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Old 02-10-2012, 05:53 PM   #5 (permalink)
Tesla
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Australia
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To use a Turbo as an alternator would be quite difficult in my opinion,
The main reasons being:
1 / That turbo's are designed to spin from 30,000 & 100,000rpm and hence balancing is critical and any mistakes in setup will result in catastrophic failure, that's why there are specialists that just do turbo's.
2 / People have the misconception that exhaust gasses are just wasted energy, in some ways yes, but they do serve a major function for the engine even after they leave the cylinders. Exhaust designers try to maximise the flow of exhaust gasses down the pipes so the momentum actually creates a suction at the engine end which helps the engine clear the exhaust and draw in fresh air. So if you remove the exhaust, put any restrictions in (turbo) or cool it down too much, the engine will run less efficiently and any energy you extract will be lost through poor engine performance.
If you can hold the heat in the exhaust, it will flow much better and the engine will breathe more freely, remember the engine is only providing power 25% of the time the other 75% it is acting like a compressor, so clearing the back pressure in the exhaust is a crucial aspect to energy efficiency.
Probably better to look at insulation on the exhaust components, esspecially in the colder climates, this may also be a significant factor when people notice their FE is down in cold weather.
Improve the exhaust flow, engine runs more efficiently & FE goes up.
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