Claims of 50 to 300% increases in MPG.... My question is myth or reality?

 

Let's see, that would make my 20 mpg average daily driver C5 get between 30 and 60 mpg (or does a 300% increase mean 80 mpg?) with no other changes. Who needs hybrids if a C5 gets 60 mpg around town? Now why didn't GM think of that?

The turnip trucks are losing their payload....

http://www.comics.com/creators/speed...6610620309.gif

 

I'm a real carb guy so I think I can answer that.

In short, yes a vaporizer is incredibly efficient and will return the mileage improvement you mention... however, since you cannot load the engine very much running in this condition, it would only be practical for an extremely lightweight vehicle spinning at a little higher RPM than usual.
When I say light-weight and low-load I mean something more like the weight of a motorcycle with an unusually large engine.
University students can make it work, but it's not practical at all for a car.

Just to give you an example of some testing I've done along those lines:
I've increased intake air temp to 150*F going into a wet-flow intake system (both carbureted and TBI) and measured a very significant increase in mileage though no-where near 50%, but more like 12% which is actually huge as far as mileage gains go. The condition is that it only happens during steady-state cruising at highway speed where very little power is needed from the engine. Any other tests besides steady highway cruise and you can actually lose mileage due to the big power loss.

For a vaporizer to work, it requires heat and enough surface area to apply enough heat to keep fuel in a vapor. The side effects are greatly reduced charge density, AND much reduced oxygen content per volume (space taken up by fuel vapor). It's just not practical in a street driven car IMO.
Maybe in the future it will work out better with a different type of fuel.
A fuel with a low flash vaporization and an oxydizer would seem to be a possible solution.

 

I've pondered on this from time to time, and would like to know if a preheater of sorts wold be practical. Something that would heat the gas to near boiling point, in hopes that it would atomize more uniformly, creating a more complete burn, and more efficiency. Aside from the hot gas being less dense, would I be correct to hypothesize that it would yield more power as well???

 

Its called Propane.

 

Good ol' Smokey Yunick

This has been around forever... Link ---> http://schou.dk/hvce/

 

Nope. Propane does not have nearly the BTU output of gasoline.

Ah White. I actually figured you might have dived into this one before. My dad actually tried this in the late 60's and increased mileage substantially as well. The system he built however required a constant throttle and the application of a VERY heavy brake pedal until he got on the open road. LOL
I have always wondered why our Big Three could not design a system such as this. Dare I bring up the oil conspiracy here....

 

For some reason, I've heard of people marketing stuff like this, and disappearing mysteriously.

 

Yes, often with bags full of other people's money.

Or did you mean something else....?

 

That... or wind up in the trunk of a Ford LTD at the bottom of a large lake in the middle of nowhere.

 

I wouldnt doubt that a bit.

 

Do you mean they were done in by disgruntled customers, or that they were rubbed by the GM, Ford, DC, Japan Inc., etc car companies and their friends in Big Oil?

Personally I like planting someone in the concrete foundation of a large commercial structure if you want them to disappear.

 

Complete vaporization of gasoline is not a big fuel economy advantage. Propane and Natural Gas engines get virtually the same economy as normal gasoline engines on an energy basis. Heating the fuel and/or air however significantly reduces pumping losses by reducing the mixture density, thus requiring more throttle opening and so less vacuum for the pistons to work against.

 

Welp, if their product worked, then big oil might have been their demise. If their product sucked @$$, then I'd say it was a p!$$ed off customer.

Oh, and there's a network of old copper mines a few miles north of where I live, some of which are over 14,000 ft deep... flooded with water.

 

I like the car crusher myself. It'll make a body pretty flat.

 

Yeah, Goldfinger is my second favorite Bond movie. Guess why "Diamonds are Forever" is my fav.

EDIT: J.St.J. is the answer. RJ has all the luck.

 

Wouldnt this be perfect for an hybrid car? I have always thought about hooking a steady running motor to a generator that feeds curent to electric motors. You could still have batterys for a reserve.

 

The part I liked was after they cubed the big Lincoln, with the body and the gold still in it, they dropped it in the back of what was it, a Ford Falcon-based Ranchero? and it had no trouble at all handling the weight... <END THREAD HIJACK>

 

A moment if silence for smokey.... the legend

 

I've heard that there are devices out there that can spray water in, which vaporizes and burns to increase fuel mileage...or something like that (I'm no engine guy or mechanic!)? Anyone heard anything about them?

I've also read that it may be possible to run a vehicle off water (by separating the Hydrogen and Oxygen...to burn them)...I'll need to find the link for that though. With Gas going as high as it is, there's going to have to be some other options.