Did Ford-Gov-Big Oil kill steamers 100 yrs ago for greed?

[X00013]

Whats your thots brianiacs? Can the deisel powering your car compare to the furnace in your home?

[Cloxxki]

Well, steam did have a few downsides, of course. Overheating, limited fuel capacity, etc.

How would you design a steam engine from transport, 2010 A.D.? Which fuel, and which nice twists to the steam engine design? If we can make a superior steam engine today over diesel (even the old ones), we're building a case for the situation of a century ago.

For progress, we'd be looking at:
- renewable fuel source (not something that grows, please)
- clean(er) exhaust gasses
- few parts (solid state where possible?)
- durability and ease of operation, low maintenance
- fuel economy, in cost per kWh, and
- building costs : simple, basic parts.

To really punch the market in the face with a steam engine, you'll need:
- a unit that fits in millions of existing cars, or popular dimension still being produced chassis
- maximum 150kg in fuel system
- around 70-120kW peak output, and efficient at 20-35kW, and of course idle.

Pro would be:
- charging system (heating boiler?) when parked (on solar, wind power)
- silent operation

Are there easy upgrades today to the basic steam designs that powered the world? More efficient drive train systems, alternative fuels, materials that are safer at high pressure, etc?

[craZy]

The old science show "Beyond 2000" had an episode on of a guy that had built a modern steam car. (looked on net cudn`t find episode) The inventor said it only took short time frame for warm up, got incredible fuel mileage, and fewer moving parts.(no need for transmission) Host of the show was impressed by the car, so was I.  He was unable to get tagged and titled due to excessive steam from under car. Didn`t seem so much when it was driving. It was a 3 cylinder motor, direct drive, no shifting no idling when stopped. new design for heating only small amounts of water as needed for power. To bad it was never completed and manufactured. Did anyone here remember that show?

[pese]

I think I have read that
It had steam-powered trucks to which diesel consumption amounted to heat 3 liters per 100 km (?)
Who knows what about them?

GP

www.alt-nrg.de/pppp (Kink collection engl/germ(

[X00013]

Takn from wiki.  The largest internal combustion engines in the world are two-stroke diesels, used in some locomotives and large ships. They use forced induction (similar to super-charging) to scavenge the cylinders; an example of this type of motor is the Wartsila-Sulzer turbocharged two-stroke diesel as used in large container ships. It is the most efficient and powerful internal combustion engine in the world with over 50% thermal efficiency.[5][6][7][8][9]  For comparison, the most efficient small four-stroke motors are around 43% thermal efficiency (SAE 900648); size is an advantage for efficiency  due to the increase in the ratio of volume to surface area.

Combine that with this concerning steam engines, The efficiency of an engine can be calculated by dividing the energy output of mechanical work that the engine produces by the energy input to the engine by the burning fuel.

No heat engine can be more efficient than the Carnot cycle, in which heat is moved from a high temperature reservoir to one at a low temperature, and the efficiency depends on the temperature difference. For the greatest efficiency, steam engines should be operated at the highest steam temperature possible (superheated steam), and release the waste heat at the lowest temperature possible.

In practice, a steam engine exhausting the steam to atmosphere will typically have an efficiency (including the boiler) in the range of 1% to 10%, but with the addition of a condenser and multiple expansion, it may be greatly improved to 25% or better.

A megawatt electrical power station with steam reheat, economizer etc. will achieve up to 50% thermal efficiency.[19]

It is also possible to capture the waste heat using cogeneration in which the waste heat is used for heating a lower boiling point working fluid or as a heat source for district heating via saturated low pressure steam. By this means it is possible to use as much as 85-90% of the input energy.

and with that said Ford and Big Oil have been fucking mother Earth since day one ( and or abouts 1912)