Quote:
Originally Posted by smokey442
Consider this possibility. 4cyl engine. Substitute radiator with heat exchanger. Fabricate waterjacket around exhaust system. Run two cylinders in conventional manner. Control steam flow in remaining cylinders using exhaust valve as steam inlet, intake valve now becomes steam exhaust. Condense post power producing steam back to a liquid. Pump liquid back into heat exchanger.
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Needs unconventional valve timing to pull off and increased piston clearance, but sounds plausible. You might want more cylinders for NVH reduction, maybe like, a V6 with each bank running like an inline 3 in terms of "firing order", one side fired by gasoline the other steam driven, rather than having 2 gasoline powered cylinders which is not very smooth.
Doing it this way would have higher peak thermal efficiency than for example BMW turbosteamer, since you are using a piston and not a turbine, but it would have much lower specific power.