Exhaust Heat Recovery - Steam Power

[Patrick]

You have now entered the realm of rocket science and have reinvented an ancient steam engine.

Aeolipile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would think that the design of the nozzles would be critical to produce the maximum thrust and it would help to streamline the elbows to reduce aero drag since they will be spinning at alternator rpm. Also, because it is a reaction engine dependent on the mass expelled to produce thrust, these supposedly consume a lot of steam vs. a positive-displacement engine, so plan on having a lot available.

[Daox]

Haha yeah I didn't think it would be very efficient.

I do think I might try making my own turbine and go with the simple jet shooting steam at the turbine concept just to see if I can get it to work. All the other options seem to be a fair amount more complex.

[Phantom]

I think that the air tool could work but the alternator would need to be rewound. Since you will be running it at a lower rpm than what the car's ICE would be spinning it and at a smaller range of RPMs by optimizing it based on that should help, like what homemade windmills do.

To see how someone has done this look here How To Rewind an Alternator

[Olympiadis]

Originally Posted by Daox

Haha yeah I didn't think it would be very efficient.

I do think I might try making my own turbine and go with the simple jet shooting steam at the turbine concept just to see if I can get it to work. All the other options seem to be a fair amount more complex.

Have you considered using a smaller version of a brushless PMA ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX166iDh8Fs

Patriot PMA
It may reduce the drive load for you and allow a simple air-tool to do the job. It might be worth looking for one to borrow and test. They are generally not very high output, but do work well at lower RPM.

There are different versions out there, and there are also options of motorcycle and bicycle alternators.

I suppose something like this might also be of interest to you.
Energy Systems and Design

I haven't used any of these listed, so I cannot vouch for any of the claims.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Well I don't think anyone was talking about running the steam back into the primary engine. The idea was to use a separate steam-powered engine of some type to turn an alternator to keep the battery charged and eliminate the alternator load on the primary engine.

Originally the idea was to capture waste heat energy and do SOMETHING constructive with it.

Were I to be gung-ho about eliminating alternator load, I'd look at eliminating as much electrical componentry as possible, like an old "T" or Jeep- practically no nothing except exterior lighting. Then that lighting could be run from it's own battery that gets charged at home. For a carb'd gas engined "electricless" car a magneto could provide the spark; a diesel would need nothing except for starter juice; the gasser could even be started by crank.

[Daox]

A brushless generator would definitely be more efficient and is a good idea for sure. I had just planned on using a regulator alternator since I had one laying around.

Anyone have numbers on efficiency between a PM generator and an alternator?

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Daox

Sorry, that would not work. Turbochargers spin incredibly fast. Smaller turbos can spin over 100,000 rpm, and some up to 200,000 rpm. Gearing it down is a big pita, you'd have to make your own journal bearings to take that kind of rpm input. Then you have to find something that will spin that fast without blowing up. It gets complex really fast.

I don't think they get anywhere near that when you are driving normal and not "spinning it up" the turbo with the ICE at high RPM for performance.

I am thinking a super low geared reduction box may very well do the trick. A turbo in the exhaust, with a 1000 (?) to one little reduction unit spinning the alternator! (OR A/C?) This seems VERY feasible to me.

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Originally the idea was to capture waste heat energy and do SOMETHING constructive with it.

Were I to be gung-ho about eliminating alternator load, I'd look at eliminating as much electrical componentry as possible, like an old "T" or Jeep- practically no nothing except exterior lighting. Then that lighting could be run from it's own battery that gets charged at home. For a carb'd gas engined "electricless" car a magneto could provide the spark; a diesel would need nothing except for starter juice; the gasser could even be started by crank.

The "Mag" does take energy to spin it though.

Brian

[Daox]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

I don't think they get anywhere near that when you are driving normal and not "spinning it up" the turbo with the ICE at high RPM for performance.

I am thinking a super low geared reduction box may very well do the trick. A turbo in the exhaust, with a 1000 (?) to one little reduction unit spinning the alternator! (OR A/C?) This seems VERY feasible to me.

Brian

Where might one get a 1000:1 reduction gearbox inexpensively that will handle the power?

[MARTINSR]

I don't know, I hadn't gotten that far.

Brian