Conventional gasoline engines are terribly inefficient things. Only 13% of the energy of the fuel actually moves the car. 62% is lost in the engine as waste heat, and driveline losses, accessories, and idling also reduce the efficiency.
Transonic Combustion is planning to build automobile engines with improved efficiency obtained through heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber. "This puts it into a super-critical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle," according to MIT Technology Review. A transonic test vehicle achieved 64 MPG in highway driving, compared to a 48 MPG hybrid Prius, and running at a steady cruising speed of 50 mph, the test vehicle achieved 98 MPG.
Like diesel and HCCI, the Transonic Combustion technology operates without needing a spark plug. Timing software also further enhances the operating efficiency of the system. Transonic injection is being developed for use with gasoline engines at present, but will also be compatible with advanced low carbon footprint bio-fuels in the future. Transonic expects its system will be comparable in cost to other current high-end fuel injection systems.
Because of the higher operating pressure, the longevity and durability of the engine will be important considerations the company will need to address. The company plans to build its production facility in 2013 and expects to be building engines for production vehicles in 2014.
Showing posts with label techno lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label techno lifestyle. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
High-efficiency hydraulic hybrid car could get 170 mpg
INGOCAR is a developmental concept for a 5 passenger car with a hydraulic drive system in place of a conventional power-train. With the weight reduction this offers and other efficiencies in the systems, the designers say their vehicle could get 170 mpg.
The INGOCAR is a hydraulic hybrid vehicle. Like some electric hybrids such as the Chevy Volt, it uses the motor indirectly instead of using the mechanical motion of the motor to move the car. But rather than using a motor as a generator to produce electricity, the INGOCAR has a highly-efficient 2-stroke diesel engine which is used to pressurize a hydraulic tank called the accumulator. Pressure from this tank is then used to turn individual wheelmotors in each wheel.
Hydraulic power makes the regenerative braking of the INGOCAR much more efficient than that in electric motor vehicles, as well. Regenerative braking with hydraulics is able to recover 75 to 85% of the energy which is used to repressurize the system. The wheelmotors that serve as both propulsion and braking for the vehicle are smaller than the disc brakes they replace.
The INGOCAR's efficiencies work to benefit it in several ways. For instance, eliminating the conventional power-train provides a 30% weight reduction for the car. Also, the engine only needs to run for a short period of time to recharge the pressure tank. It can also be smaller since it is only being used to develop pressure, rather than needing to be strong enough to run the car directly.
The vehicle is able to be significantly lighter than an electric hybrid because the motors are much lighter. "A comparable electric power-train, able to recapture the entire braking energy, is significantly heavier. The weight of the currently best electric motors is 20 times higher than that of the new hydraulic motor. The weights of the energy storage devices (battery, accumulator) are about the same. As result, the weight of the car would increase by about 50% - from 2200 lb to 3300 lb - consequently increasing the fuel consumption."
The 5 passenger INGOCAR would weigh 2200 lbs (998 kg). The Chevy Volt's curb weight is expected to be around 3500 lbs, and the current Toyota Prius curb weight is also around 3000 lbs.
The INGOCAR is a hydraulic hybrid vehicle. Like some electric hybrids such as the Chevy Volt, it uses the motor indirectly instead of using the mechanical motion of the motor to move the car. But rather than using a motor as a generator to produce electricity, the INGOCAR has a highly-efficient 2-stroke diesel engine which is used to pressurize a hydraulic tank called the accumulator. Pressure from this tank is then used to turn individual wheelmotors in each wheel.
Hydraulic power makes the regenerative braking of the INGOCAR much more efficient than that in electric motor vehicles, as well. Regenerative braking with hydraulics is able to recover 75 to 85% of the energy which is used to repressurize the system. The wheelmotors that serve as both propulsion and braking for the vehicle are smaller than the disc brakes they replace.
The INGOCAR's efficiencies work to benefit it in several ways. For instance, eliminating the conventional power-train provides a 30% weight reduction for the car. Also, the engine only needs to run for a short period of time to recharge the pressure tank. It can also be smaller since it is only being used to develop pressure, rather than needing to be strong enough to run the car directly.
The vehicle is able to be significantly lighter than an electric hybrid because the motors are much lighter. "A comparable electric power-train, able to recapture the entire braking energy, is significantly heavier. The weight of the currently best electric motors is 20 times higher than that of the new hydraulic motor. The weights of the energy storage devices (battery, accumulator) are about the same. As result, the weight of the car would increase by about 50% - from 2200 lb to 3300 lb - consequently increasing the fuel consumption."
