All Cars, All the Time

The Future Looks Steamy






I've often thought it a shame that so much of gasoline's energy goes to waste in the form of heat. BMW recently announced its Turbosteamer concept that recaptures some of the heat energy that an internal combustion engine creates, but race engine builder Bruce Crower has another take on the subject. Bruce's "secret sauce" is the fact that he added two extra piston strokes into a normal four stroke cycle so that the crankshaft revolves three times for each camshaft revolution. Now, how does he get the extra strokes? Steam. The "steam stroke" is driven by water that flashes into steam when injected into the still hot combustion chamber. Makes sense, no? Keep in mind that while Bruce has a working engine, it hasn't been on a dyno or installed in a vehicle for road tests. Benefits of the engine include an up to 40 percent improvement in mileage and no cooling system. The engine would go through almost as much water (which is heavier than gasoline/diesel) as fuel and it would more than likely have to be distilled water to prevent deposits. You can read the full Autoweek article here.

It seems to me that a tremendous amount of energy is just waiting to be tapped. Whether it's BMW, Bruce, or someone else's idea that makes steam assist a reality, it's only a matter of time before we'll be "full steam ahead!*"

*Yes, that phrase is a bit corny.