Quote:
Originally Posted by Formula413
But what about the fact that the exhaust gas has to be pushed through the exhaust system (and in this scenario through the alternator turbine) by the exhaust stroke of a piston, which is in turn being powered by the firing stroke of another piston? Is this really any different than the idea of having a wind driven alternator? The power ultimately always has to come from burned fuel.
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No, because the exhaust gas isn't really (or mostly) pushed by the piston, but by the power of its own expansion. (Think for instance of the difference in the noise level of an unmuffled exhaust and an air compressor.) The power captured by the turbine comes from the waste heat in the exhaust gas stream. It will be hotter upstream, cooler (and thus lower pressure) downstream.