A turbosteamer is a term used by
BMW to describe a
combined cycle
A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...
engine.
Waste heat
Waste heat is heat that is produced by a machine, or other process that uses energy, as a byproduct of doing work. All such processes give off some waste heat as a fundamental result of the laws of thermodynamics. Waste heat has lower utility ...
energy from the
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
would be used to generate steam (see
Waste Heat Recovery Unit
A waste heat recovery unit (WHRU) is an energy recovery heat exchanger that transfers heat from process outputs at high temperature to another part of the process for some purpose, usually increased efficiency. The WHRU is a tool involved in cogen ...
) for a
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
which would create supplemental power for the vehicle. The turbosteamer device is affixed to the
exhaust
Exhaust, exhaustive, or exhaustion may refer to:
Law
*Exhaustion of intellectual property rights, limits to intellectual property rights in patent and copyright law
**Exhaustion doctrine, in patent law
** Exhaustion doctrine under U.S. law, in p ...
and cooling system. It salvages the heat wasted in the exhaust and radiator (as much as 80% of heat energy) and uses a steam piston or turbine to relay that power to the crankshaft. The steam circuit produces and of torque at peak (for a 1.8
Straight-4
A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft.
The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...
engine), yielding an estimated 15% gain in
fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...
. Unlike gasoline-electric hybrids, these gains increase at higher, steadier speeds.
BMW TurboSteamer
/ref>
Timescale
BMW has been the pioneer of this concept as early as 2000 under the direction of Dr. Raymond Freymann Raymond Freymann is an engineering professor and researcher, born on 30 May 1952 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, and has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific publications. He has served BMW for 25 years and held the position of CEO of B ...
, and while they were designing this system to fit to most current BMW models, the technology didn't reach production.
See also
* COGAS
Combined gas and steam (COGAS) is the name given to marine compound powerplants comprising gas and steam turbines, the latter being driven by steam generated using the heat from the exhaust of the gas turbines. In this way, some of the otherwi ...
* Cogeneration
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...
* Combined cycle
A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...
* Exhaust heat recovery system
An exhaust heat recovery system turns waste heat energy in exhaust gases into electric energy for batteries or mechanical energy reintroduced on the crankshaft. The technology is of increasing interest as car and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers co ...
* Still engine
* Turbo-compound engine
A turbo-compound engine is a reciprocating engine that employs a turbine to recover energy from the exhaust gases. Instead of using that energy to drive a turbocharger as found in many high-power aircraft engines, the energy is instead sent to ...
Publications
* R. Freymann, W. Strobl, A. Obieglo: The Turbosteamer: A System Introducing the Principle of Cogeneration in Automotive Applications. Motortechnische Zeitschrift, MTZ 05/2008 Jahrgang 69, pp.404-412.
References
External links
Gizmag article discussing BMW's turbosteamerArticle on BMW's alternative Combined Cycle Hybrid technology
BMW Group. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
Engine technology
Steam power
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