New microturbine with cogen may find application in hybrid EV's

[rcavictim]

Well OK, here is what I get paid the big bucks to do around here.  To dig up all the latest and greatest poop I can find on subjects of interest to those here who prefer this to a normal lifestyle. First surprise.  Tata Motors, that Indian car company that became a household word here in N.A. recently because we all heard they are making a $1200 family automobile, has bought Jaguar and Land Rover.

Turns out Rover developed a gas turbine powered automobile in the WW-II period and has been chosen to head up a well funded initiative to put a modern axial flow gas turbine engine into a hybrid electric automobile as a source of power to recharge the batteries.  With bumper melting exhaust heat available the plan is to cogen this into higher efficiency.  How about a windshield defogger/deicer that works on the half dozen cars following you on the freeway! 

Sorry to those of you who have already poured a cubic meter of concrete in the trunk of the family grocery getter/DIY hybrid EV project car planning to install a 12-2 Listeroid to keep the system batteries replenished.  This really looks like a more practical soulution.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/01/bladon-20100129.html

Be sure to check the highlighted hotlinks in the text.  They lead to some very interesting stories and information.

[AdeV]

Hmmm, I'm not so sure that a gas turbine will ever make practical sense in a motor car; as other commenters have pointed out on the site - they're great in a narrow power band, but cars need the widest powerband they can get. And then you have to deal with the fast-moving exhaust stream (IIRC, Rover directed it upwards?)

I note as well that the development is being 50% funded by UK taxpayers, via the "Technology Strategy Board" - aka a quango dedicated to pissing £bns of UK taxpayer money up the wall. I see that in their first year of operations, they managed to build themselves some nice buildings, and produce a glossy back-slapping report on just how great they are at spending other people's money on TWOFT projects.

For a fixed (or even portable, but not self-propelled) co-gen application, I can see a baby turbine being an option - albeit not a cheap or "low tech" ala Lister[oid]/Changfa power.

[rcavictim]

Hmmm, I'm not so sure that a gas turbine will ever make practical sense in a motor car; as other commenters have pointed out on the site - they're great in a narrow power band, but cars need the widest powerband they can get. And then you have to deal with the fast-moving exhaust stream (IIRC, Rover directed it upwards?)

I note as well that the development is being 50% funded by UK taxpayers, via the "Technology Strategy Board" - aka a quango dedicated to pissing £bns of UK taxpayer money up the wall. I see that in their first year of operations, they managed to build themselves some nice buildings, and produce a glossy back-slapping report on just how great they are at spending other people's money on TWOFT projects.

For a fixed (or even portable, but not self-propelled) co-gen application, I can see a baby turbine being an option - albeit not a cheap or "low tech" ala Lister[oid]/Changfa power.

What you say about turbines having a narrow power band is true.  That is why generating electricity with one and using batteries and a electric motor for propulsion seems to make sense.  The turbine, like a diesel engine in the same application, can be set to run at it's maximum efficiency point.

As far as government agencies wasting money....it isn't real money, but it IS the blood and sweat of taxpayers nevertheless.

[AdeV]

What you say about turbines having a narrow power band is true.  That is why generating electricity with one and using batteries and a electric motor for propulsion seems to make sense.

True enough, and I should really have picked that up... I was just incandescent at the "Technology Strategy Board".... As you pointed out I believe, you do have a bit of an issue with the left-over heat: i.e. what to do with it? There's only so many windows you can demist on a car... even if you ARE demisting the whole street!

It would be interesting to get a feel for how many horsepower an average journey took, in a variety of cars; I guess that would let you size the turbine quite well for a given vehicle size/weight.

[billswan]

Adev

I think as a RANGE EXTENDER only it might work. You know an electric car that is charged off the grid or with photocells but on that one day when you have to drive more miles than a full charge can reach it could extend the range of the batteries. Of course what is it going to cost to have it and it's weight riding around waiting for that trip to way out there?

Oh and to the general forum I have always wondered about these fancy electric cars like the Tesla do they have heaters and air conditioners figured into there range or don't they??

Billswan