Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Okay, now that I have your attention!
I have been lurking for a while and thought that I would pass on this article taken from Science News. This magazine is a hard-science weekly magazine that gathers and condenses siginificant results reported by scientists in all fields of science. If anyone else here reads this magazine, they can vouch for it's scholarly accuracy or you can just go to the library and look at a couple of issues and see for yourself.
Anyway, I thought that the below article might shed some light on the functioning of propane injection as well as point out another area we might be looking at.
Now, who can get us some polyisobutylene?
-John-
Science News
September 2, 2000
Vol. 158, No. 10
Pg. 149
By J. Gorman
A chemical normally known for its role in the manufacture of synthetic rubber may lead to cleaner-burning, more-fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
Automobiles using the polymer additive, called polyisobutylene, decrease their emission by 70 percent, says Paul F. Waters of American University in Washington D. C. What's more, mileage goes up 20 percent, while horsepower increases 10 percent, he says.
Due to emissions improvements and fuel savings, Waters says, polyisobutylene "reduces the number of gases that potentially lead to global warming.
Waters reported the results in late August at the 220th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington D. C.
Gasoline is a menagerie of hydrocarbon molecules that differ in size and shape. Short molecules generally burn very quickly, causing temperature and pressure inside an engine to rise in a dramatic spike. That creates engine knock and emissions of nitrous oxide pollution. Meanwhile, longer hydrocarbons burn more slowly and incompletely, which raises exhaust temperature and leave remnants of hydrocarbons that contribute to soot and other forms of pollution.
Polyisobutylene appears to lightly delay the burning of short hydrocarbon molecules, which then hasten the burning of the longer hydrocarbons, Waters says. With the additive, therefore, the fuel burns more completely and engine and exhaust temperatures drop significantly.
Waters suspects that polyisobutylene changes the surface tension of fuel droplets, preventing short hydrocarbons from immediately vaporizing when gasoline is prayed into the engine. The delay is apparently "long enough so that… the two components evaporate more or less in the same physical region in space and then they burn more or less together, says Waters.
I think Paul has some intriguing results that could e very promising for the automotive industry," comments Graham Swift, a polymer chemist and independent consultant outside of Philadelphia. "It sounds delightfully simple and promising to me. We tend not to look for simple solutions. "
"What I like about his approach was that he looked at combustion, and he looked at what controls combustion, then applied it to the internal combustion engine," says Swift. With better control over the fuel droplets, Swift says, "the better your combustion, the better your fuel consumption, the better your automotive horsepower, the less incomplete combustion you get, and that means that you've got less noxious fumes coming out. "
So far, Waters and his colleagues have tested the additive on a dozen automobiles in three states and several other countries. Waters points out that 50 other cars have also shown improved performance with the additive.
Waters says the mileage benefits could pay for the cost of the fuel additive - perhaps 10 cents a gallon, he says. Polyisobutylene works well in diesel engines too, he adds.
"This is of course useful for global warming, but it is also useful for the vehicle and the engine itself," says Waters. "When the engine operates at a lower overall temperature, there's less wear and tear on all these parts. The less temperature that you impose on any of these devices, the longer they're going to last, and in principle, the less your repair bill is going to be.
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Dodge 2500 Cummins 24v 4x4
I have been lurking for a while and thought that I would pass on this article taken from Science News. This magazine is a hard-science weekly magazine that gathers and condenses siginificant results reported by scientists in all fields of science. If anyone else here reads this magazine, they can vouch for it's scholarly accuracy or you can just go to the library and look at a couple of issues and see for yourself.
Anyway, I thought that the below article might shed some light on the functioning of propane injection as well as point out another area we might be looking at.
Now, who can get us some polyisobutylene?
-John-
Science News
September 2, 2000
Vol. 158, No. 10
Pg. 149
By J. Gorman
A chemical normally known for its role in the manufacture of synthetic rubber may lead to cleaner-burning, more-fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
Automobiles using the polymer additive, called polyisobutylene, decrease their emission by 70 percent, says Paul F. Waters of American University in Washington D. C. What's more, mileage goes up 20 percent, while horsepower increases 10 percent, he says.
Due to emissions improvements and fuel savings, Waters says, polyisobutylene "reduces the number of gases that potentially lead to global warming.
Waters reported the results in late August at the 220th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington D. C.
Gasoline is a menagerie of hydrocarbon molecules that differ in size and shape. Short molecules generally burn very quickly, causing temperature and pressure inside an engine to rise in a dramatic spike. That creates engine knock and emissions of nitrous oxide pollution. Meanwhile, longer hydrocarbons burn more slowly and incompletely, which raises exhaust temperature and leave remnants of hydrocarbons that contribute to soot and other forms of pollution.
Polyisobutylene appears to lightly delay the burning of short hydrocarbon molecules, which then hasten the burning of the longer hydrocarbons, Waters says. With the additive, therefore, the fuel burns more completely and engine and exhaust temperatures drop significantly.
Waters suspects that polyisobutylene changes the surface tension of fuel droplets, preventing short hydrocarbons from immediately vaporizing when gasoline is prayed into the engine. The delay is apparently "long enough so that… the two components evaporate more or less in the same physical region in space and then they burn more or less together, says Waters.
I think Paul has some intriguing results that could e very promising for the automotive industry," comments Graham Swift, a polymer chemist and independent consultant outside of Philadelphia. "It sounds delightfully simple and promising to me. We tend not to look for simple solutions. "
"What I like about his approach was that he looked at combustion, and he looked at what controls combustion, then applied it to the internal combustion engine," says Swift. With better control over the fuel droplets, Swift says, "the better your combustion, the better your fuel consumption, the better your automotive horsepower, the less incomplete combustion you get, and that means that you've got less noxious fumes coming out. "
So far, Waters and his colleagues have tested the additive on a dozen automobiles in three states and several other countries. Waters points out that 50 other cars have also shown improved performance with the additive.
Waters says the mileage benefits could pay for the cost of the fuel additive - perhaps 10 cents a gallon, he says. Polyisobutylene works well in diesel engines too, he adds.
"This is of course useful for global warming, but it is also useful for the vehicle and the engine itself," says Waters. "When the engine operates at a lower overall temperature, there's less wear and tear on all these parts. The less temperature that you impose on any of these devices, the longer they're going to last, and in principle, the less your repair bill is going to be.
------------------
Dodge 2500 Cummins 24v 4x4
