based on the Rankine cycle which is also used in most steamdriven power plants. First heat from the car’s catalytic converter is used to boil water. The hightemperature steam 400500 C produced then turns an electric generator before a condenser finally cools the steam back into water.
According to Honda under normal driving conditions the steam system recovered three times as much electric power as the hybrid’s regenerative braking system. Unfortunately however the 4 improvement in overall vehicle efficiency that resulted is not high enough to warrant commercialization Honda claims.
Honda is not the only manufacturer interested in incorporating waste heat recovery into vehicle design. BMW for example is working on a steambased unit that generates additional mechanical power rather than electricity. In lab tests their socalled turbosteamer reduced fuel consumption by as much as 15.
It may be some time however before waste heat recovery reaches the mass market because typical car drivers would probably not make a big enough saving on fuel to justify the extra several thousand dollars that these systems would presumably add to the price of a vehicle.
But the situation is different for longhaul truckers who often spend over 100000 per year on fuel. Indeed several dieselengine manufacturers are testing ways of recycling lost heat with interest being driven by fuel prices and emissions reduction.
The engine maker Cummins Inc is also working on a Rankinecycle system that uses a lowboiling point organic fluid which they say performs better than other thermodynamic models such as the Stirling cycle or the gas turbine.
The Rankine cycle can convert up to 20 of the wasted heat into useful energy but dealing with the 80 that is not used poses a big challenge. Cummins Inc. plans to have a full working prototype by mid2009 and hope to make the system available to customers by 2013.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Bill Bailey is freelance writer living in the east of England. Bill specialises in writing articles on finance shopping cars computers and travel.
More of Bill’s articles can be found on http://www.schnafflehound.com
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About the author: Author is event transportation consultants for Vancouver Canada limousine servce and limo in whistler. You can collect more information at Silver Star Limo.
About the writer: Author is event transportation consultants for Vancouver Canada limousine service and limo in whistler. You can collect more information at Silver Star Limo.
Awards Given Out By Cars.com
The vehicles have been chosen. The votes have been cast. The total has been counted. And now the winners have been announced.
Cars.com is one of the most trusted online sites which allow users to learn more about vehicles auto parts tips techniques and trends in the auto industry. As a way of giving back the editors of the website decided to give awards to vehicles which have been popular and which are superb that they deserve accolades. The list of winners would also allow consumers to learn more about what are the best vehicles in the market and these winners have been carefully chosen by the editors of the web site.
Patrick Olsen is the managing editor for the site and he disclosed The Lifestyle Buying Guide and the Cars.com Lifestyle Awards recognize that different consumers need different things from their cars. Our Lifestyle Buying Guide lets shoppers search for cars across categories comparing everything from trucks and SUVs to minivans and sedans. With so many choices on todays market and more features and options to consider many consumers dont know whether they want an SUV a crossover or a sedan. Cars.com is providing them with the tools they need to crossshop the SUV against the minivan against the crossover.
The Lifestyle Awards winners for 2008 from Cars.com include the 2008 Mazda CX9 which took home the Family Car of the Year title. With large crossovers taking the place that used to belong to minivans the Mazda CX9 proves to be the best of the lot. It comes with a really good cabin and it has a really powerful engine that would allow the vehicle to speed to its destination despite having quite a number of cargo and passengers inside. The seats have also been made to be comfortable so as to have Mom having to deal less with whining children because they have gotten uncomfortable in the back.
Cars.com also did not choose vehicles just because they came with a good reputation. The editors did choose the vehicles as per reviews and tests and statistics that they have collected on the automobiles in the market. It seems that vehicles with Daihatsu parts have not been included in the list of winners for there are not any new Daihatsu vehicles in the market as of present. The 2008 Honda Accord did take home the Work Car of the Year title the 2008 BMW 335i Convertible was named the Play Car of the Year and the 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid was chosen as the EcoFriendly Car of the Year.
About the writer: Anthony Fontanelle is a 35yearold automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.