The whispering wheel [Dutch invention can make vehicles 50 percent more efficient]

Radio Netherlands ^ | 15 december 2003 | by Thijs Westerbeek,

[Fee]

Most hybrid cars that may be available in a short time will be small engine and lead acid battery hybrid systems. The small engine turns an alternator that keeps the large bank of batteries under charge. The batteries drive the electric motors which in turn moves the wheels of the vehicle. The engines run on diesel or gasoline, and emitt less pollution because of its size, the batteries are rechargeable and lead acid battery companies have set up recycling process to recover the lead electrodes. Result is a quieter and less polluting vehicle. Challenge is the cost of setting up the infrastructure to change, store spent and stockpile new batteries for the drivers. There are logistical and infrastructure issues that must be resolved. Gasoline stations have no problems with neighbors and do not take up much space nor considered a severe eyesore. A center that stockpiles new batteries and takes in old spent batteries will need alot of real estate and can be an eyesore. Ironicly the esthetic and environmental laws set up to protect the environment may be used to prevent this environmentally friendly technology from being set up for future drivers.

[Doc On The Bay]

HO!!---WHAT FUN!!

Doc

[Capriole]

Not an idiot or the product of an American public school. Did you notice his name? He is DUTCH. This isn't his native language. I think the thing flows pretty smoothly for the work of a non-native English speaker.

[Capitalist Eric]

Actually, according to Websters definitions, either term could be used interchangeably.

Well, Websters doesn't get into the technical aspects of many things...

An engine converts chemical energy into mechanical energy, while a motor converts electrical (or magenetic) energy into mechanical energy...
And for the record, a generator converts mechanical energy into electrical or chemical energy (the latter is relatively rare, as a percentage of generator applications).

Be well.

[Eala]

It was not clear to me whether this was an original article or translated. I assumed the latter.

[templar]

What about the fish carburetor the book is about? Mike Brown was producing those a number of years ago, but I hear he sold it off or just quit making them. He did claim some pretty interesting results, and I doubt he would mislead anyone.

[js1138]

I imagine the first big American city pothole would prove rather expensive. Not to mention fixing a flat.

I'm surprised that the hybrid cars need battery replacement every year. If I understand the priving, that works out to about $100 per month. That's as much as I spend for gas for my guzzler, just commuting to work.

[slimer]

The Whispering Wheel

[Old Professer]

I see nothing new here at all; it is not a novel concept to have the permanent magnet embedded on the outer ring (rotor); the problem of course comes from bearing loads and sprung weight.

[slowhandluke]

1. I cant believe such a motor hasn't been around for years

The idea has been around. I remember looking at this in a Popular Science article sometime in the mid-60's for a high-school science report.

[MarkL]

I've often wondered if the "myth" of the 100 MPG carb, and using water as fuel, don't actually have their basis in fact, as do many other myths...

Way back when, when I had a 71 Pontiac Formula 400, I came upon a set of RAM AIR IV heads from an earlier model. In 1971, due to the fear of government regulations, GM dropped the compression ratios in their engines substantially. Bolting on those heads raised it way back up. As I recall, I was having a serious problem with detonation, as getting decent LEADED fuel back then was tough. I was using an after market octane booster, but it was pretty expensive, and inconvenient to use.

I called one of the premier Pontiac shops at the time (Nunzio's in Brooklyn, NY, I think... It's been 20 years!), and he mentioned something that was getting a bit of popularity... Water injection. The idea was that you could thin out the mixture somewhat, and really increase the ignition advance. The water injection would cool the mixture, making it more dense, allowing you to run it leaner. It would also resist detonation due to the cooling effect. It's been far too long to say exactly what settings I used, but I seem to recall that with the factory standard ignition advance, I was having serious detonation problems. But with the addition of water injection, I was able to increase the ignition timing by 6 or 8 degrees IIRC. It increased power (I didn't change my jetting, so I guess I wound up running a net richer mixture) and mileage by nearly 20 percent. Granted, in this case, that was about 4MPG. And the car was already pretty darned powerful. I never ran it on a dyno, but it did feel more powerful, strictly by seat of the pants measurements.

Maybe this is where the myth of high mileage carbs that use water comes from.

Mark

[Psycho_Bunny]

1700 RPMs isn't low for a diesel, they produce a lot of torque at low RPMs.

[PatrickHenry]

Have you guys heard of this? Is it worth a general ping?

[Old Professer]

There aren't very many mechanics on this thread.

[John Valentine]

Are you sure that this distinction between "motor" and "engine" exists in Dutch? It may be that it is only the translator that is an "idiot".

[RaceBannon]

Since wheels on the outside of the turn rotate faster than those on theinside, this would be an issue

Sounds like an induction motor of sorts, running the wheel, the flux of the stator causes electron flow in the windings of the rotor, which simulates a rotating electric field, causing initial rotation, but once the rotor starts turning, the induction motor has to become a shunt motor or something!

Could happen, it is done in washing machine motors, diode start, then allowing the rotation to generate the field to create a rotating field.

But those batteries do not stay charged forever, nor can they be recharged forever, some envromentalblist will complain how the dumps are now filled with lead plates and electrolyte!

[Banjoguy]

In all likelyhood, the motors are DC. If the motor is a DC motor, to change the direction of rotation, one simply reverses the current flow through the windings. To change the speed, one changes the line voltage.

Changing the speed and direction of AC motors is a complicated proposition, e.g. the frequency of the ac voltage determines speed, and a reverse voltage phase shift is sometimes required to get the motor going in the opposite direction.

[aculeus]

BTW, the idiot who wrote this is obviously an idiot... There are no electric "engines." Only electric "motors." ;)

He's anything but an idiot. For one thing he's writing in his second (third?) language. Try writing a similar article ... in Dutch.

[dhs12345]

Maybe "motor" got lost in the Dutch to English translation.

[blam]

This is the same way the old diesel-electric submarines worked.