Alternative fuels...how much longer

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

You are absolutely right the block is wasting much of the heat produced. I've been thinking that I should route the exhaust steam through the water jacket and install a block preheat I imagine this would help at that end, or use the water jacket as a preheat (with a block heater or two) before injecting the water into the pre-combustion chamber. (the latter would probably better expedite steam production... I think...)

 

Another problem is that I'm trying to get that heat exclusively from the glow plugs (I'm shooting for water injection with steam production occuring within the pre-combustion chambers, apparently a tall order ever with the largest glow plugs I could get my hands on. The motor is a 1.6 rabit diesel but it's sporting 7.2L plugs and it took alot to stuff them in).

 

Also the valve timing is giving me grief. As best I can figure I either need more lobes on the cam 180deg off (easily remedied with a litttle welding and grinding), a one to one cam gear setup, both, or god knows what to eliminate the compression stroke. Using diesel it's necessary, with steam all it does is hinder rotation.

Very frustrating!!!!!!!

[Boerseun]

No wonder the thing turns so slow!

 

Using the glow-plug as your sole source of heat to convert the water into steam, will use much, much more power that the engine will produce!

 

You'll need a big boiler with a good heat source, with your steam pipes running into the diesel's intake valves.

 

I'm actually quite impressed that you got it to turn at all! :(

What did you do, connect your glow-plugs to the mains?

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

what the heck is this >>>> I'll see you at the Braai!

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

I'm not sure what you mean by "the mains" but my power sourec is a lincoln invertec 350 mp running dc+ in gmaw mode running 18v 95a and I'll admit that I manually "helped" the exhaust valves with a pry bar on the comp stroke. (the intakes were rigged shut)

[Boerseun]

what the heck is this >>>> I'll see you at the Braai!

'Braai' is Afrikaans for a barbeque...:( only a much more fun barbeque...

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

OOOOOOoh! cool beans!:(

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

It has just dawned on me....I've been approaching this project all wrong.

I need one to one on the cam with both the intake valves and the exhaust valves opperating in sinc!!!!!!!!!!!! Open at the bottom of each stroke!!!!!!

with some sort of steam heat reclaim tank w/a propane burner under it(now where did I put that turkey deep frier) feeding back to the injection pump

this setup might after a good preheat just get me up to 1 rpm maybe more!:(

 

yup definitly helps to get input from others! thanx!

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Incedently the only goal of this project is to prove to myself that it can or cant be done. Even if I only succeed in getting it to produce enough power to rotate at a reasonably steady pace (60 rpm would be awsome!!! :( ) I will consider it a success and worth trying to further improve upon!! ( ie. waste more time amusing myself fiddeling with it, and shooting for the main goal which is trying to get it to work using only glow plugs or modified plugs that the water has to pass through to reach the cylinder)

[P-man]

I just want to say two things. Don't diss fuel cells and hydrogen is gonna be the fuel of the future.

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

WOA WOA WOA!

 

Thar ill be no disn'n of ny fuel sarces eer, dis s a hapy mjkal place ware all powr sarcs ar wlkum!:surprise: :gift: :cup: :cup: :cup: :hihi: :hihi:

 

deysagot dem fule sells wit da bakteeryas nside dem now! an reely nifty @#$*! likes dat! an dats reely cule!! b Isa trian to cumbine ma luv fer alt-fule

wit ma luv fer ol-tahmey-tings!

 

check this thread from clay out!

Microbial Fuel Cell: High Yield Hydrogen Source and Wastewater Cleaner

 

 

 

Now having let him say his piece.^

This thread/post whatever it is is open to discussion of the meritts of all alt fuel sources-solar, E.M.F. , fuel cells, bio-fuels, methane, hydrogen, water, alcahol, nuke, but primarily I started this to focus on renewable, and infinitly available sources (like solar, radio freq energy and other EMF) as continued

use of any "consumed"* fuel source will eventually lead to the same point we

are at right now with petroleum.

 

* any fuel source that is burned or chemically reacted to produce energy.

ex. fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity with water and heat as waste products. The h and o2 likely came from water but it's a sure bet that the amount of water used to make them exceeds the amount of water that the fuel cell produces. Multiply that by millions of cunsumers

and consumption becomes an issue as there is even a limit to how much water that can be used as fuel.

