Hydrogen fuel cell car! HAHA!

Discussion in 'The Bucket' started by Ryland, May 4, 2011.

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  1. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Internal combustion engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





    Energy efficiency

    Once ignited and burnt, the combustion products—hot gases—have more available thermal energy than the original compressed fuel-air mixture (which had higher chemical energy). The available energy is manifested as high temperature and pressure that can be translated into work by the engine. In a reciprocating engine, the high-pressure gases inside the cylinders drive the engine's pistons.
    Once the available energy has been removed, the remaining hot gases are vented (often by opening a valve or exposing the exhaust outlet) and this allows the piston to return to its previous position (top dead center, or TDC). The piston can then proceed to the next phase of its cycle, which varies between engines. Any heat that isn't translated into work is normally considered a waste product and is removed from the engine either by an air or liquid cooling system.
    Engine efficiency can be discussed in a number of ways but it usually involves a comparison of the total chemical energy in the fuels, and the useful energy extracted from the fuels in the form of kinetic energy. The most fundamental and abstract discussion of engine efficiency is the thermodynamic limit for extracting energy from the fuel defined by a thermodynamic cycle. The most comprehensive is the empirical fuel efficiency of the total engine system for accomplishing a desired task; for example, the miles per gallon accumulated.
    Internal combustion engines are primarily heat engines and as such the phenomenon that limits their efficiency is described by thermodynamic cycles. None of these cycles exceed the limit defined by the Carnot cycle which states that the overall efficiency is dictated by the difference between the lower and upper operating temperatures of the engine. A terrestrial engine is usually and fundamentally limited by the upper thermal stability derived from the material used to make up the engine. All metals and alloys eventually melt or decompose and there is significant researching into ceramic materials that can be made with higher thermal stabilities and desirable structural properties. Higher thermal stability allows for greater temperature difference between the lower and upper operating temperatures—thus greater thermodynamic efficiency.
    The thermodynamic limits assume that the engine is operating in ideal conditions: a frictionless world, ideal gases, perfect insulators, and operation at infinite time. The real world is substantially more complex and all the complexities reduce the efficiency. In addition, real engines run best at specific loads and rates as described by their power band. For example, a car cruising on a highway is usually operating significantly below its ideal load, because the engine is designed for the higher loads desired for rapid acceleration. The applications of engines are used as contributed drag on the total system reducing overall efficiency, such as wind resistance designs for vehicles. These and many other losses result in an engine's real-world fuel economy that is usually measured in the units of miles per gallon (or fuel consumption in liters per 100 kilometers) for automobiles. The miles in miles per gallon represents a meaningful amount of work and the volume of hydrocarbon implies a standard energy content.
    Most steel engines have a thermodynamic limit of 37%. Even when aided with turbochargers and stock efficiency aids, most engines retain an average efficiency of about 18%-20%.[11][12] Rocket engine efficiencies are better still, up to 70%, because they combust at very high temperatures and pressures and are able to have very high expansion ratios.[13]
    There are many inventions concerned with increasing the efficiency of IC engines. In general, practical engines are always compromised by trade-offs between different properties such as efficiency, weight, power, heat, response, exhaust emissions, or noise. Sometimes economy also plays a role in not only the cost of manufacturing the engine itself, but also manufacturing and distributing the fuel. Increasing the engine's efficiency brings better fuel economy but only if the fuel cost per energy content is the same.
     
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  3. Ryland

    Ryland Stylophora

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    Powerman I said I can get 20 mpg on good days but it is not consistent. My (low tech) method of testing this is simply draining the fuel tank measuring out some gas and then driving it. Again I want to say that I am not an engineer nor a scientist. It was an idea and I ran with it. I have good results. My friend has good results. Thousands of people on the net claim to have good results. Are we all just a bunch of liars or are we actually getting something out of a reaction the nay sayers claim is impossible? The debate rages on.
     
  4. leighton1245

    leighton1245 Horrid Stonefish

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    So you drain the fuel out of the tank and then measure out how much and what kind of fuel octane wise?

    Do you also have the readings of how your car was running before and after running your test, even just written out on a piece of notebook paper that are notes?
     
  5. Ryland

    Ryland Stylophora

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    Just regular unleaded 88 or 89 octane I believe. No ethanol added. I live in Iowa and they add ethanol to everything so I go to Missouri to get my gas. 2 gallons. I then simply drive until the car begins to stall. Mix of city and highway driving. Kind of hard on the injectors but hey it works.
     
  6. Ryland

    Ryland Stylophora

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    Remember that switch in the car I showed the picture of? That shuts the system off if I desire. I can drive either way at the flip of the switch. So to answer your question the answer is yes. Now to be more specific....on AVERAGE when testing my fuel range on this vehicle I see approximately 6 mpg better with the fuel cell on than without. It can and will vary greatly. However, the average with the fuel cell on never drops below the mileage I have without the system running. So with the system on I see improvements no matter what.
     
  7. leighton1245

    leighton1245 Horrid Stonefish

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    I used to live in missouri and they add ethanol to all there fuel also but thats out as long as you test your fuel to make sure you get a accurate reading that its actually the same ocatane every time? Like when you get it from the pump before you dump it in your car. Now the only issue with the above i can see is the testing isnt being done accuratly "no controls".

    You say a mix of city and highway driving what times do you normally test and do you use a few different roads?

    Lets forget about all the stuff thats in the pictures for a min because im sure that we all understand you have a switch and container of some kind and how its said to works.

    Do you have a flow meter(didnt see it pictured) if so how much is flowing per CC?

    How did you test to ensure that what is coming out is truly gas hydrogen?

    I see that you said you get 6mpg more with your device on so what does your air to fuel raito look like when its on vs off?

    Thanks for answering the above also :)
     
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  9. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Oh no... Nobody said lying. Unfortuately, we can't always rely on perception. I believe you believe. But physics disagrees so we need to figure it out. You can't really do that without controlled testing.
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  10. Ryland

    Ryland Stylophora

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    I dont believe Benjamin Franklin had a control standing in that thunderstorm with a kite and some string.
     
  11. blackraven1425

    blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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    Funny you mention that, because electricity really wasn't useful for another 150 years.
     
  12. malac0da13

    malac0da13 Torch Coral

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    Franklyn wasn't actually flying the kite either...he wasn't that stupid.

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