Interesting article on the newest concept in hybrid cars- a combination internal combustion/steam turbine/electric.

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4936/

Wasn't something similar tried toward the end of steam on railroads? And I wonder what federal regs this sort of machine will fall under.

Thanks for posting this ....

If it ever goes into production, It'll come under the same regulations as all other cars and trucks ---

NHTSA (DOT) for safety and CAFE compliance, EPA for emissions, and possibly IRS for either gas guzzler fees or hybrid vehicle tax credits.

Bob H

After looking at the article and the system diagrams, I think this may not be turbo-electric, but instead turbine direct drive. Magnifying the diagram x2 shows the turbine, through two belts, driving the crankshaft.

Fun stuff, for those of us who are fascinated by the occasional resurgence of steam power, and frustrated by all the waste heat coming off of car radiators and out the tailpipe. It looks as though it's twin turbines, not a conventional two-stage turbine in which the exhaust of the high-pressure stage drives the low-pressure one, but two independent circuits connected only by the final drive. Evidently the low pressure circuit recovers the waste heat from the gas-engine radiator and the tailpipe, and the high-pressure circuit recovers heat from the tailpipe and the low-pressure circuit. The article refers to "steam" (or "dampf") so I presume the working fluid is distilled water.

The scheme is called "turbosteam" but instead they call the steam motors "expanders," which makes me wonder if they aren't a rotary or vane-type engine of some kind. The system might be seen as a replacement for auto turbocharger systems which recover kinetic energy from the exhaust. You could probably put such a thing on a Diesel locomotive, too.

A similar scheme appeared on rails in the 1930's in England's Kitson-Still steam-Diesel 2-8-0, in which a single-acting 8-cylinder opposed engine had four Diesel cylinders and 4 steam ones, if I remember right. The thing would start as a steam engine until it reached a speed at which the direct-connected Diesel cylinders would kick in, then the waste heat from the Diesel exhaust would raise steam for the next start. This combined the starting power of a steam engine with the high-speed ability of a Diesel, and the maintenance costs of both, getting the desirable characteristics exactly backward, with pumping losses. Although it worked in local freight service for a few years, for some reason it was never duplicated. BMW's scheme sounds better.

That sounds like the original Batman series...

Erich