[P-man]

What exactly were you trying to say?

[tarak]

I think alternative fuels are necessary for two basic reasons

1) Depleting fossil fuel(natural) resources

2) Search for a environmetally friendly and sustainable energy sources.

There are other very important associated issues like markets and economics/geopolitical reasons/science and technology developments/energy delivery and efficiency etc..

There are many like solar power,fuel cells,hydrogen,biodiesel,methanol,ethanol,electricity,pseries etc...

I feel that there should be a concerted global action to shift towards sustainable recyclable clean fuels for the future.

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Absholutly! Alt.fuels/power sources are very much a must and are long overdue!

 

. Rudolph Diesel ran his engine at the 1900 World's Fair on pure peanut oil.

 

Alcahol fuel has been in use at race tracks around the globe for longer than I've been on this earth and yet it still hasen't found it's way to the pump for mass consumption, Ferdinand Porsche built his electric/petrol

hybrid long before his work on the VW bettle (interestinlgly auto-manufacturers are touting this as new a new concept in automotive tech.).

 

During WW2 VW

made vehicles that refined wood into (either "swamp gas" or alcahol I'm not sure which) fuel for their engine, plus some of the earliest diesels used veggie based fuel. And yet we are still burning petrol. It's time for a change!!!

 

But the next big thing in fuels needs to be absolutly renewable. All resources are finite, some more than others.

[P-man]

Go Go Fuel Cells!

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity with water and heat as waste products.

 

The h and o2 likely come from water and it's a sure bet that the amount of water used to make them exceeds the amount of water that the fuel cell produces.

 

Multiply that by millions of cunsumers

and consumption becomes an issue as there is even a limit to how much water that can be used as fuel.

 

All things on this earth are finite!

 

And yes I'll admit fuel cells are a good start in our move to more environmentaly friendly power.

[arkain101]

This is my area of expertise.

 

Alternative fuels are a great idea. What would help them take off would to develope priviate at home fuel generation machines. There is few places to "fill up" with things like methane, propane, hydrogen, alcohal and etc.

 

Hydrogen fuel is one of the best options to go with IMHO.

 

There are problems related using it though. Conventional engines and car designs are in fact setup very in-efficiently. First of all the engine is constantly changes rpm ranges to match the demand of the operator. Current internal combustion engines are only efficient in cirtain ranges of the rpm range. So the constant gasing and dynamic operation is problem number one for bad efficiency. There is solution to this but I'll keep that to myself for now. Next problem is engines are designed to constantly be in operation. This endless idleing, A- wears out parts needlessly, and burns fuel that is not being put to use. Then the power of the engine goes through gears, transmissions, and drivetrains which eventually robs about %12 of the efficiency and power before it even gets put on the ground. Another is the fact that all this spinning mass and kinetic energy from engine to tires is not harvested or maintained, in fact it causes the engine to thousands of un needed revolutions.

 

It can be very easy to design an engine that 1) only operates at one low rpm range but is configured to make optimal torque at the low rpm, and so would be most efficient. 2) can be spontaniously ignitioned when power is demanded and will only operate when needed. 3)puts power to the ground much more efficiently with less weight. I have invented several combinations of things which can allow a vehicle to recapture a large amount of its waisted energy giving it the ability to power itself 100% efficiently under cirtain circumstances like, down a hill against the wind resistance to hold a cirtain speed.

 

Hydrogen is a GREAT fuel to use for cars. First of all it doesnt need to be stored in dangeriously high ammounts like some assume. Secondly there are dozens of cheep ways to create hydrogen. Some of which involve acid and beer cans, or cirtain metals and water, or high surface area electrode electrolysis, with a "salty conductive solution" All of which can be designed to create fuel on the go and prevent dangerous large storages.

 

The main problem with hydrogen and the internal combustion engines of today is flame speed. Internal combustions in the average car today have piston velocities too fast for hydrogen to keep up. Hydrogen will generally burn from around 8 to 15 feet per second depending on the ratio of oxygen invloved in the combusiont process. However this is still quite slow in comparison to your average low octane fuel of 87 or so which burns around +/- 40 feet per second and can match piston speeds quite sufficiently. Where the fuel cant keep up the ignition timing corrects to pre-ignite the flame to match the piston speed for more efficiency. However hydrogen is just too slow to convert into an engine of today and expect a decent operation.

