MIT Scientists looks at ethanol boost for cars - 20% to 30% gain in mpg.

[JohnWxy]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1161775029059&call_pageid=968332188492

MIT researchers suggest a way of using ethanol to enable the use of turbo-charging (or super-charging) to boost power and therefor reduce engine size and increase fuel economy (reduce fossil fuel demand) for about 1/3rd of the cost of hybrid vehicles. Plus, this uses technology that is currently available and won't require years of development and the enormous investment that that requires.

read on:

The Toronto Star

Oct. 25, 2006. 02:51 PM
SCOTT MALONE
REUTERS

Injecting small quantities of ethanol into car engines at moments of peak demand — such as accelerating sharply or climbing a steep hill — could improve the fuel economy of gasoline engines by 20 per cent to 30 per cent, a scientist said Wednesday.

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is working on the system, which scientists say would allow carmakers to use smaller engines in their vehicles, reducing weight and improving fuel economy at a lower cost to consumers than by adding a hybrid engine.

"To have a big impact on reducing oil consumption, one needs a low-cost way of improving efficiency, so a lot of people buy the car," said Daniel Cohn, senior research scientist at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He estimated that adding the ethanol injection system to a car would cost about $1,000 and that cars using the new system could be in mass production by 2011.
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Much attention has focused on hybrid cars, such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, which couple an electric motor with a traditional gasoline engine to improve fuel efficiency. But they are pricey — hybrid engines can add $3,000 or more to a car's cost — and account for just about 1 percent of new car sales in the United States.
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A turbocharger is added to produce more power. The ethanol injection system with the turbocharger would give a driver more power than a conventional engine of the same size.

The higher pressures and temperatures of a turbocharged engine can lead to a problem known as knock, which occurs when the fuel and air in the engine explode prematurely, hurting performance and potentially damaging the engine.

This would enable a 20% to 30% reduction in demand for oil! and much sooner than this could be accomplished by investing in hybrid vehicles. If there is an easier and cheaper (and quicker!) way of doing something, why do it the hard way????

[One_Life_To_Give]

1. Acting as an Octane booster

It's interesting technology. But I do wonder what the total effect will be on NOx emissions. Which rise dramatically with increased cylinder pressure and is one of the reasons we don't increase compression ratio and require higher octane fuel now.

[FogerRox]

2. NOx emissions....Maybe not

More power can be the result of increased efficiency of Combustion. Think more complete burning of the fuel. Of course the Design would have to have that in mind.

About 20 yrs ago Subaru had a turbo that improved MPG by 5. Only incresed Horsepower by 1.

[JohnWxy]

4. Saab 9-5 BioPower Flex-Fuel gets 24% more horsepower on E85

This car uses turbo-charging which comes on when you are running E85 (as the higher octane of E85 - about 105 compared to gas 87-92 - can take higher compression ratios. The turbo gives an effective higher compression ratio). With E85 it gets more horsepower and more torque and according to Saab about 15% BETTER mileage than with gasoline - because of more efficient combustion.

Saab BioPower goes on sale

Saab BioPower Flex Fuel 9-5 on Sale in Sweden in 2005
3 December 2004
Saab will begin selling its new 9-5 BioPower flex-fuel turbo (earlier post) in Sweden next summer.

The 2.0-liter turbo engine delivers 180 hp (134 kW) of power and 280 Nm of torque (206 lb-ft) running on E85—a 30hp (22kW) lift in maximum power and 40 Nm more torque than its gasoline-powered equivalent. While fuel economy in city and mixed driving conditions is unlikely to show an improvement, Saab says, testing indicates that the engine will deliver 15% better fuel economy at cruising speeds because of improved combustion.

Key to the engine’s capabilities is the enhanced Trionic 8 engine management system that recalibrates and programs to accommodate the different timing characteristics and the fuel/air mixture requirements of ethanol.

The Saab-developed Trionic software is specifically geared to the needs of turbocharged engines and controls ignition timing, fuel injection, turbo boost pressure, air mass measurement and the throttle setting. The standard Trionic 8 system now also incorporates engine start-up and temperature control, as well as further developments for improving torque management and throttle response.

During the development of the BioPower engine, Saab engineers worked closely with their GM colleagues in Brazil where 100% ethanol (E100) is the dominant fuel on the market.

Prices will be announced shortly and are expected to show only a very small increase in comparison to standard models.

So again, the question, and the opportunity. Will GM market and deliver this model in the US?

Now this is turbo charging using E85. What the MIT scientists are talking about is using much less ethanol and injecting it into the cylinder to boost performance.

Either way, with the turbo charging (or super-charging) the increased power output means not only improved economy due to better combustion and higher power output but also this enables you to run a smaller lighter engine. Using torque as the measure for pulling power you could possibly go with 15% smaller engine (the BioPower produces 16.7% more torque with E85). A 15% smaller engine means about 15% less fuel will be used.

The 15% improvement in fuel economy reported by Saab engineers, for the 9-5 BioPower, is just due to better power output and improved combustion. With that higher power output you can also reduce the engine size (for the same weight car) and increase the gain in mileage. Theoretically, this could produce a 27.8% gain in fuel economy. However, in the real world, sometimes the theoretical is not achievable. But could a 23-25% gain in fuel economy be achieved?

But with the MIT engineers approach you could make this power output available to many more people than if you were using E85 and achieve (according to the MIT researchers) 20 to 30% better mileage! ..and that's for aabout $1,000 per car. Compare that to about $3,000 for a hybrid. How much better would THAT sell?

[One_Life_To_Give]

7. What unburned fuel?

There are very few unburnt hydrocarbon molecules coming out past the exhaust valve.

[kestrel91316]

3. YOU PEOPLE ARE IDOITS!!!!!1!!!!!!!111!

Ethanol can't solve ALL our energy problems, DUmmies!!!!111!!!!
So it's a waste of time!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111

(I shouldn't need to indicate this is sarcasm, but...)

[JohnWxy]

5. I'm sorry. MIT stands for Massachusett Institute of Technology. Heard of it??

Probably not.

[hunter]

6. Dupe...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=70377&mesg_id=70377