Along the lines of intrenched corporate resistance to new technology
which might reduce their profits, I am reminded of what another
acquaintance had to say about a meeting at Chevron's El Segundo
refinery. The employees were asked, "How many of you drive
sport utility vehicles?" About half of them raised their hands. The
response to this poll was, "Good, you folks are keeping us in the
black." Does Chrysler want to retool for a new technology? I doubt
it. But the internal combustion engine can be analyzed by engineers
that understand thermodynamics and how heat affects the materials
that an engine is made of. In order to produce horsepower, an
internal combustion engine must pump a certain quantity of air
through its cylinders, add a precise amount of fuel, ignite it, convert
the expanding gases into rotary motion, and repeat the process,
as rapidly as possible. This means that the engine must spin at a
high rpm. The pistons must be made of light material (aluminum)
in order to reduce the g-force of stopping and starting many times
per second. Since aluminum has a low melting point, about 1300
degrees F, the fuel/air mixture must be run on the rich side in order
to avoid melting the pistons. An analyst can look at the amount
of air that has to be pumped through an engine and explore the
possible amount of fuel that would have to be added, the fuel/air
ratio. If the mixture was chemically [ stoichmetrically ] correct, the engine would reach 3,000 degrees F and melt the pistons in a matter of minutes. Excess fuel must be wasted to keep the combustion
temperature low, around 1150 to 1200 degrees F. That's where
fuel efficiency is lost, making the engine survive. And Chrysler
can analyze fuel/air ratio vs. engine rpm and displacement.
So what has BAT done with the pistons to keep them light enough,
yet not melt? The best mileage I ever got out of a stock Geo was
only about 36 mpg, and BAT claims they can get almost three
times that? A fuel air mixture of maybe 39:1 is implied, and engineers
would tell you that such a mixture is too lean to ignite. A typical
gasoline engine generally uses a ratio of about 14:1 or 15:1. So,
we shall see what Tuesday brings. |
