BMW working on steam-gas hybrid engine
posted Dec 15th 2005 10:00AM
The last time steam-powered autos were a
major force on the roads, they were sharing the highways not just with gasoline-powered cars but with horses, wagons
and various jury-rigged forms of transportation (sounds like what New York might look like if the subway strike goes
through tomorrow). Now steam cars may be making a comeback, thanks to BMW, which is working on a hybrid engine that
will reclaim excess heat from burning oil and convert it to steam. The turbosteamer (can we call it the steamer
Beemer?) may be able to capture up to 80% of waste heat and increase fuel efficiency by up to 15%. Unlike electric
hybrid engines, it could also be retro-fitted into existing cars. Sure beats burning coal, which is how earlier
steamers got their juice.
how about that? harnessing a by-product rather than trying to add more complexity with gas/electric hybrids. i'm not against the electric variety, but they are far from efficient. this reclamation of heat should ... ahem ... gather steam. i'd like to see this type of tech move forward at a quick rate.
the first news about alternative fuels in a long time that actually gets me excited.
Count Jay Leno in as a future owner. But remember, steam has a lot of pressue. In a head on collision, I hope you don't get a lap full of boiling water.
The weigth and cost of water would make this uneconomic.
Sure it adds power, but power to weight is the most imporant for cars that are used to MOVE people.
You not only need the steam engine but also a supply of water to convert to steam. Water is not light.
Also you would probably need a pure / filtered form of water or have to decalcify your engine every 3K miles.
Has anyone stopped and compared the cost of bottled water (per gallon) at a gas stations compared to the gost of gas/petrol/desil (per gallon) ????
You think adding a heat reclamation system based on steam is not 'added complexity'?
The electric hybrid maybe an interm development to move consumers to all electric or hydro. This steam system, while interesting, seems like a dead-end to me.
It's "bimmer", not "beemer". The company is GERMAN, remember?
To #3 aka nemi,
when you become a mechanical engineer and develop your own hybrid, then and only then do i care to read your thoughts on this issue. until then its drivel.
I love BMW and i think this is great what they are doing, but engadget misspelled "Beemer" it is "Bimmer"
The expression is Jerry-rigged. It comes from WWI and WWII (maybe just WWII, I don't remember so well). I'm pretty sure that's why you guys meant in the article. Just trying to help out.
d.lyte: electric hybrids also reclaim energy through regenerative braking. I bet a Prius picks up atleast 15% this way.
lectoid: driving any car is a risky proposition, highly explosive gasoline in your lap isn't much fun either.
nemi: a closed steam loop recycyles the water so refill strictly not needed. Start with purified water and you'll be good for the life of the car.
#3, let's not completely ignore that water moisture exists in the air an perhaps the car collects this water. Also possible is a system where a resevoir is heated to steam for it's intended purpose and then re-cooled as it travels through a hose back into the resevoir. Not sure if this exactly requires Evian to run. Threadcrapper.
too bad it won't be made in Cleveland because I'd love to drive a Cleveland Steamer!
Jury-rigged is acceptible. It's a nautical term for a short-term fix.
http://sailing.about.com/od/glossary/g/juryrig.htm
I've heard jerry-rigged and jimmy-rigged are racial slurs (Afican-American and Irish-American, respectively). I couldn't find any references on that, though. There's also the nigger-rigged variant, which is obviously racist.
Actually, the idiom is "jury-rigged" which means "assembled in a makeshift manner",
in use since 1788. It comes from "jury mast", a nautical term used since 1616 for a temporary mast made from any available
spar when the mast has broken or been lost overboard.
"Jerry-built", which the OED defines as "built unsubstantially of bad materials; built to sell but not last" is attested since 1869,
and is said to have arisen in Liverpool."Jerry" as British slang for "a German, especially a German soldier" is not attested until 1898 and is unconnected with
"jerry-built".
Hm. So what happens with this steam based system in the winter then? Would it be a solid block of ice if you leave it outside?
I know this is blowing my own trumpet, but I'm pretty overcome here - I created the illustration for the article and it's been everywhere in the press. I know, that in itself isn't THAT important, but as an avid engadget reader, seeing my work 'up in lights' so to speak is waaay cool! :-) (that's one for me to tell the grandkids one day!)
