Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid, UK
Clean Power Technologies still working on new steam-assisted cars
There have been a few companies which have been working on new applications of steam power for our automobiles, some of which are well known, such as BMW, and others just now coming out of the woodwork. One such company is Clean Power Technologies based in the U.K. One common thread from these new systems is that they all rely on waste heat from our tried-and-true internal combustion engines. CPT's technology uses the exhaust heat to generate its steam, and it has many uses from there. In early tests, the company powered half of a Mazda rotary engine with steam and the company is still investigating the possibility of a gas/steam hybrid, hoping to have something ready for production by 2011. Another possibility involves powering auxiliary systems such as air conditioning or refrigeration units with the steam power. CPT is working with Safeway stores in the U.S. to start testing this system shortly.
[Source: Channel 4]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steve 3:14PM (9/05/2008)
Why not have an alternator driven by the exhaust gases?
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George Krpan 3:31PM (9/06/2008)
Not a bad idea. Avoids batteries.
Lots of waste heat from an internal combustion engine.
Another idea, store braking energy in the form of compressed air.
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