The 5 passenger INGOCAR would weigh 2200 lbs (998 kg). The Chevy Volt's curb weight is expected to be around 3500 lbs, and the current Toyota Prius curb weight is also around 3000 lbs.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Five ways to stop junk mail
Summer’s afterglow is barely gone, but retailers are poised to unleash their steady onslaught of holiday catalogs. If you don’t want your mailbox to bulge with glossy catalogs and other annoying junk mail, read on.
1. Cut the catalogs you receive with Catalog Choice if catalogs are your bugaboo. More than a million people use this free online service which is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. I’m a member and I find it quite easy to use. Also, the site now has a bunch of e-catalogs you can peruse.
2. DIY if you have the time and like the feeling of accomplishment you’ll experience after making a round of calls to companies whose mailing lists you don’t want to be on anymore.
3. Go to the source by signing on with the Direct Marketer’s Association’s mail preference service. The DMA represents oodles of businesses. For $1 a year DMAchoice allows you to sift through credit, catalog, magazine, and other mail offers and decide what you don’t want. The DMA will keep you off those mailing lists for five years. It claims to have stopped 930 million pieces of direct mail from being sent in the United States last year alone.
4. Take your pick of a variety of companies that do the work for you to stop junk mail of all sorts from darkening your doorstep.
MailStopper (formerly GreenDimes) helps you shed unwanted catalogs and junk mail for $20 a year. Once you join, it plants five trees on your behalf.
41 Pounds, named so because it says the average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail per year, helps you get rid of 80% to 95% of yours. It will charge $41 for five years, but it donates more than 1/3 of your fee to the environmental or community organization of your choice.
Stop the Junk Mail promises to rid you of 90% of your junk mail for $19.95 per year. It plants a tree for every person who joins.
5. Make a preemptive strike by turning down sweepstakes applications, customer surveys plus warranty cards, and product registrations. Because once you give these places your name and address … you know what they may be sending you.
So choose well and get busy. You’ll help reduce the number of trees felled, energy consumed, carbon emissions, and all the other eco-costs associated with printing, mailing then disposing of junk mail. And remember to recycle the tiny amount of junk mail that does come your way.
1. Cut the catalogs you receive with Catalog Choice if catalogs are your bugaboo. More than a million people use this free online service which is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. I’m a member and I find it quite easy to use. Also, the site now has a bunch of e-catalogs you can peruse.
2. DIY if you have the time and like the feeling of accomplishment you’ll experience after making a round of calls to companies whose mailing lists you don’t want to be on anymore.
3. Go to the source by signing on with the Direct Marketer’s Association’s mail preference service. The DMA represents oodles of businesses. For $1 a year DMAchoice allows you to sift through credit, catalog, magazine, and other mail offers and decide what you don’t want. The DMA will keep you off those mailing lists for five years. It claims to have stopped 930 million pieces of direct mail from being sent in the United States last year alone.
4. Take your pick of a variety of companies that do the work for you to stop junk mail of all sorts from darkening your doorstep.
MailStopper (formerly GreenDimes) helps you shed unwanted catalogs and junk mail for $20 a year. Once you join, it plants five trees on your behalf.
41 Pounds, named so because it says the average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail per year, helps you get rid of 80% to 95% of yours. It will charge $41 for five years, but it donates more than 1/3 of your fee to the environmental or community organization of your choice.
Stop the Junk Mail promises to rid you of 90% of your junk mail for $19.95 per year. It plants a tree for every person who joins.
5. Make a preemptive strike by turning down sweepstakes applications, customer surveys plus warranty cards, and product registrations. Because once you give these places your name and address … you know what they may be sending you.
So choose well and get busy. You’ll help reduce the number of trees felled, energy consumed, carbon emissions, and all the other eco-costs associated with printing, mailing then disposing of junk mail. And remember to recycle the tiny amount of junk mail that does come your way.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
How to better reuse and recycle old electronics
How much is a ton of old recycled phones worth? $15,000, thanks to the silver, gold, palladium and copper used in each phone. (That's about $2.50 in precious metals per phone.)
The value of e-waste was the topic at the world's first-ever e-waste academy, where a more urgent questions were like these: How does Peru manage to refurbish more than 85% of the old computers it imports, while the rate is 20% in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ghana? How can China police its estimated 2 million "backyard" e-waste recyclers, so that they aren't incinerating old devices to recover precious metals, releasing toxic pollution in the process? How can discarded electronics from North America, Europe and Japan benefit schools and small businesses in Africa, Asia, and South America?
The goal of the organizer, Solving the E-Waste Problem (which goes by the acronym StEP), is to boost recycling and reuse rates, while protecting third world countries from the hazards that can accompany both e-waste recycling and dumping.
The conclusion: "Processes and policies governing the reuse and recycling of electronic products need to be standardized worldwide to stem and reverse the growing problem of illegal and harmful e-waste processing practices in developing countries."
