'Ya know, Barney! I'll be glad when the new models come out next year. Just think! Ten miles per hour. Heh! I'll bet the wind pressure will blow yer arms off!'
Posted on 04/25/2006 2:38:51 PM PDT by ajolympian2004
Mater Dei wins second straight gas mileage contest at IRP
Indianapolis, April 25, 2006 - Evansville Mater Dei won its second straight Super Mileage Challenge at Indianapolis Raceway Park Monday, averaging more than 1,200 miles per gallon of gas.
The car was designed, built and driven by its student team members.
The contest was sponsored by the Indiana Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Alliance. Mater Dei won the stock class for the second straight year, improving its fuel efficiency by more than 200 miles per gallon from last year. Lafayette Harrison won the unlimited class, averaging almost 11-hundred miles per gallon.
Winamac received an award for best integration of math, science and technology, and South Spencer won for best design. Other awards went to Eastern Greene, for tenacity; Northview, for sportsmanship; Frontier, for closest to projected mileage; and to Bellmont as the "people's choice."
Pictures of the winning teams/ vehicles here -
http://www.imstea.org/page11.html
While you express the reasonable bottom-line sentiment that "This is nowhere near what we need to realize a marketable automobile," you've still got to recognize that this kind of thing may produce that one person who will finally succeed in bringing forth a technological achievement that will, at last, enable such vehicles to be produced.
So, look at this as a stepping-stone, not a destination; a "day of small beginnings". Don't despise it.
If you asked the kids, they could tell you. Their proposal had to include:
This section must include a discussion of the aerodynamic qualities of the vehicle. It must include a calculation of the vehicle’s aerodynamic drag showing the value of all factors involved and the equation used for the calculation. The impact of headwinds, tailwinds and crosswinds must be evaluated.
This does not look like a simple go-cart competition.
All you would ever want to know about ethanol here -
http://www.ethanol.org/documents/EthanolFAQs_000.pdf
(PDF)
Their main website -
http://www.ethanol.org
Acutally a LOT of research and advancements that come out of the colleges happen in this manner.
Experimentations and whatnot.
But these were high-schoolers, which makes me think that eventually we will have something that will be fuel efficient, not to this magnitude, but something....
Great stuff. These kids will be the ones to help us to stick out our collective middle finger to the middle-east's oil.
Maybe the kids from Mater Dei can do the math.
What frickin good is one of those little bugs? I need a F350 or equivalent that I can afford to drive, not some bug that will smush on a windshield.
Cool concepts but what happens when you have to power lights and a heater? That seems to be the next big obstacle. If these bright kids keep at it they will figure it out.
From your links:
one bushel of corn yields 2.8 gallons of ethanol.
35,000 BTUs to create a gallon of ethanol gallon of ethanol contains 77,000 BTUs
From http://www.nafa.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Resource_Center/Alternative_Fuels/Energy_Equivalents/Energy_Equivalents.htm
One gallon regular Gasoline contains 114,100 BTUs
So it takes 7.6 bushels of corn to equal the energy of one gallon of gasoline.
According to http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/field/pcp-bban/cropan04.txt
142 bushels per acre is a good estimate.
One acre of land then can produce the equvalent of 1,080 gallons or 25.7 barrels.
Let us use barrels of gasoline equal to garrels of crude. An average barrel of crude is made into lots of products, but if you want to replace a portion of the middle east imports, the remaining amount can be made into the other products we use.
from http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_a.htm
we import about 2 billion barrels of oil from OPEC last year
10% is 200 million
That is 7,780,000 acres of land not in crop production today.
Do you believe that is a reasonable amount of land we could acquire? And what happens in a drought? Also growing ethanol from corn is a batch process. You will need storage for a lot of that ethanol, at least 150 million barrels, maybe?
For 2000 acres, ANWR would produce nearly twice this amount of oil.
Chain saws don't last long on a lean mixture because they are oiled through the fuel. They tend to sieze when run lean. Also, two stroke motors aren't efficient at moving the fuel/air mixture into and spent gases out of the cylinder because they use cylinder ports, not valves.
Not hammering you. Just an over-enthusiastic motor head geek.
