Author: Bret CahillBret Cahill Date: Jun 15, 2008 09:02
>> The first question in any efficiency improvement
>> claim is "where was the inefficiency in the first
>> place?"
>
>> The hard fact of life is that most of the fuel is
>> _already_ being burned in a well tuned vehicle's
>> cylinders.
>
> It is "just" a matter of having maximum pressure at mid stroke.
The only way to make significant improvements in efficiency of ICE is
to play with the thermo cycle itself, i. e., recuperated low pressure
ratio.
Use different machinery to compress the air and expand the gas and use
the exhaust to preheat the air after it is compressed but before it is
combusted in or before the expander.
The engine is considerably larger for the power than high compression
ratio but engine size is just not an issue in many applications, i.
e., ships. The cost of _bunker_ is the issue on ships.
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