Will Turbo Compounding Become The Major Innovation In Fuel Efficiency For Conventional Powerplants?

Internal combustion will play a role in automotive propulsion far into the future, but not without help. At issue is the 25- to 30-percent energy loss that occurs when hot exhaust gases are dumped into the atmosphere.

Turbochargers successfully recycle some of that energy, but there are other recovery technologies carmakers haven’t tapped. One that’s especially promising is turbo compounding.

Like a turbocharger, the turbo-compound approach recovers waste-exhaust energy, but, instead of powering a compressor, the turbine wheel is connected to the crankshaft through a train of gears. Turbo compounding works with or without a conventional turbocharger upstream.

 

MDarringer - 11/21/2014 7:48:57 PM

-2 Boost

Toyota will do it first and will do it right. 10 years later, the German will use decade-old Toyota technology as examples of cutting-edge engineering from der farter land.

See every German hybrid.

bjones682001 - 11/21/2014 11:29:54 PM

+2 Boost

Wow...you do realize this is OLD technology....agricultural and semi trucks have been doing this for years now.....

MDarringer - 11/22/2014 12:14:52 PM

0 Boost

doesn't mean it's ready for cars