Hey, you can't say "Mater Dei" -- it's not PC. It means 'Mother of God'.
Remember the Soapbox Derby? Do they still do that?
They sure do.
http://www.allamericansoapboxderby.com/
Thanks for the added specifications. That sheds some light on the matter.
What remains a curiosity is exactly WHAT did the kids do? Slick50? Ethynol? Gear Ratio to match torque curve?
A key aspect of an experiment, taxpayer financed or private, is to be able to explain what you did. This is then cross-verified, whether you are filing a patent for a Spark-gap RF tube (Marconi) or patenting Buckyballs. You have to show 'how' you did it; and why this made a difference. This allows independant verification, as well as establishes a benchmark for further work.
From the article, the contest looks like a 'fun' program; but not a scientific program. If they said that they got 1000+ mpg by using ultra-sonics to blast gas vapors into a thinner vapor and thus more combustable; we would have a theory of operation and an hypothesis.
As-is; we have a "golly, they claim to hit 1000+ mpg; but the guy at the State Fair has a spark plug attachement that he says will do the same thing" scenario.
That is why I'm a bit critical. We have little more than a loosely controlled experiment. What did an unmodified engine/car get for mpg? These are very basic questions, and questions that would have been required to be answered by a science club not that many years ago.
Hello everyone,
I thought I might be able to add some light on all these questions about, "WHAT did the kids do?"
About 4 years ago as a sophomore in highschool I founded the South Spencer Supermileage Team. For the next three years I led the team. We are the current Indiana state record holder as our vehcile averaged 1,525 mpg at the IMSTEA Supermileage Challenge at Indianapolis Raceway park in April of 2004. That same vehicle achieved one trial at the competition of 2,416 mpg. After getting the car fully tuned in, we were well on our way to attaining further runs in the 2000+ mpg range when we unfortunately had an accident. Our team and vehicle were featured nationally on CNN and Fox News Network as well as in numerous publications across Southern Indiana.
So what exactly is this competition? How are these teams making these vehicles? Are they completely unpractical? Does the small kid available drive? Is this just fur fun or is there real value here?
All very legimate questions.
First let me start by giving some basic information about our last vehicle. Powered by a modified 3.5 horsepower 4-stroke Briggs and Stratton engine, the car can easily travel at speeds of over 60 mph. The car accelerates faster and stops quicker than most conventional vehicles. The vehicle can accommodate a driver up 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing up to 200 lbs (in fact to drive the vehicle at speeds over 50 mph, the driver must weigh at least 150 lbs).
Constructed from advanced composites (primarily carbon fiber and plastic honeycomb) the material utilizes many materials similar to those found in Spaceship One. The frame and chassis of the vehicle only weighs around 25 lbs (this is why the driver must weigh over 150lbs to drive at high speeds as the front end of the vehicle begins to lift off the ground at speeds of over 50 mph).
Safety is a major component of the competition. Each car is required to have numerous safety features; some of the demands are even more stringent than those for passenger vehicles. Our vehicle contained a fully-sealed carbon-fiber, plastic honey comb, aluminum plated firewall; a complete fluid containment system in the event of a gas or oil leak; a fire suppression system including a fire extinguisher and routing system; DOT-approved and SAE certified brake lights; a driver escape system that facilitated exit in 7 seconds; external and internal engine kill switches; numerous guards and safety shields; along with several other smaller items.
One person asked what mileage this vehicle would get once a heater and other electronic items were added on. A car’s heater simply moves hot air over the engine and into the passenger compartment. Thus a heater is essentially a fan, often in a compressor assembly. Our vehicle contains five fans for thermodynamic management of and air movement. Other electronics include a trip computer that monitors vehicle speed, travel time, distance, average speed, rpm, and other data and displays on an LCD display for the driver. A brake light and communication radios are also powered by the vehicle. Certainly the car does not contain the number or complexity of electrical systems that a modern passenger vehicle has, however, when comparing to engine size the number of electronic systems utilized is similar. All the electrical systems in the vehicle are run through phone connectors. In this way, all the electrical systems and wiring can rapidly be replaced. Further, the driver simply plugs in when he sits in the car and all of his electrical systems are powered by the vehicle.
