You guys are unreal with your comments - is it jealousy or something. Whatever it is it make me want to never come here again
How a Car Engine Works
31–40 of 172 posts
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#32For an old school look at internal combustion engines, check out this episode of The Secret Life of Machines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfr3_AwuO9Y The whole show is well worth the time.
The whole series was great. Worth watching for sure.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#33This is pretty cool. When I was younger I built a mini engine (from a kit[1], I wasn't fabbing components) which gave me a nice intro to the basics of how a car engine operates, but whilst parts of it are pretty simple to get it's helpful to see the process.
Even if it's a monolithic gif that annoys web developers. Or if it only shows one kind of engine design.
[1] http://www.scientificsonline.com/smithsonian-gas-engine-mode... is pretty close, but mine was a bit more basic. 15 years seems to have improved science kits a bit.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#34Air != oxygen. Only 20% of air is oxygen.
If the air to fuel ratio is 10, then the oxygen to fuel ratio is only 2.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#35It's worth noting that the engine illustrated is a gasoline direct injection engine, which are fairly common on new cars but historically not so. Until the early 2000s most fuel injected gasoline engines were multi-point injection - the fuel was injected in to the incoming air stream immediately before the cylinder, and before that indirect injection which injected where the carburettor was. Then there are carburetto…
Are you sure this is a direct injection? I'm seeing the injector directly behind the inlet valves which would make it multi point.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#36It's worth noting that the engine illustrated is a gasoline direct injection engine, which are fairly common on new cars but historically not so. Until the early 2000s most fuel injected gasoline engines were multi-point injection - the fuel was injected in to the incoming air stream immediately before the cylinder, and before that indirect injection which injected where the carburettor was. Then there are carburetto…
Are you sure this is a direct injection? I'm seeing the injector directly behind the inlet valves which would make it multi point.
I just took a close look at it, and I think you're right. It's not the easiest thing to see due to the wireframe, but with a second look it does appear that the injectors are just behind the valve.
So yes, it's multi-point injection, rather than direct injection which is the new hotness for gasoline. Formula 1 will allow it from next year with the new V6 formula!
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#37Nowadays hybrids are smarter. Combustion engine is used to charge batteries and provide power to the electric motor, it's more efficient way of using energy from gasoline. Using combustion with electric motor stands out to be much less efficient.
AFAIK we're still not doing it right. The best way is to make the electric motor the main motor, and having the gasoline engine be small and tuned to run at a consistent peak efficiency RPM, and only used to charge the batteries. This was figured out in 1979! http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/electric... (see the diagram in the fourth image).
Yes, that is exactly what I meant. There are already some cars that do it almost properly.
http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Mobile
Btw Yo-Mobile is interesting since they are using rotary engine to do power generation.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#38Nowadays hybrids are smarter. Combustion engine is used to charge batteries and provide power to the electric motor, it's more efficient way of using energy from gasoline. Using combustion with electric motor stands out to be much less efficient.
That isn't true, most hybrids still have a mechanical connection between the combustion engine and the drive wheels. That is, the Prius, Ford hybrids, GM hybrids, I'm sure others.
Agree, Prius and others aren't actually efficient in terms of fuel usage. And they aren't "green".
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#39You guys are unreal with your comments - is it jealousy or something. Whatever it is it make me want to never come here again
Never underestimate the pedantry of a crowd of IT-types. I used to be like that, but I grew out of it.
The main problem seems to be that it's either a simplification - which is needed because the real thing is too complex to absorb at once - or the technology choice doesn't meet their expectations.
As someone who knows all about engines, I think it's neat. Too many people don't have the faintest idea about how their car works. Though I guess most don't care and it's my desire to know how everything works that makes me odd.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#40Water boil at exactly 100 degrees Celsius... not the conversion of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Americans. ;-) Nice job still.
If you're going to take it that far you have to add "at standard pressure".