> Haven't you noticed they operate near the
    > full load point a tiny fraction of their lives?
    > Hold the pedal down in a car and you get a speeding ticket long before
    > any TC efficiency payback.

    > Don Sherman

   ------------------------------------------------------------------

   Depends on the size of the engine. A Prius engine is flat out at 80 MPH.
   If the battery was charged to begin with it is soon dead or switched off
   before it is dead.

   The smaller the car engine the higher the duty cycle. Yes of course a 400 HP
   Corvette is using a tiny fraction of claimed HP. Using a smaller engine is
   called "down sizing" and yes indeed it does improve the MPG as the
   engine is
   more closely operating in the best BSFC island. First two charts.

   If the engine is 50 HP flat out to improve the BSFC by 10% all you need out of
   the turbine is 5 HP. At 100,000 RPM that is .26 foot pounds of turbine torque.

   If you take a look at this next chart you will notice that even a fully
   loaded truck is not using max power at a steady 70 MPH. California has a truck
   speed limit of 55 MPH in many places. At 55 MPH a fully loaded truck is using
   about 50% max power. Aerodynamic drag is a major factor.

   Next to the last chart is the BSFC chart for gas engines verses diesels as a
   percentage of max power.

   Paul Lamar
   -------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Paul, with all of your expertise, why don't you apply for some of the
   grant money being thrown around for energy and efficiency research projects?
   C. Smith

   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   I am too old to go back to work. I'll be glad to work with somebody for
   free if
   they decide to do that. I have already mentioned that to Eric at Rotamax as
   they
   have the credibility of already being a U.S. rotary engine manufacturer with a
   complete machine shop and dyno. So far no word on if or when this will happen.
   If Mazda did it I would also be glad to help.

   Due to a lack of exhaust valves the turbo compound rotary is potentially the
   most efficient internal combustion engine of all. A marriage of the best
   features of the intermittent and continuous internal combustion engines. Once
   the turbo compound rotary reaches 50% efficiency there is no point to an
   electric car or rail transport unless the nation switches to nuclear energy.
   The
   reason for this is the majority of electric energy generated in the U.S. is by
   power plants burning coal, oil or natural gas. Transmission lines are not 100%
   efficient.

   The maximum local efficiency of these power plants is about 50% this in the
   case
   of a bottoming cycle gas turbine.  A bottoming cycle gas turbine is sort of a
   turbo compound power plant where the waste heat from the gas turbine makes
   steam
   that is fed to a steam turbine. Most other electric generating power plants are

   not 50% efficient. Look it up in Marks "Standard Handbook for Mechanical
   Engineers".

   Paul Lamar


   Paul, I think the rotaryTC/hybrid idea is the best option for an automotive powerpalnt as well. At Ford there is a website for posting ideas that could help the company, and I did post a note about the rotary TC, and with Ford's ties to Mazda, that could be the foundation for a joint project. An engineer replied that it would be nicely suited in a hybrid, and we all know the reasons why. But that's as far as it went as I can tell.

   August issue of Control Engineering, Page 36, article titled "The Hunt for 60+% thermal efficiency" Frank J. Bartos. speaks to your points precisely.

   go to www.controleng.com/archive <http://www.controleng.com/archive>.

   At any rate, I marvel at the degree of technical expertise discussed here on this list, if only our politicians and the general public could grasp some of the reality of the physics and technological challenges facing us while we seek solutions to our energy
    woes.

   C. Smith