[DML] Engine efficiency & fuel additives

["RYERSON,TERRI" <tryerson@xxxx>]

 To All:

With reference to the recent post about Platinum and its role in catalytic
converters and fuel economy enhancers. This message is in two parts because
of the 5K size limitation
of the group. This is the first part of two.

"Supposedly, all the catalytic converter does is use a tiny bit of
platinum to combine with and burn the waste fuel as it's in the exhaust."

Please excuse me for being so windy, but all of this is important in
understanding certain aspects of the above and all other such claims.

The element Platinum in catalytic converters, and other areas, is used as
what chemists call a catalyst. In this sense the Platinum does not,
itself, enter into the reaction with unburned combustion products, but
serves a a
surface on which the unburned combustion residues are oxidized ( burned ).
During this process NONE of the platinum is consumed, and it remains in
Thecatalytic converter for further use as a catalyst.

Platinum is a VERY expensive metal, more so than even Gold. Furthermore it
is what is considered a "noble" metal. Noble means, in this sense, that it
does not readily form compounds with other things. This characteristic is
one thing that makes it useful as a catalyst in catalytic converters. The
Platinum is able to enable the conversion reaction ( oxidation ) in a
catalytic converter and remain in place for further use.

The above, and some other considerations make it impossible that
introducing Platinum into the combustion chamber would result in any
reduction in
undesired emissions or increase in fuel economy. In addition, as mentioned
previously, it is VERY difficult to get Platinum to form compounds:
therefore there is probably no inexpensive compound of Platinum that is
available for mixing with fuel.

One major source of undesired emissions from internal combustion engines
is caused by quenching ( putting out ) of the combustion flame near the
cylinder walls and cylinder head. This occurs because the metal itself is
always at a temperature too low to permit combustion nearby. This results
in a layer of unburned mixture that is exhausted with the rest of the
exhaust. Placing Platinum in the fuel mixture will not eliminate this
characteristic since it is caused the metal of the engine removing heat
from the burning
mixture.

The other claim of increased fuel economy is simply impossible based on
the basic physics of heat flow. Many times over the last seventy years
various
claims have been made regarding carburetors, fuel additives, and other
items purporting to provide huge increases in fuel economy. There is even
still
an urban legend that General Motors bought the rights to a super carburetor
in order to keep it out of the hands of the public. These claims and
beliefs
are all bunk for the following reasons.

An internal combustion engine is basically a device that converts heat
energy contained within a fuel, into mechanical energy such as in a
rotating crankshaft. All such processes, and many others, are governed by
what is
known as "Carnots Law". This comes from a fellow named Nicholas Leonard
Sadie Carnot who lived until around 1830 or so. Without getting even more
technical that I already have, suffice it to say that there a fundamental
limits on how efficient an engine can be.

The basic premise of Carnots law, with regard to an internal combustion
engine, is that the maximum efficiency of an engine is limited by the
ratio of the maximum combustion temperature to the temperature of the
exhaust.
The maximum temperature of combustion represents the entire heat energy
available in the fuel. The temperature of the exhaust then represents the
wastage in the process. All heat energy that is sent out of the engine in
the exhaust is LOST as far as fuel economy and power are concerned.
Furthermore this is so because the exhaust, very hot as we all know, is at
a temperature above absolute zero.

In order to eliminate this nasty characteristic it would be necessary for
the engine to exhaust its combustion products at a temperature of absolute
zero. This of course, is impossible. Only by exhausting at absolute zero
could all the heat available in a given fuel be converted to rotating
energy in a crankshaft. There are unfortunately other considerations.