Gasoline-Diesel Cocktail Could Make Engines Cleaner, More Efficient
As it stands, most vehicles in the world right now run on one of two fuels: gasoline, or diesel. While they perform the same function, and on the outside the engines look the same, they work in very different ways. While diesels have made progress in becoming cleaner burning, gasoline cars still dominate America’s highways.
But what might happen if someone mixed these two fuels up in the same engine? According to a research group from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the engine not only becomes more thermally efficient but cleaner burning, too.
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Led by researcher Rolf Reitz, the project explores the possibility of mixing gasoline fuel with diesel in a diesel engine. Using a computer-controlled injection system to calculate and manage the amounts, Reitz says that engine efficiency can be increased by up to 20%, while slashing pollution emitted from the exhaust. Sounds like magic!
Actually, it has to do with the thermal properties of gas and diesel. Using a mix of gas and diesel causes the engine to operate at much lower temperatures by as much as 40%. If you’ve ever stuck your head under the hood of a running car, you know it can get hot enough to cook breakfast. With less energy lost through heat transfer the engine runs more efficiently. Mixing the two fuels also results in much more of the fuel being burnt, producing more power-per-pump and resulting in less unburned fuel flowing out into the air.
Using a heavy-duty Caterpillar diesel engine, they were able to squeeze a 53% thermal efficiency out of the engine. This is especially exciting news considering that the most efficient engine in the world right now, the Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine (pictured above) has a thermal efficiency of just 50%. This massive engine is found only on container ships and runs off of very filthy fuel. For comparisons sake, most ICE engines have a thermal efficiency of just 25%. The drawback is that this would require two separate fuel tanks, one for diesel, one for gas. But the benefits seem worth it.
The Science Daily article goes in depth into the technology and mechanics of this process, and I encourage you to read it as it is a very interesting read. I will leave you with one more tidbit; Reitz says that about 13.5 million barrels of oil are used in automobiles every day. If this blending of fuels was successfully applied to every car in America, it would drop our oil consumption by 4 million barrels per day. While 9 million barrels per day is still a lot, this technology seems to be available right now and would cut off our dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf.
Source: Science Daily | Picture
I’m surprised they haven’t thought of this before. Where were they 15 years ago?
I think one of the wrist pins for the pictured engine probably weighs more then my Civic!
Our dependence on OPEC could have been cut off at any time in the last40 years simply by using oil reserves that we have in our country. This would have also have provided jobs here and it would really not have changed the total exhaust from ICEs in the world.
The improvement in efficiency is great news though. More power to them.
“…most ICE engines have a thermal efficiency of just 25%.”
I think most modern turbo diesels are in the 40% range now.
I had a TDi Jetta and got 49-55 mpg with gobs of power (On the highway, for example, I never needed to downshift to pass or
climb a big hill…once you’re in the engine’s sweet spot, it’s like having a V8 under the hood).
“Our dependence on OPEC could have been cut off at any time in the last40 years simply by using oil reserves that we have in our country. This would have also have provided jobs here and it would really not have changed the total exhaust from ICEs in the world.”
This a fallacy. We don’t have the type of oil reserves that can meet our demand. It’s just not true but is a common right wing talking point.
Now if they were actually serious about making electric cars 40 years ago then yes we wouldn’t be dealing with opec today or fighting wars in countries we have no business being in.
The electric car has been around for more then 120 years. This is not some new phenomenon. Splitting the atom we can do but building better batteries for some reason is only getting better now.
Crazy talk! Sounds good though. Next we’ll be mixing bananas and OJ in a blender!
The really big stationary combined cycle engines can get up to 60% efficiency nowadays … the container ships do not hold the record. Here is information from General Electric: http://www.ge-energy.com/prod_serv/products/gas_turbines_cc/en/h_system/index.htm
53% thermal efficiency is really a great achievement.But I think it is a long way to develope such systems for use in cars.However efforts needs to be intensified to commercialise this innovation in order to save huge quantity of fuel.