Nanofluids

[Fu Manchu]

Thought it would be good to share this one.

My take away is this might be an Aussie business developing a Graphene included fluid for cooling the engine.

It also seems that it would be compatible with existing cooling systems looking superficially at its fluidity.

*I bet most of you have already watched this because it seems most of our YouTube feeds are the same.

 

[Fu Manchu]

The business involved.
https://www.flexegraph.com/

 

[Immortality]

It was on my list to watch....so I just watched it.

Whilst I do agree with the principle. Heat that goes out through the radiator is wasted heat and in the internal combustion engine a lot of the energy stored in the fuel is actually wasted to heat, it's one of the major reasons the ICE engine is really only about 50% efficient when you look at the total amount of energy stored in the fuel to what you use at the fly wheel.

Another revolutionary step would be to find ways to keep the heat in the combustion process instead of loosing it as heat into the engine block/head and/or heat recovery, making that heat do work instead of just wasting to atmosphere.

 

[shane_3800]

It was on my list to watch....so I just watched it.

Whilst I do agree with the principle. Heat that goes out through the radiator is wasted heat and in the internal combustion engine a lot of the energy stored in the fuel is actually wasted to heat.

Another revolutionary step would be to find ways to keep the heat in the combustion process instead of loosing it as heat into the engine block/head and/or heat recovery, making that heat do work instead of just wasting to atmosphere.

You mean like a turbo.

 

[Immortality]

You mean like a turbo.

Well yes and no. A turbo is only using that heat when you are looking to make high power. When just cruising down the road it's not doing anything to improve efficiency. what it does do is allow a much smaller engine to make the same power as a larger n/a engine. Just cruising down the road actually requires very little power (constant speed). It's all the stop/start **** that kills efficiency as the engine is constantly having to accelerate which requires much more power.

 

[shane_3800]

Well yes and no. A turbo is only using that heat when you are looking to make high power. When just cruising down the road it's not doing anything to improve efficiency. what it does do is allow a much smaller engine to make the same power as a larger n/a engine. Just cruising down the road actually requires very little power (constant speed). It's all the stop/start **** that kills efficiency as the engine is constantly having to accelerate which requires much more power.

So a small engine running at maximum efficiency continually charging a "small" battery for a electric motor would be ideal then.

Just like how trains and ships do it, apart from bulk carriers, cargo ships ect which just connect the prop to the engine.

 

[Immortality]

You mean like a turbo.

I guess the best approximation would be the Formula 1 Kers system where the turbo drives a generator and recovers that heat energy to electrical which is then used to power an electric motor in the drive train. Same with brake systems, instead of wasting the energy in the momentum of the vehicle to heat via the brakes it's turned back into electrical power that can then be used to get the vehicle moving again.....but that brings us back to the use of batteries and we all know how you feel about those.

 

[Immortality]

So a small engine running at maximum efficiency continually charging a "small" battery for a electric motor would be ideal then.

Just like how trains and ships do it, apart from bulk carriers, cargo ships ect which just connect the prop to the engine.

Basically yes.

 

[Immortality]

But then we are still working with ICE engines which are only about 50% efficient. Ideally we need to find a way to keep the heat out of the engine block/head.

edit: there are coatings you can use to reduce heat transfer into piston crown, cylinder heads, valves etc. I know they work but how well they work I'm not sure. I believe @07GTS has used some on his new build so he may be able to comment. Most people only tend to use ceramic coatings on headers.