Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Hi,
Another tie-in with this thread is the Crower 6-stroke engine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crower_six_stroke
Once it warms up, it injects water into the cylinder, which expands as steam, producing a second power stroke, and cooling the engine at the same time. There is no need for a radiator, or a cooling system, as such...
Wow. |
Be sure to read the AUTOWEEK article at the link further down the page.
“Especially an 18-wheeler, they’ve got that massive radiator that weighs 800, 1000 pounds. Not necessary,” he asserts. “In those big trucks, they look at payload as their bread and butter. If you get 1000 lb. or more off the truck…”
Offsetting that, of course, would be the need to carry large quantities of water, and water is heavier than gasoline or diesel oil. Preliminary estimates suggest a Crower cycle engine will use roughly as many gallons of water as fuel.
And Crower feels the water should be distilled, to prevent deposits inside the system, so a supply infrastructure will have to be created. (He uses rainwater in his testing.) Keeping the water from freezing will be another challenge.
The wiki article already mentioned that keeping the water out of the oil will be a big problem. It will be a HUGE problem. You can add piston rings, but that adds friction to be overcome. Any steam that gets by will condense in the oil, which will then have to be filtered out.