"Millions of old devices in North America and Europe could easily double their typical three or four year 'first life' by being put to use in classrooms and small business offices across Africa, South America and Asia," says Ramzy Kahhat of Arizona State University, who advocates a return deposit on electronics similar to that used on carbonated beverage containers in many states, so that devices are recycled promptly while they're still most useful to a new user. "An old Pentium II computer with an open-source operating system like Linux can run faster than some of the latest new models on store shelves."
If you're ready to recycle an old cell phone, laptop, iPhone, digital camera, or other electronic device and want to harvest some cash in exchange for the precious metals or years of life it embodies, one option is NextWorth, which will pay you for your old phone (or at least cover the cost of shipping it, if the company deems the item has no value). The trade-in value of devices ranges as high as $340, and averages $25 or $30.
Other options include Dyscern, a 2009 Heart of Green award winner, and these four charity cell phone recyclers.
The value of e-waste was the topic at the world's first-ever e-waste academy, where a more urgent questions were like these: How does Peru manage to refurbish more than 85% of the old computers it imports, while the rate is 20% in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ghana? How can China police its estimated 2 million "backyard" e-waste recyclers, so that they aren't incinerating old devices to recover precious metals, releasing toxic pollution in the process? How can discarded electronics from North America, Europe and Japan benefit schools and small businesses in Africa, Asia, and South America?
The goal of the organizer, Solving the E-Waste Problem (which goes by the acronym StEP), is to boost recycling and reuse rates, while protecting third world countries from the hazards that can accompany both e-waste recycling and dumping.
The conclusion: "Processes and policies governing the reuse and recycling of electronic products need to be standardized worldwide to stem and reverse the growing problem of illegal and harmful e-waste processing practices in developing countries."
"Millions of old devices in North America and Europe could easily double their typical three or four year 'first life' by being put to use in classrooms and small business offices across Africa, South America and Asia," says Ramzy Kahhat of Arizona State University, who advocates a return deposit on electronics similar to that used on carbonated beverage containers in many states, so that devices are recycled promptly while they're still most useful to a new user. "An old Pentium II computer with an open-source operating system like Linux can run faster than some of the latest new models on store shelves."
If you're ready to recycle an old cell phone, laptop, iPhone, digital camera, or other electronic device and want to harvest some cash in exchange for the precious metals or years of life it embodies, one option is NextWorth, which will pay you for your old phone (or at least cover the cost of shipping it, if the company deems the item has no value). The trade-in value of devices ranges as high as $340, and averages $25 or $30.
Other options include Dyscern, a 2009 Heart of Green award winner, and these four charity cell phone recyclers.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
freeloader solar charger
This looks like it covers all the bases with connectors... a great idea. Plus it will store the power for up to 3 months, so you can charge the solar powered charger anytime, stick it in our pocket and have it ready when you need it - even on a cloudy day or inside. It will also charge via usb cable.
according to the website, it will charge an ipod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours and a psp for 2.5 hours... that's pretty impressive!
according to the website, it will charge an ipod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours and a psp for 2.5 hours... that's pretty impressive!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
picasa
If you are like most digital camera users and have files and files full of photos, but spend way to much time looking for just the right one, or if you have several different digital image programs on your computer, maybe it's time to simplify with Picasa.
One of the many free Google tools available on the web, Picasa is the easiest and most intuitive/user friendly program I have found to organize and manage digital images. Photo thumbnails are always visible and are listed by the date they were taken (and you can change details like this if you find that your photos were stored with the wrong dates attached). There is a very cool "timeline" feature that lets you scroll through your images by date. You can tag items so they are easily searchable, create web albums to share with friends and family, manage the printing process, upload and order prints online. It is a very feature rich program.
In addition to the organizational features, Picasa also includes all the basic photo editing tools that most people need for everyday use. There is even a magic "auto correct" button that lets Picasa decide what to change for you. But don't worry - Picasa always saves the unedited original for you in case you don't like the edits you make.
I can't say enough good things about this program - I don't know what I'd do with out it.
One of the many free Google tools available on the web, Picasa is the easiest and most intuitive/user friendly program I have found to organize and manage digital images. Photo thumbnails are always visible and are listed by the date they were taken (and you can change details like this if you find that your photos were stored with the wrong dates attached). There is a very cool "timeline" feature that lets you scroll through your images by date. You can tag items so they are easily searchable, create web albums to share with friends and family, manage the printing process, upload and order prints online. It is a very feature rich program.
In addition to the organizational features, Picasa also includes all the basic photo editing tools that most people need for everyday use. There is even a magic "auto correct" button that lets Picasa decide what to change for you. But don't worry - Picasa always saves the unedited original for you in case you don't like the edits you make.
I can't say enough good things about this program - I don't know what I'd do with out it.
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