Is there any love for the old hot-bulb engines? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 04-05-2014, 11:57 PM

1906 Mietz and Weiss 6hp

1926 Hatz R-5 (5hp)

There are still some ancient boats operating with hot-bulb engines, and I have seen that some NGOs were supporting the usage of this kind of engine for stationary applications in remote and underdeveloped areas in Africa and Southeast Asia.

An advantage of this layout is that it doesn't require neither an electric ignition or a pilot-injection to operate with pure gaseous fuels (including biomethane from a biodigester installed in a farm), plus they have a great adaptability to many vegetable-based fuels and even animal fats.

Cobb · 04-06-2014, 02:56 PM

The ones that use a hot bulb vs a spark plug?

No, not really in America. Steam use to be big here, but it went away.

P-hack · 04-06-2014, 03:33 PM

at 12% thermal efficiency, and long startup times. low power/weight, tweaky rpm and load, no love lost here

All that really makes it worth the effort to convert your crap fuel to biodiesel (and you can use some of your crap fuel to help with the heating process)

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 04-06-2014, 06:24 PM

The point is exactly the adaptability to locally-available fuels. These engines are able to run even on creosote, and don't require either vegetable oils or animal fats to be turned into biodiesel (which would require some chemicals not so readily available in some remote village in Africa).

Cobb · 04-06-2014, 09:39 PM

Let me get this straight. Your country has diesel powered vehicles US owners can only dream of as well as engines that run stuff those wouldnt even consider putting in their tank???

Ive considering joining the amish when my mother dies, thinking of going to another country instead.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 04-08-2014, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobb

Let me get this straight. Your country has diesel powered vehicles US owners can only dream of as well as engines that run stuff those wouldnt even consider putting in their tank???

Light-duty Diesels are actually not so easy to get back here, altough there are some groups advocating for the current restrictions based on payload, passenger capacity and driveline to be phased out to allow it to be legally used in any vehicle regardless of its type and capabilities.

And those engines that can run on odd fuels are actually in a museum...