UH Huh, like this will ever be possible?

[flman]

I think he is smoking a crack pipe to think that OTR vehicles can double their mileage. The only thing that can move a heavy load is energy. Whats next, fly a 747 or an air bus on half the fuel? That is why I hate politicians, they have no clue about the laws they try to enact. http://www.fyurl.com/redirect.php?fyid=&url=http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=ArAIrSDIo8cMajqEXJG3LdVG2vAI;_ylu=X3oDMTFnMXBta2M5BGlpZAMxNDMxMjg4MzczODAxODU3Njg1NwRub2gDMwRwb3MDMQRyaWQDMTEyODkzMw--/SIG=140s5d9l6/**http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100521/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_fuel_efficiency

[cummins2k]

One would have to not only increase the efficiency of the engine but also improve aerodynamics, reduce weight, and reduce rolling resistance to obtain such a lofty goal. In the end you would end up with something that looks nothing like an OTR truck, most likely fragile, expensive to manufacture and repair, and would be limited in acceleration and road speed. Unfortunately politicians are not engineers nor scientists.

[Mopar1973Man]

What I'm finding is that you can't have your cake and eat it too.. Either you build up your truck a little bit and blow a bit of smoke and get into the 22-23 MPG bracket or you go for full smog control with DPF and EGR valve and drop to a low of 14 MPG...

[guesswho512]

i think you guys forgot one thing....as long as it is profitable...the current players will keep the status quo(one of the few problems with runaway capitalism) innovation and progress often get the backseat to profits. just like other industries in the US, without regulation, they would continue the status quo....and just like the other industries, if they wouldn't drag their feet, then the regulation would not have happened

[flman]

i think you guys forgot one thing....as long as it is profitable...the current players will keep the status quo(one of the few problems with runaway capitalism) innovation and progress often get the backseat to profits. just like other industries in the US, without regulation, they would continue the status quo....and just like the other industries, if they wouldn't drag their feet, then the regulation would not have happened

They might be able to save a little fuel, but physics dictates it takes a certain amount of energy to move a load. The energy is the fuel being burned.

[guesswho512]

Most steel engines have a thermodynamic limit of 37%. Even when aided with turbochargers and stock efficiency aids, most engines retain an average efficiency of about 18%-20%. http://courses.washington.edu/me341/oct22v2.htm An interesting side-note to this analysis is that around 1970, the productive efficiency of such engines was only around 15% and cooling system thermostats were designed to cause the cooling system to operate at around 20°F cooler than in today's engines http://mb-soft.com/public2/engine.html

[Mopar1973Man]

Holy Crap! GuessWho! That is a mouthful to rap your mind around... Worth reading some of that...

[LiveOak]

Most steel engines have a thermodynamic limit of 37%. Even when aided with turbochargers and stock efficiency aids, most engines retain an average efficiency of about 18%-20%. http://courses.washington.edu/me341/oct22v2.htm An interesting side-note to this analysis is that around 1970, the productive efficiency of such engines was only around 15% and cooling system thermostats were designed to cause the cooling system to operate at around 20°F cooler than in today's engines http://mb-soft.com/public2/engine.html

Probably the only hope of increased efficiency lies in finding a way to harness the exhaust gases and heat that are currently being expended as waste exhaust and heat extracted from the radiator. This would take some extensive "outside the box" thinking to design such a system. Heat is energy, recoving wasted energy to incorporate into powering the drive train could achieve a large increase in economy, but how is the big question.

[ISX]

So how about you take advantage of the heat to create steam. Have like a little half piston in between each regular piston that has a lot of the heat localized to it, inject water into it and it will create steam instantly. Have it set up so it pushes each piston to TDC on the compression stroke. So it would be like a 2 cylinder engine with the 2 pistons 180 degrees out of phase from each other on the crank so that when the steam piston pushes down, it pushes the diesel piston up on it's compression stroke. So that takes care of some of the lost heat, takes care of all the power lost during compression stroke. I think it would have to be a slow diesel, like those Lister diesels that have huge strokes. When the steam exits, have it drive a turbo using a special turbine. Got you all thinking now don't I! Just another crazy idea that won't work that I came up with in the last 5 min :lol:I guess if you had it super perfect, the water injected would take enough heat away to almost remove the need for the radiator. You would have to get really perfect with everything. Get every degree of heat to that steam part. Actually the exhaust is really hot so theres plenty of heat, use the exhaust and the heat from the rest of the engine. Hmmm