1963
Posted on 01/23/2009 8:43:06 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
Here a good news energy story from one of the few countries in the Middle-east not trying to screw us via petroleum costs
Agam Energy Systems, an Israeli company has developed a piston-less turbine engine, featuring a new kind of compressor that has the potential to revolutionize the automotive industry. The engine will consume 1/5 of the gas and emit 1/10 of the pollution. The engine is compatible to engines presently being used and could be retrofit into today's models:
American automakers are already taking notice, the company reports.
Agam's chief technology officer and visionary is Dr. Gad Assaf, a physicist in energy and thermodynamics, who worked for the successful alternative energy company Ormat. According to Ofer Spottheim, the business development manager at Agam, Ormat considers Assaf to be one of the most creative minds in the business.
And while Agam's engine has passed feasibility studies, it's still in R&D. It could be ready by 2012 if a significant investment is made: "All the western world probably wishes it were ready right now," Spottheim tells ISRAEL21c.
Now in touch with one of the world's biggest manufacturing companies, Agam is hoping for the stars to align so that it can get the strategic partner it needs to shift into high gear.
(Excerpt) Read more at yidwithlid.blogspot.com ...
1963
I would never say never, but my best guess is we will keep the technology we have now (diesel,gas piston,electric hybrid) for the next 20 years or so. I think you are more likely to see improvements in the technology already in place.
Hello? This is very old technology, developed FIRST in the good ole USA!
(US Patent 1,091,529, for liquid ring vacuum pumps and compressors, was granted to Lewis H. Nash in 1914 )
Now if they want to somehow apply this concept to more efficient energy conversion, good luck to this venture.
I think your logic is sound. At idle or low speed, efficiency will be poor no matter what. (i.e. not practical for a commuter car) For a truck - maybe, plus the turbine can run on multiple types of fuel.
I doubt whether the racing fans would “go” for a silent version of the greatest spectacle in racing.
STP, music from and neat pun on Carmen.
GM has a carburetor that gets 100000000000 miles per gallon too but they bought it and buried it.
Mazda used and still may have a Wankel. So your claim is without merit. Any technology, be it carburetor, Wankel or turbine that has been patented and "bought" by GM should be available as a drawing from the US Patent office. I suggest all conspiracy theorists start there and prove such technologies not only exist but also provide the near perpetual motion y'all claim.
Finally, there is only so much energy in gasoline, corn oil or whatever. The most efficient engine cannot do better than the theoretical Carnot cycle, the efficiency of which depends directly on the temperature difference between the combustion and the ambient air. That's why diesel engines are more efficient, they operate at a higher temperature. So turbine or piston or Wankel or whatever, the laws of physics prevent magic tricks. And, we have quite a few turbine engines already. They are in our helicopters.
I’m sure if the same competitive spirit had been applied to the turbine as was with the “Miller”(Offy) variants, you would have seen more of the turbine at Indy. Bolting in cheap military surplus aircraft (heli) turbines is hardly what I would define competitive spirit...it is actually cheating.
You might want to run that one through a fact checker.
You might start with the fact that Ford, not GM, controls Mazda; the reasons rotaries fell from popularity (seals and fuel economy being two of the big ones, oil usage being a minor one).
How many key Wankel patents do you think GM controls?
The M1 tank uses a gas turbine. There are several good reasons to use a turbine; but, they did break often.
I attributed the problems to ‘dirtier air’ near the ground, repeated changes in engine speed, and getting ‘bumped around’ in a land vehicle. The turbine seems best suited for the air, in general.
Not necessarily. Fans warmed up to turbines in Hydroplane racing well.
The M1A1 Abrams uses a turbine. Great performance but a notorious fuel-guzzler.
Let me guess it’s a Flinstone mobile.
I watched the Gold Cup unlimiteds transition to turbines, it made the event boring to me. You could hear the ole V12 unturbo’d recips all across town, really drew a crowd down to the riverfront. The turbines were silent & boring and SHOULD have run in their own class cause they were cheating. (LOL)
I’d like to at least see a diesel run at INDY again. Indy has been formulated down to pure boredome! Gone are the days of grass roots innovation, the Novi, the Cummins etc.
I wondered what happened to the Wankel. I’ve been looking all over for one with no luck.
Fewer parts in the turbine should mean fewer parts to break. Shouldn’t it?
Mazda=Ford now, not than. My RX2 never had an issue with seals and economy wasn’t bad for a 4 barrel that ran like a bat out of hell. Sold it with 120K on it - reason being too many tickets for racing.
So when did GM ‘bury it’?
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