OT BMW introduces steam-powered hybrid car concept

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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wondering how this steam+combustion engine concept can be applied to motive power

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4936/

BMW unveils the turbosteamer concept

December 14, 2005 A large percentage of the energy released when petroleum is burned disappears out the exhaust system as heat. This has always been the case but the amount of energy released looks set to be cut by more than 80% thanks to a new system devised by BMW. BMW’s announcement of the new technology is somewhat of a technological bombshell as it adds yet another form of hybrid automobile – a turbosteamer. The concept uses energy from the exhaust gasses of the traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to power a steam engine which also contributes power to the automobile – an overall 15 per cent improvement for the combined drive system. Even bigger news is that the drive has been designed so that it can be installed in existing model series – meaning that every model in the BMW range could become 15% more efficient overnight if the company chose to make the reduced consumption accessible to as many people as possible.

Combining the innovative assistance drive with a 1.8 litre BMW four-cylinder engine on the test rig reduced consumption by up to 15 percent and generated 10 kilowatts more power and 20 Nm more torque. This increased power and efficiency comes for, well, … nothing. The energy is extracted exclusively from the heat in the exhaust gases and cooling water so it is essentially a quantum leap in efficiency.

The Turbosteamer is based on the same principle of the steam engine: liquid is heated to form steam in two circuits and this is used to power the engine. The primary energy supplier is the high-temperature circuit which uses exhaust heat from the internal combustion engine as an energy source via heat exchangers. More than 80 percent of the heat energy contained in the exhaust gases is recycled using this technology. The steam is then conducted directly into an expansion unit link

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Lynn

Thanks for posting the link. Always like when the topic starter posts a link!

3

it seems like a very logical idea as most engine colant is already at 200F and the exhaust heat should push it the rest of the way. There is no reason if the concept would work with deisel engines the the railroads would not be interested in reducing fuel cost by 15%. I believe fuel is one of there largest daily expenses. [2c]

4

This sounds like a great idea in theory, let’s see how well it holds up in the real world. It also has the potential to be a real maintenance nightmare like D&H 1403.

5

This would provide a substantial boost to long distance, highway speed commutors. The short coming of today’s commercially available hybrids is that they use the energy generated by applying the brakes. This energy would normally be dissappated to the atmosphere as heat. This is why the hybrids get better gas mileage in the city than on the highway. City driiving is typical short diatances. That is why it takes such a long time to actually achieve any real savings from the hybrid if they occur at all.
A highway hybrid would rack up miles quickly and realize savings much sooner. HIghway mileage is always (except for current hibrids) higher than city mileage. Increasing this number by 15% results in a significantly higher increase in gas mileage.