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Powering Your Car with Waste Heat
MIT Technology Review ^ | Wednesday, May 25, 2011 | By Prachi Patel

Posted on 05/27/2011 12:06:51 PM PDT by Red Badger

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To: Red Badger
Bismuth telluride

That sounds like a ski resort that serves bad food.

21 posted on 05/27/2011 1:05:56 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Red Badger

That too!


22 posted on 05/27/2011 1:08:24 PM PDT by PA Engineer (SP12: Time to beat the swords of government tyranny into the plowshares of freedom.)
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To: Balding_Eagle

Can hardly wait to put a 2-ton Cogen plant where my alternator used to go on my half-ton truck.


23 posted on 05/27/2011 1:12:33 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Erasmus
When you say cooling system, do you mean as a source or a sink of the thermal energy?

Source -- though I'll grant that the temperature is much lower than at the exhaust. But the cooling system offers a more efficient gatherer of heat from the engine, than just gathering heat from the exhaust.

Depends on the goal, obviously. If you're just trying to use the combustion heat more efficiently, that's a different story.

I think use of heat pipes works well in that environment, though.

24 posted on 05/27/2011 1:12:39 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: r9etb

Then we can mount a cooling tower in the back, make chilled water and hot water for an air handler and control everything with pneumatic controls.


25 posted on 05/27/2011 1:15:24 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Paladin2

Looked at one, loved it.... but closest dealer is in Lubbock TX .....about 170 miles from me. Not a good thang for warranty work.

Love diesel, have 2 cummins doooges.....need a higher mpg commuter rig.

Thanks for yer time !


26 posted on 05/27/2011 1:25:24 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: Cvengr

Ten pounds wrapped around the catalytic converter would do.


27 posted on 05/27/2011 1:48:30 PM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
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To: Red Badger
cobalt arsenide compounds

I can see the sticker on the back of the car now.

'CAUTION..Do not place mouth on exhaust pipe or inhale the fumes.
Especially children under 12 and pregnant women.

28 posted on 05/27/2011 1:50:38 PM PDT by Vinnie
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To: Red_Devil 232
Who knew skutterudites are cheaper than tellurides?

Sometimes the are, sometimes they are not. It depends of where you buy the skutter. If you have a good source, usually on the black market, you can get the price down.

29 posted on 05/27/2011 2:40:26 PM PDT by Mind-numbed Robot (I retain the right to be inconsistent, contradictory and even flat-out wrong!)
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To: Red Badger

Grant magnet


30 posted on 05/27/2011 4:52:28 PM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. N.C. D.E. +12 ....( History is a process, not an event ))
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To: Red Badger
Waste gates, intercoolers, and design improvements have put the turbocharger far above the blower IMO. Blowers use to be the way but I think turbos have proven themselves to be the superior forced air induction system. I can't afford to put either on my hot rod though. :{

I think the trick to fuel economy is in aerodynamics and weight reduction. Thermocouples are interesting and i definitely approve of the R&D but when it gets right down to it, if you build a lighter more aerodynamic car, you will get better gas mileage. Much better. Case in point, my 400 hp corvette gets 28-30 MPG on the highway because it is light weight and extremely aerodynamic. If that big old V8 were replaced by a 150 hp inline four cylinder that weighed a hundred + pounds less, and the ginormous tires were replaced by standard economy car tires that weigh half as much, and the transmission were downgraded by another hundred pounds, I imagine I would be getting around 40+ mpg at 60 mph.

31 posted on 05/27/2011 5:33:47 PM PDT by RC one (DO NOT RAISE THE DEBT LIMIT!)
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To: Slump Tester

They could just put a steam boiler out back in a trailer to power the electric motors.(sarcasm off)
I think you could build a real “flux capacitor” that would press oil out of organic material, use the oil in a(bio)diesel engine and save the pressed organic material for heating and cooling your home. That would be a lot cheaper and less expensive. We could call it “grass and go”. It would sure help the american farmer, as they could produce any oil bearing seeds and save on fertilizer and water.


32 posted on 05/28/2011 6:55:07 AM PDT by Rocketwolf68 (Bring back the crusades)
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To: r9etb

This makes me wonder if developements in this type of technology may modify/improve the energy contributions of something as simple as wood stoves. Jotul ought to be at least examining this.


33 posted on 05/30/2011 7:43:14 AM PDT by MSF BU (YR'S Please Support our troops: JOIN THEM!)
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