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Old 10-08-2019, 11:15 AM   #41 (permalink)
Bicycle Bob
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: N. Saskatchewan, CA
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Appliance White - '93 Geo Metro 4-Dr. Auto
Last 3: 42.35 mpg (US)

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Quote:
Originally Posted by stonebreaker View Post
No, not necessarily. While modern batteries have poor energy density compared to gasoline, they're still way lighter and more compact than hauling a water heater tank around in your Prius. The other thing to think about is, in a hybrid car, you ALREADY have a storage mechanism - the batteries - built in. All you have to do is build the steam generator and add a heat exchanger to condense the steam back into water.

As for the efficiency of the steam generator, so what if it's not as efficient as a modern steam plant? You're recovering waste heat anyway, so anything you get back is a win. I would think that the reason they don't already have this technology on hybrid cars has more to do with weight, complexity, packaging and safety than thermal efficiency.
Steam engines lost out to ICE because of cost and maintenance issues. Hauling a supplemental, low-efficiency one around would not pay. I'm not talking about hauling a plain water tank, but a phase-change tank.

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