How far can we take the internal combustion engine with waste heat recovery?

Dr Peter Newton discusses some of the emerging technologies for waste energy recovery from combustion engine vehicles.

Abstract

With the rise of drivetrain electrification and 300 mile range electric cars on the market, to some it might look like the days of the IC engine could be numbered. But do we want to give up on this stalwart of a power plant that has been honed so incredibly over the last 100 or more years? What can be done to make the internal combustion engine a viable solution in the move towards a carbon free transport sector?

With the emerging demands on energy efficiency and pollution standards, there is only so far that we can get with the internal combustion engine as we know it. A well-known rule of thumb is that one third of the energy released by the fuel burned in an engine leaves through the tailpipe, another third is lost through the engine block and only the final third is used to drive the wheels. If you’re driving away from the design condition, those numbers look a lot worse. Unfortunately this rule of thumb has not progressed much in the last few decades. Advanced engine technologies for combustion, valve timings, downsizing and the like have helped to make modern engines more efficient, however, there is no escaping the fundamental limits imposed by thermodynamics. This leads to the necessity for a certain amount of energy to leave through the exhaust.

This talk will look at some of the emerging technologies for waste energy recovery from combustion engine vehicles, concentrating on the idea of bottoming cycles. The challenges in getting them to work in the real world will be discussed, and just how far we can go with the internal combustion engine.

Registration

Please register in advance for this event (and the others in the series) at http://imperialenergyseminars.eventbrite.com/

Venue

The seminar will be held in Room 1.47 of the Royal School of mine (building 9 on the campus map). The simplest route is to enter the building from Prince Consort Road and take the stairs on your left hand side up one flight. You then go through the double doors on your left, head down the corridor and turn left the room is in front of you.