dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
This is also using Ag-style algae sources. A company called Solazyme in Silicon Valley has developed algae strains that can be manufactured in facilities, using sugar and light only.
Diesel News: POST HERE
- Thread starter Scott Brady
- Start date
This week, diesel fuel is less expensive than regular unleaded in all regions of USA, according to US government statistics.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp
The advantage of diesel ranges from a few cents up to 18 cents a gallon, depending on the region. Gas prices made a big jump upwards around Memorial Day. Diesel price rose, but not as dramatically.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp
The advantage of diesel ranges from a few cents up to 18 cents a gallon, depending on the region. Gas prices made a big jump upwards around Memorial Day. Diesel price rose, but not as dramatically.
overlander
Expedition Leader
Finally! Good has defeated evil, and the universe is in balance again...
Edmunds.com bought a used 2005 turbodiesel Jetta with 50,000 miles on
the odo, and started running it on biodiesel. Aside from a couple of fuel
filter changes necessitated by gunk in the fuel line that was loosened by
the diet of B99, the Jetta ran fine. After 20,000 miles of use, average mpg
was 40 for biodiesel, 39 for petro-diesel.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=124737
the odo, and started running it on biodiesel. Aside from a couple of fuel
filter changes necessitated by gunk in the fuel line that was loosened by
the diet of B99, the Jetta ran fine. After 20,000 miles of use, average mpg
was 40 for biodiesel, 39 for petro-diesel.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=124737
Pickuptrucks.com has a report about the Ford 5.0L turbo V8 with both gasoline and ethanol injection. The project is called "Bobcat."
The engine runs primarily on regular gas, with a separate ethanol injection circuit. The purpose of the separate ethanol injection is to cool the gas/air mixture, allowing higher turbo boost and higher compression ratio. The cooler mixture also allows the engine to run lean without producing too much oxides of nitrogen.
The reason this note is posted in the diesel news section is that the power produced by the Bobcat engine may surpass that of production diesel engines, with good fuel economy, and without expensive particulate traps or urea injection system to control emissions. If the engine proves to be durable like a diesel, there would be little reason to put diesels in light and medium duty trucks.
For example, the Bobcat 5.0L turbo V8 is expected to produce 500 hp and 750 lb-ft of torque. That's significantly better than the current 6.4L PowerStroke diesel.
One problem is availability of ethanol. Under light load, the fuel in the ethanol tank will last hundreds, even thousands of miles. Under heavy load, however, the ethanol is used more quickly, and might only last 100 miles. The truck will continue to operate on gasoline only, but power will be significantly reduced until the ethanol can be replenished. ("No, officer, that bottle is not filled with moonshine, it's my emergency ethanol supply!")
At present, pure ethanol is not readily available at service stations. E85 can be found at more locations, but the fuel delivery infrastructure will have to be updated before the Bobcat engine will be a workable solution.
Read the report here
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2009/06/sneak-peek-ford-bobcat-dual-fuel-engine.html
The engine runs primarily on regular gas, with a separate ethanol injection circuit. The purpose of the separate ethanol injection is to cool the gas/air mixture, allowing higher turbo boost and higher compression ratio. The cooler mixture also allows the engine to run lean without producing too much oxides of nitrogen.
The reason this note is posted in the diesel news section is that the power produced by the Bobcat engine may surpass that of production diesel engines, with good fuel economy, and without expensive particulate traps or urea injection system to control emissions. If the engine proves to be durable like a diesel, there would be little reason to put diesels in light and medium duty trucks.
For example, the Bobcat 5.0L turbo V8 is expected to produce 500 hp and 750 lb-ft of torque. That's significantly better than the current 6.4L PowerStroke diesel.
One problem is availability of ethanol. Under light load, the fuel in the ethanol tank will last hundreds, even thousands of miles. Under heavy load, however, the ethanol is used more quickly, and might only last 100 miles. The truck will continue to operate on gasoline only, but power will be significantly reduced until the ethanol can be replenished. ("No, officer, that bottle is not filled with moonshine, it's my emergency ethanol supply!")
At present, pure ethanol is not readily available at service stations. E85 can be found at more locations, but the fuel delivery infrastructure will have to be updated before the Bobcat engine will be a workable solution.
Read the report here
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2009/06/sneak-peek-ford-bobcat-dual-fuel-engine.html
Switching to vehicles powered by diesel engines has an unexpected cost: Mistakes when refueling.
Apparently police officers in Great Britain pumped gasoline into their diesel powered patrol cars 4900 times over a three year period. That's a rate of four vehicles damaged per day.
Repairs to the vehicles cost the equivalent of $1.6 million US dollars, not including time and manpower spent to retrieve and redeploy the officers. The cost of repairs varies depending on whether the error was noted before the officers tried to drive off.
This extra expense would kill the enthusiasm of a fleet owner who is trying to add diesel powered cars and light trucks to the mix.
The original report appeared in the Mirror, a British tabloid newspaper.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/2009/06/08/...filling-cars-with-wrong-fuel-115875-21423189/
Apparently police officers in Great Britain pumped gasoline into their diesel powered patrol cars 4900 times over a three year period. That's a rate of four vehicles damaged per day.
Repairs to the vehicles cost the equivalent of $1.6 million US dollars, not including time and manpower spent to retrieve and redeploy the officers. The cost of repairs varies depending on whether the error was noted before the officers tried to drive off.
This extra expense would kill the enthusiasm of a fleet owner who is trying to add diesel powered cars and light trucks to the mix.
The original report appeared in the Mirror, a British tabloid newspaper.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/2009/06/08/...filling-cars-with-wrong-fuel-115875-21423189/
It's been a while since I added any information to this thread.
Most of the developments have been in Europe, where many
auto makers have interesting new products.
Now for some USA news: VW will start selling the Golf hatchback
with a diesel engine in a few weeks. The Golf TDI 6 speed manual is
rated at 29 city, 40 highway mpg. The Golf is available as a two
door or four door. Prices start at $21,990.
I think the government is still offering a $1300 energy tax credit
when you purchase the Golf or Jetta.
Speaking of Jetta, an Australian couple just drove a 2009 Jetta
through 48 states in USA, recording an average fuel consumption of
67.9 mpg. The Jetta was a standard model, but equipped with
Goodyear Fuel Max tires. The trip took 3 weeks and covered 9000
miles. Shell was the fuel sponsor. Diesel fuel was purchased at
service stations along the route.
Chip Haven
Most of the developments have been in Europe, where many
auto makers have interesting new products.
Now for some USA news: VW will start selling the Golf hatchback
with a diesel engine in a few weeks. The Golf TDI 6 speed manual is
rated at 29 city, 40 highway mpg. The Golf is available as a two
door or four door. Prices start at $21,990.
I think the government is still offering a $1300 energy tax credit
when you purchase the Golf or Jetta.
Speaking of Jetta, an Australian couple just drove a 2009 Jetta
through 48 states in USA, recording an average fuel consumption of
67.9 mpg. The Jetta was a standard model, but equipped with
Goodyear Fuel Max tires. The trip took 3 weeks and covered 9000
miles. Shell was the fuel sponsor. Diesel fuel was purchased at
service stations along the route.
Chip Haven
762X39
Explorer
Depending on the model, the newer vehicle probably weighs a lot more and/or the displacement and power has been increased.
