An idea for an engine

[6speed]

Howsabout this. I'm no engineer or anything. But this is what I came up with.

Ok homes, here's the deal. You have a car. It has an electric engine. The car starts, get's to 30 mph and suddenly the wind starts to push against the car. But that's a good thing. Located in the middle of the car is a large duct, that rolls through to the front of the back ice. In the duct, there's 6 propellors, and when they move (they're made out of Carbon F), they propel the lightweight rear wheels forward. The car now moves on the power of air, using fan technology and using the force of air pushing into the car.

This is a rough deal, but maybe you can tell me if this would work.

If it did, the car would never pollute, and would never use fuel. Sounds good to me.

[Clique]

I am not an engineer my self but i think there are some problems with the design:
- the wind will not always be the same. one day the car might move fast another day it might not move as fast it might not even move.
- i think the large duct will create ALOT of drag thus slowing the car down.
just some problems i see. i might be wrong though....

[Sweeney921]

You'd pretty much have to get the car's Cd down to 0 for it to work, and it would have to be super lightweight. Interesting idea though.

[SLoppYJeeP]

It wouldnt work, all of the drag produced by the duct and the fan would cancel out any power that reached the rear wheels.

[scottie300z]

[QUOTE=Clique]I am not an engineer my self but i think there are some problems with the design:
- the wind will not always be the same. one day the car might move fast QUOTE]


But the car moving forward at a certain amount of speed creates wind.

I think the car would be too heavy w/ not enough power being made by the fan, the electric engine that would power the fan would have to have alot of power just to power the fan enough. At which point it would be more efficient for the electric motor to move the wheels.

[drakkie]

But the car moving forward at a certain amount of speed creates wind.

I think the car would be too heavy w/ not enough power being made by the fan, the electric engine that would power the fan would have to have alot of power just to power the fan enough. At which point it would be more efficient for the electric motor to move the wheels.

thus creating another problem. how much do you think a proper electric engine and batteries weigh ? A lot ! It is impossible because:
-drag on the car would be too much
-power lost in friction of the propellors would be too high
-if there is no wind,how will it move ? (wind on the back of the car would mean barely any wind in the duct)

[Matra et Alpine]

This has been gone over before

A fan by definition to put energy INTO a motor to drive wheels MUST generate drag on teh movign air so that the air forces it to spin. All the drag slows the car down. As every energy conversion loses power and air turbines are one of the worst, then it will run on it's own power for about 10 metres and then need an outside force to get it up to speed again

[kingofthering]

how about a V-8 VTEC? it would be heck of cool in the next-generation honda sports cars, now that the 276hp limit is gone japan can finally build supercars that rival italian cars

[Rockefella]

This has been gone over before

A fan by definition to put energy INTO a motor to drive wheels MUST generate drag on teh movign air so that the air forces it to spin. All the drag slows the car down. As every energy conversion loses power and air turbines are one of the worst, then it will run on it's own power for about 10 metres and then need an outside force to get it up to speed again

What Matra said. Then again, the added weight involved in creating this system is a downfall.

[6speed]

This has been gone over before

A fan by definition to put energy INTO a motor to drive wheels MUST generate drag on teh movign air so that the air forces it to spin. All the drag slows the car down. As every energy conversion loses power and air turbines are one of the worst, then it will run on it's own power for about 10 metres and then need an outside force to get it up to speed again

Then the power electric motor kicks in every ten metres. it all works! The electric motor gives it power to coast and it kicks in every second or so. You get twice the mileage of a normal electric car, while using half the power.

How does that sound?

[NSXType-R]

Yeah, it wouldn't really work unless it's extremely windy and your car is very light. I suppose it wouldn't be very safe to be in that car if it's that light. In order for that electric motor to keep the turbine running it must produce and use a lot of energy, which is probably much more than we can possibly store in the batteries. This makes it quite hard to be feasible but technology in the future might make it so that it works.

[SLoppYJeeP]

what!? If this worked then i could point a flashlight at a solar panel and use the power from the solar panel to power the flash light. The point is with this car is that your assuming that the fan will get energy, in a sence, "for free". The fan will infact cause drag on the car and cause it to slow down faster. the friction between what ever transmission device u have between the fan and wheels will also goggle up energy. it would be more efficient to have a streamlined car with no fan be powered for a certain amount of time, then be allowed to coast, and have this cycle be repeated. Or, even more effecient then this, would be to have the engine use a minimal amount of power to hold the vehical at a constant speed.

[Juggs]

how about a V-8 VTEC? it would be heck of cool in the next-generation honda sports cars, now that the 276hp limit is gone japan can finally build supercars that rival italian cars

you want a v8 v-tec? buy an 05 or 06 mustang GT. they have it

[Matra et Alpine]

Then the power electric motor kicks in every ten metres. it all works! The electric motor gives it power to coast and it kicks in every second or so. You get twice the mileage of a normal electric car, while using half the power.

How does that sound?

No becase the electric motor is having to work TWICE as hard as it has to overcome the drag of the fan ( and the extra weight ).

You COUDL ahve variable pitch fan so that it feathered every time you used the electric motor thus reducing the drag slightly ( but increasing the weight ).

So MORE losses.
Perpetual motion is impossible.
FACT.

The more energy conversion you build into a system the more losses you incur at each conversion and the less efficient it is.
It's a daft idea...... have you never seen the old B/W movie of the aircraft(!) with the umbrella thing going up and down ? It's on a par with that

[PerfAdv]

How about a hydraulic system that supplements the main engine. Sort of a hybrid power plant but the auxiliary power comes from compressed air. The air can be compressed by a variety of means. Regenerative brakes which turn built-in compressors at the wheels. Shocks which have a air pumping function which continually feeds air to the compressed air system, the rougher the road the better.