Free Republic

How Electric Superchargers Went from Fantasy to Feasibility October 30, 2014 at 11:30:00 AM by David Gluckman | 0 Comments   Comments 0 Share   (Photo Credit: Chris Philpot) Until recently, electric superchargers might as well have been perpetual motion machines, for sale at the same places as gasoline magnet ionizers and other snake-oil. Power for an electric compressor has to come from somewhere, and e-turbos were a kind of get-power-quick scheme that ultimately left you poorer. That’s starting to change. Step one, as it usually does, involved motorsports. The current crop of Formula 1 cars and Audi’s latest R18 use...

Check out the video, the engine is small, model airplane size via the use of the propeller to give it a load, but it runs.Wankels are notorious for lack of thermal efficiency, but to keep all the heat in and turn it into motion via ceramics could be a game changer.Think about it;* Omnivorous* Smooth* Small in size.* It is uncooled, but is it unlubricated (?)

The fuel industry's American Petroleum Institute tested the 15 percent ethanol gas approved in 2010 and found it gums up fuel systems, prompts "check engine" lights to come on, and messes with fuel gauge readings. "Failure of these components could result in breakdowns that leave consumers stranded on busy roads and highways," said the industry report. Worse: API said the fuel problems--not found in E5 or E10 blends--aren't always covered by auto warranties. The industry prefers pure fuel to an ethanol mix, but the report isn't likely to slow the administrations green push

As automakers augment the reciprocating piston engine with hybrid systems and improved accessories, independent inventors are busily working to make huge improvements to the basic efficiency of the internal combustion engine. Novel designs are popping up at engineering expos everywhere, and the newest comes from Bloomfield, Conn.-based LiquidPiston. Its X1 engine is a simple machine with just three moving parts and thirteen major components, but it aims to raise thermal efficiency from the 20 percent of a normal gas engine to more than 50 percent, with drastic reductions in weight and size. How? By wasting much less energy during the...

There's a hierarchy of "Star Trek" inventions we would like to see become reality. We already have voice-controlled computers and communicators in the form of smartphones. A working Holodeck is under development. Now, how about we get some impulse engines for our starships? The University of Alabama in Huntsville's Aerophysics Research Center, NASA, Boeing, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are collaborating on a project to produce nuclear fusion impulse rocket engines. It's no warp drive, but it would get us around the galaxy a lot quicker than current technologies. According to Txchnologist, the scientists are hoping to make impulse drive...

Efforts to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline were dealt a blow Tuesday by legislation that would block a 15% biofuel blend until more studies are done on whether it harms engines. A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) would require a comprehensive review of fuels containing more than 10% ethanol before they're allowed in the marketplace. By a vote of 19-7, the bill was approved by a House committee on science, space and technology. Sensenbrenner chairs the committee. Makers of small engines, especially, have said scores of their products could be ruined if consumers use a...

Anyone who appreciates the precision art of engine design ought to get a kick out of this offering from a Spanish engineer named Patelo. Starting with hunks of aluminum, bronze and stainless steel, he spent over 1200 hours designing, milling, turning and drilling what he claims is "probably" the world's smallest V12 engine. Powered by compressed air injection (0.1kg/sq cm), this little marvel boasts a total displacement of 12 cubic centimeters from its twelve 11.3 mm diameter pistons and works like a charm. Built primarily for educational purposes, Patelo has no plans for selling the mini-motors. In fact, seemingly...

This is a video of the world's tiniest V-12 engine being made by hand-built craftsmanship. Now the video does not say this, but I'm guessing the motor works off compression ignition like a diesel. Which would be similar to the way an R/C car that runs on gas. This would explain why their is no lubricant added to the engine. The lubricant is in the fuel. It has 12 cm^3 of displacement, the cylinder bore is 11.3 mm and stroke of the pistons is 10 mm. Works with just 0.1 Kg/cm^2. It is constructed of stainless steel, aluminum and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ruling by the Obama administration allowing the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol is running into legal hurdles from trade groups opposing the plan. The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday over the decision to allow the sale of gasoline containing higher blends of corn-based ethanol, the second major group to protest the ruling. The Obama administration said in October that gas stations could start selling the ethanol blend for vehicles built since the 2007 model year, increasing it from the current blend of 10 percent ethanol.

An anonymous email making the cyberspace rounds is so upsetting that its author was correct to hide his name. The “Changes Are Coming” email details the demise of our post office, our newspapers, check writing systems, books and music as we know them along with the end of Cable TV and network systems as now constituted. But the harshest caveat bearing down on America is our demise due to deindustrialization. The email reports that “Tens of thousands of factories have left the U.S. in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost. . .the U.S....