Hey Fran, would you happen to have a larger picture available?
I do not think that 15% is very much. I don't like electric hybrids because they don't acheive a significant increase in efficiency, especially compared to their complexity. If I had the $$ I would go get a turbo diesel and run biodiesel in it. This would acheive for me the two fold purpose of saving money and giving the finger to the oil tycoons. Exxon netted $40 billion last year.
You want me to buy a new kind of car, make it run on water that I can just pour into it out of my hose.
aP
Could both reclaimation sytems be used at the same time? Heat+Momentum+Generation=great miliage. Put these systems on a small diesel engine, like VW uses. Start looking at aerodynamics like Uncle Bucky did on the dymaxium(?) car in the 1950's. Hell, it wouldn't drive like a BMW, but it would go a long way!
all these feel-good alt energy ideas really are expensive. Can I give an example: I was told by a major contractor that replacing windows in your house (for efficiency sake) just is not worth it. You will never recoup the cost of the windows in lower heating bills.
The same is probably true for the Prius/hybrids/all future hybrids. Depressing I know. The answer? Walk to work I guess...
This news item as origionally posted on BMWHP.org (BMW High Performance Motorcycle Central) on 12/9. See http://www.bmwhp.org/content.asp?ID=1087&CLASS=NEWS
Jerry-rigged refers to German's, not Irish. Jerries was the slang term for Germans in the big wars.
Beemer = BMW Motorcycle
Bimmer = BMW Car
Merci, Geren.
Steam-gas hybrids show great potential. Surprised there hasn't been more development on them before.
As for Beemer in my book this counts as one:
http://www.bidera.com/cgi-bin/us/emaximarket.cgi?action=item&item=23772
Naturally BMW bikes can't be called hogs that's for sure, but haven't seen Beemer used to describe them.
Amos is right.
But if you are looking at getting a new car anyway, why not invest in new tech? It sends the right msg to the manufacturers.
My husband likes the Honda hybrid he bought. 50-60 mpg...
I like my 1993 BIMMER. Milk is right.
Jury-rig is the oldest version of this idiom and dates back to 1788. The term predates the War to End All Wars (WWI). It is suspected that the term 'jury' was a shortening of 'injury', with jury-mast being the oldest found version, itself dating to 1616. This means a temporary repair good enough to hold together until full repairs can be made at a base. This is a good thing.
Jerry-built dates to 1869 and means deliberately poor and shoddy construction from the start. This is a bad thing.
See for more fun facts.
@#16 Tristan...
i have it almost as big as you'd need it.
it's also available from the press dept. of BMW if you have press access...
This whole bimmer / beemer thing is new to me, but here's an explanation:
http://www.bmwccbc.org/misc/tech-and-trivia/bimmer.html
A 15% increase in efficiency is nothing to write home about, and probably not worth the cost.
What happens when it gets really really cold and the whole system freezes cause it's just water right? They probably have something but I'd like to know.
@ #9
Just so you know, gasoline in it's liquid form is not explosive. Once vaporized however, (like when it is injected into the car's engine) it becomes highly explosive. It is a fairly quickly evaporating liquid, but even so, when In a car crash it is highly unlikely for the car to explode or even burn substantially because of gasoline leaks. Hollywood takes a lot of artistic liberty with their crashes and wrecks.
Considering water vapour is the main greenhouse gas, who long before these hybrids will be banned?
Those of you who say 15% isn't a lot should take this into consideration. They do say 15% practically speaking in the real article.
New 3 series gets around 30 mpg highway. 15% more is 34.5 mpg. Doesn't sound like much, but if you consider a full tank of gas (probably 17 gallons?), that's an extra 76.5 miles per TANK.
If you average 15,000 miles a year (considering a practical maximum of 500 miles/tank for normal, and 580 miles/tank with the steamer) -- stock you will put 30 tanks of gas in your car, with the steamer only 25-26 tanks of gas in. At $2.50/gallon of gas, that's nearly $200 a year saved in gas. Over the course of a few years the system very EASILY pays itself off.
Not to mention this system is brand new - give BMW 5 years to further develop it, and they'll get much better efficiency.