Quote:
Originally Posted by maineSS
Note I said "rate of energy release". Gun propellant is NOT a Super Fuel- it averages 8-10 times LESS energy per lb than gasoline. The energy in the 105mm charge is about 28,455 Btu- a little more than 1 lb of gasoline at the High Heat Value of 20,000 Btu/lb. Maybe this is what Albert Einstein had in mind when he remarked that we had harnessed only a tiny fraction of the energy present in gasoline.
If you suspect there's more to internal combustion than heat values- your right. Nerys and Olympiades are absolutely right when they point out that HOW fuel burns in an engine is much more important. To be continued....
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Try fitting 1lb of gasoline into a single cylinder once.
That said Burning is very complex and even the octane values are comprised of multiple sets of averaged data remember RON? He aint exactly pump Octane.
Also I don't think anyone here actually believes that heat values have any direct relationship to fuel economy. There are thousands of factors that will cause fuel economy to vary and BTU content is only one.