Airlines give strongest sign yet that Rolls-Royce knew of engine fault before 1 blew out

As I continue to try and keep my various small engines running like my Lawn Mower, Weed Eater and Boat... I have tired of rebuilding Carburetors so now I'm installing "Fuel Shut Off" valves on everything that cannot easily be defueled by another method... then I can run the engine until the Carb is empty. It occurred to me (especially after Obama used the "Car in the Ditch" analogy over and over, that there may be many other folks having the same problem as I with my small Engines. The "Fuel Shutoff Valve" that I am installing is synonymous with...

Inside the great investment houses on Wall Street, business has taken a surprising turn — downward. Even after taxpayer bailouts restored bankers’ profits and pay, the great Wall Street money machine is decelerating. Big financial institutions, including commercial banks, are still making a lot of money. But given unease in the financial markets and the economy, brokerages and investment banks are not making nearly as much as their executives, employees and investors had hoped. After an unusually sharp slowdown

To: All search engines We the undersigned are asking that all search engines remove all links to Yahoo Answers. We are also asking that Yahoo remove Yahoo Answers completely from the Internet. Yahoo Answers was intended to be a place for people to be able to ask informed questions and get informed answers. However, it has become that questions are not informed, and neither are answers. The need to remove Yahoo Answers is to keep it from turning up in the search results. Most questions and answers posted on Yahoo Answers are inflammatory and there is a lot of abusive...

TCM Announces Temporary Closures Sun, 04 Oct '09 More 'Signs Of The Times' The economic malaise continues... During a recent chat with TCM's Rhett Ross, ANN has learned that Teledyne Continental Motors 'will close its factory for one week in response to reduced demand from new aircraft manufacturers for engines and related parts. The closure will start this Monday, 05 October 2009. The plant will reopen for normal business on Monday, 12 October 2009.'

WAUSEON - The man who drove his 20-year-old Mustang from Napoleon, Ohio, to Las Vegas and back last year on 39 gallons of fuel will open his first manufacturing facility Monday to allow others to get 110 miles per gallon. Doug Pelmear, owner of Horse Power Sales.net Inc. and Hp2G LLC, will hold an open house Monday morning in the idle 100,000-square-foot factory he has leased in Wauseon to begin manufacturing his revolutionary engine. The factory, on the Fulton Industries Inc. campus in Wauseon, will be tooled to initially turn out 20 of Mr. Pelmear's custom engines per day with...

On Easter Sunday in 2001, Carmelo Scuderi called his family together in his home here and announced, essentially, that he had outsmarted the world's auto makers and their billion-dollar research departments. Scuderi Group unveiled a prototype of its fuel-saving engine Monday in Detroit. Car makers including Honda and Daimler have shown interest. The retired engineer and inventor told his children and grandchildren he had developed a dramatically more fuel-efficient design for the internal combustion engine, something car companies have been chasing for decades. Eight years later, the late Mr. Scuderi's revelation no longer seems as far-fetched. His design -- which...

NEW YORK – Federal investigators said both engines are missing from the US Airways jetliner that ditched into the Hudson River as reports emerged that the pilot who safely landed the aircraft had considered an emergency landing at two airports. Police divers were using sonar to find the engines, which was believed to be in the water. As investigators scoured the wreckage of the Airbus A320, many of the 155 people aboard recounted survivor stories and hailed the pilot as a hero who delivered them from certain death. The pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, was in good spirits and...

Monday night (12/01/08) Jay Leno asked Cody Willard of Fox's "Happy Hour" about breaking up the auto companies, then answered himself that it wouldn't be a good idea. Actually breaking up the auto companies might be a very good idea. The auto companies, like many companies may be too large to manage effectively. The business model of one company manufacturing all aspects of complex products may be outdated. I don't mean breaking up companies according to car models. Car companies should operate more like companies such as the airplane manufacturers. For example, Boeing doesn't design and manufacture its own engines...

The Coates Spherical Rotary Valve Engine is the most advanced in the world. A conventional piston engine ignites the fuel and air mixture in the combustion cycle and evacuates the gas by-products in the exhaust cycle. These cycles occur thousands of times per minute per cylinder. Through the rotation of the camshaft, a spring-loaded poppet valve opens to enable the fuel and air mixture to enter the firing chamber during the induction stroke. The camshaft then closes the intake valve during the compression and combustion stroke of the cylinder and opens a second spring-loaded valve to vent the cylinder...