So that’s all nice and clever, but the question the real question is, how do these vehicles achieve such mileage? Is this just a hoax as someone previously seemed to suggest?
Our vehicle was intensely researched and planed before we began to build anything. We discovered a few primary areas where we could improve vehicle efficiency:
Engine Efficiency
Aerodynamics
Rolling Resistance / Vehicle Weight
Driving Technique
Engine Technique
1. Engine Efficiency: It is a well known fact that internal combustion engines are not very energy efficient. In fact, on average only about 25% of the energy that you put into your car in the form of gasoline actually is used to move your vehicle and power your Bose radio, navigation system, and headlights. Furthermore, the engine that we were forced to use for the competition was even less efficient being a dated side-valve design. We examined numerous aspects of engine design, studied physics texts, and old patents for any ways to gain a little more efficiency. Ultimately we completely redesigned our engine (the rules are very specific on what can and cannot be done to the engine). We transferred to an overhead valve design, and in the process machined a new engine head to fit our block (which legally could not be changed). We increased the engine’s compression ratio and studied the timing and cam geometry. The stochiometry of the combustion itself was examined and discovered to be quite inefficient. Every time your engine runs, excess unburned gasoline is just wasted. The limiting reagent was oxygen. So a cooling and supercharging system was developed for the air entering engine. The cooler air made the air denser allowing us to force additional oxygen into the engine. Further a vacuum leak was added to further lean out the fuel air mixture. Have further research, chemistry, and experimentation, and adjustable system was developed to regulate the fuel air mixture entering the engine. Ultimately several other changes were also made but in the interest of time I shall briefly mention them. The engine was lightened, the exhaust system redesigned, the intake system also redesigned, and special oil was utilized. Some collegiate teams at the national level convert to electronic fuel injection systems programmed and constructed by the students. Our next step will be to use thermodynamic engine coatings and a smaller piston. Ultimately we would like to move to a ceramic piston.
In the interest of time I am going to talk just briefly about the next two aspects of the vehicle. If you would like further information, please send me an email at Michael_3005@yahoo.com.
2. Aerodynamic drag increases parabolically with speed, so naturally this was a major consideration. Aerodynamics, clearly from the pictures of these vehicles, we can agree that the vehicles are all considerably more aerodynamic than the modern vehicle. However again significant time and energy was spent designed the optimum aerodynamic shape. Clay models were made and wind-tunnel testing was performed. The physics of various shapes was analyzed. Ultimately we picked the shape that had the smallest aerodynamic drag. Again numerous crazy ideas were considered including releasing gases with lower coefficients of friction in front of the vehicle. In a final aerodynamics consideration the exhaust gases are routed out the rear of the vehicle in the peak area of rear vacuum behind the vehicle.
3. Rolling Resistance / Vehicle weight. According to the simple equation F=MA the more mass the vehicle has, the more force is required to move it. Further, mass is directly linked to the rolling resistance equation Froll = Cr • m • g. To minimize mass, a completely carbon composite frame/chassis was utilized. Aluminum was used for the front steering assembly. Any place where aluminum was used, holes were drilled to lighten the metal. 1/16th inch polycarbonate was used for the windshield and to make aerodynamic pieces around the rear-view mirrors and front wheel assemblies. Lightweight foam was used to sculpt the driver’s seat and lightweight epoxies were used instead of heavy mechanical fasteners. To minimize rolling resistance we used the best wheels and tires on the bicycle market. Kevlar tires were glued onto carbon fiber wheels. The tires were inflated to 220 psi. The actual contact surface of the tires contains a silica surface to further reduce rolling resistance.
This project was completely student run and operated. The school funded $4,100 of the vehicle. A total of $33,000 additional dollars were raised in the form of donation and sponsorship during the three years that I ran the project. Sponsors varied from small individual donations to large corporate sponsorships. The team raises all the money themselves. I have spoken before such large companies as American Electric Power (AEP) and Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA).
I am sorry that I had to leave so much out because of space and time constraints. Thanks to everyone for their interest! Please let me know if you have any additional questions or comments. We are always searching for new ideas!
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