 

There are however other engine designs which can make use of hydrogen. One of which I know is a quasiturbine engine. It does not have pistons, but rather, combustion teetertotter's that spin a parallagram shaped body inside an oval shaped casing, which allows for the device to spin with great efficiency and very low requirement of flame speed. However these engines also have drawbacks, where as they dont yet have the ability to rev out very high. They do although look VERRRY promising for future internal combustion.

 

Then there is an engine design I am working on that has a very revolutionary approach. It will have the ability to be quickly addapted to any kind of fuel you prefer. Secondly it will have the ability adapt to low end power operations with Imense torque, or high rpm power opertion with low piston speeds. The interesting thing is in a sense you can choose your gear ratio as it were, in the engine itself, and then direct it from there to the tires, and bypass the heavy and energy waisitng gears and transmissions. I designed it around the idea of operating on hydrogen. Allowing it to work great with slow flame speeds and make great use of every combustion. What I need is investment and I could promise civilization super efficient durable vehicles. I just have not sought out the attention for it as of yet. I would love to team up with like minded people to help make this a reality as soon as possible..

 

There is several great ways out there for alternative means of powering vehicles. Although some are so expensive and not adaptable to current vehicles. The key to making a difference right here and now is a product which can easily adapte to vehicles already currently on the road to begin lowering fuel consumption and emissions, while the newer technology trickles its way into society. I dont want to wait 5 years for fuel cell cars... That may cost too much. I think we all understand that soon the better we make a change. A change that people can also deal with which slides into their lifestyles quickly and easily and offers satisfaction to their needs. I have designs and inventions and ideas how to make this happen as engines and cars and inventing are my strongest skills. I just need support. I am currently working with an invention corperation that is requiring a fee of $1200 to assist me with my product designs and ideas for promotion and developement but my situation in life at this time is making this very difficult and I am very impatient.

 

I am very tempted to freely release all the designs and concepts just for the purpose of making the difference and change I am after. But then again I need the fincances to continue with this work and develope several other solutions and designs.

 

Just recently I picked up on the fact people are catching on to the concept I was working on which mainly says, Human force can power itself.

 

One of these forces is traffic, it is the biggest river imaginable and will be relentless for times to come. A person in the UK developed one of my ideas to make use of this energy of traffic to generate energy. He has a simple and small design that works like a speed bump to soak up energy from the car nearing stop lights and on down hills or stops signs. Places where cars are trying to stop. The device is virtually unoticeable and is taking off! They can power all the city street lights, and buildings for the time traffic is on the go. His design is great but I have much more efficient and higher energy developing designs that I think in fact I will give to this inventor.

http://groovy.movingtonz.com/type/?p=188

 

You see with this concept, anything that goes up can power as it goes down. Anything that moves can make power when it stops. example, flushed water from building structures that go through turbines to make power. Elivators that generate power when they go down to help either the other go up or some other use. Garbage that is dumped off at a higher location which rides down a track to the actual dump location. It has to be moved right, so why not put its mass to use. Street smart trains or buslike vehicles, super light which each passenger powers with their own body to collectivly car pool over short distances.. This concept is endlessly appliable.. the human force, its one of the most powerful forces on earth and so much of it is waisted..

 

anyway.. If anyone happens to be reading this topic that is interested in investing any amount what so ever, or knows of someone who would be, PM me and I will gladly give you any information you would like. Any investment I would not allow to be directed to myself. I understand how that would look like a free money scam. I would prefer it to be directly deposited to the client product number I have that is located at http://www.inventorshelpline.com/

Where you can contact its employees and assure a safe investment and find out any information that you are interested in. I will work out leagal contracts to insure you get back generously for your investment. I didnt mean for this post to lean this way, it is just I am passionate about making a difference and considering my success in invention designs which others are currently developing I feel confident that I can do it.

[P-man]

Thank you for helping me promote hydrogen.