• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Question for today

fogtender

Now a Published Author
Site Supporter
I will bite, why lasers?

Fish on!

rick_fishonB.jpg


or better yet!

119432797_5aaca94017.jpg
 
All the piston engine needs is rapid expansion in the cylinders, right?

Cover the vehicle with solar panels, while it is sitting it will be charging, the lasers will cause rapid expansion in the cylinders. For most people that drive short distances, the vehicle will run on hot air. Kind of like a momentary steam engine, very energy-efficient.

For vehicles used more frequently, you could inject gas in a cylinder every so often to run an alternator. This would make the piston engine a lot more fuel efficient.

We started out using sparkplugs, probably because we didn't really have lasers. And now we are just in the habit of using sparkplugs.

Thomas Edison used to say; "an inventor must have a junkyard".
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
All the piston engine needs is rapid expansion in the cylinders, right?

Cover the vehicle with solar panels, while it is sitting it will be charging, the lasers will cause rapid expansion in the cylinders. For most people that drive short distances, the vehicle will run on hot air. Kind of like a momentary steam engine, very energy-efficient.

For vehicles used more frequently, you could inject gas in a cylinder every so often to run an alternator. This would make the piston engine a lot more fuel efficient.

We started out using sparkplugs, probably because we didn't really have lasers. And now we are just in the habit of using sparkplugs.

Thomas Edison used to say; "an inventor must have a junkyard".

I will make it my personal sacrifice to make sure your account is not deleted while you go off an build this fantabulous invention of yours.

We'll leave a light on for you.®
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Been there done that. Nothing new to see here.

The Stirling engine runs on the theory of hot air expanding and cold air contracting. This has been around for a long time.

(Sorry.)

Ditto.

But let me add that the rotational power needed to run a generator of sufficient size to power the lasers would be the practical issue to overcome. Sure you can bench test something powering the lasers when they are plugged into a power source, but making it all work AND stuffing it under the hood of a car is what is needed. The only engines that are really interesting are engines that are practical & powerful. Practical means they must be efficient, affordable, reliable and attainable for use in a car, tractor, etc.
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
Actually, it's pretty much a mathematical impossibility. There is a direct conversion between watts and horsepower (1HP = 746 Watts). So, a modest econo-car with a 100HP engine is equal to 74,600 Watts. Even if you were to assume a 100% efficient transformation of the solar power into H.P. (impossible to do, but for the sake of argument...) then you would need a solar collector capable of 74.6KW. In ideal conditions (cloudless, solar noon, perfect alignment, etc) there is approximately 1000 watts of solar energy per sq meter of the planet, so our vehicle would need almost 75 sq meters of solar panels to collect the needed energy. For those of you more familiar with feet and inches, this around 800 sq ft of solar panels.
 
Ditto.

But let me add that the rotational power needed to run a generator of sufficient size to power the lasers would be the practical issue to overcome. Sure you can bench test something powering the lasers when they are plugged into a power source,

Yes. This is how it would begin. And you would work designing lasers specifically for this purpose, they do not exist yet either.

This configuration would avoid using an electric motor to power the vehicle. The power of electric motors degrade, somewhat rapidly, due to the breakdown of insulation in the windings. And this method would save/avoid a lot of copper usage/demand.

And, if it could be a kit that would upgrade existing vehicles with piston engines, that would avoid them becoming junk prematurely.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
... And you would work designing lasers specifically for this purpose, they do not exist yet either...
But as I said:
The only engines that are really interesting are engines that are practical & powerful. Practical means they must be efficient, affordable, reliable and attainable for use in a car, tractor, etc.
Consequently I'd think it would be just as likely to make theoretical engine run on:
Tractors4U said:
dilithium crystals
:pat:
 
Actually, it's pretty much a mathematical impossibility.

"Cover the vehicle with solar panels, while it is sitting it will be charging, the lasers will cause rapid expansion in the cylinders. For most people that drive short distances, the vehicle will run on hot air. Kind of like a momentary steam engine, very energy-efficient."

I did not say it would run continually on solar. The batteries/super capacitors would charge when the vehicle was sitting, in the sun, or possibly plugged in. With the reclaiming of the breaking energy, it would get you around town for short duration trips, without having to use the gas injectors.

I'm not saying it's a perpetual motion machine, it would not work in the absence of an atmosphere. And it would probably work better the higher the humidity, or, if a little water was injected.

The biggest problem, is that knowledgeable people are few and far between.
 
Last edited:

Deadly Sushi

The One, The Only, Sushi
SUPER Site Supporter
I'm not saying it's a perpetual motion machine, it would not work in the absence of an atmosphere. And it would probably work better the higher the humidity, or, if a little water was injected.

Actually that makes sense. :cool2:

Would need a gas that transfers energy from laser light to heat. Hmmmmmm....
Alan E. Jsckson is starting to make sense here. :idea:

i think we should give the guy some rep points!
 

Deadly Sushi

The One, The Only, Sushi
SUPER Site Supporter
Heat up the piston chamber over and over with a laser that heat up a gas that is trapped within the engine. Heat it up then cool it down. the gas doesnt leave the engine.
So yes he does :thumb:
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
If he did make sense, it would be nothing more than a 'blind squirrel finding one nut every ten years".
Give a million monkeys a million typewriters and a million years and one of them may write something akin to what we are reading here today :tiphat:
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
Give a million monkeys a million typewriters and a million years and one of them may write something akin to what we are reading here today :tiphat:

Thankfully, the monkey's typewriter ribbons would run dry within the first day or two. :yum:
 

Glink

Active member
Site Supporter
Conservation of Energy, the Second law of Thermodynamics, and possibly a little research into Thermochemical Combustion theory might be wise before you invest a whole bunch............. Or hell just go with it.
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
Conservation of Energy, the Second law of Thermodynamics, and possibly a little research into Thermochemical Combustion theory might be wise before you invest a whole bunch............. Or hell just go with it.
Don't confuse him with facts!
 
Top