Bill Eastman wrote:
> So, the chemical reaction is 2(CH2) + 3(O2) => 2(CO2) + 4(H2O) + heat. Now
> assuming that the hydrocarbon in liquid coming in and the water is gaseous
> going out due to the high temp, you ingest 3 oxygen gas molecules and put
> out 6 gas molecules including 2 carbon dioxide and 4 water. So combustion
> puts out 50% more molecules that it brings in.
>
> So your engine has about 2.2 times the volume of
> gasses coming out than going in.
But remember, petrol goes in not as a gas but as a vapour, which
is technically particles of liquid suspended in air.
The liquid petrol is MUCH more dense than the gas exhaust. Much
like boiling water in a pressure cooker, you create a LOT of volume
when you convert a liquid to a gas.
The 2.2 might hold true if you were burning gas-state hydrocarbons
into gas-state exhaust, but you are actually burning liquid-state
hydrocarbons into gas-state exhaust.
--
Trevor Boicey
Ottawa, Canada
tboicey@brit.ca
http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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