Super/Turbo shtuff

[Otter <kdsebe0@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okie, I've got a serious theory question about turbines and superchargers.:

Why not use a turbine on the exhaust to generate electricity and then use
the excess electricity to power a compressor motor?  This way you avoid the
inefficiency of having the motor *directly* power the super, and you get
rid of the annoying turbo lag!  Simply have a decent sized capacitor bank
to handle low rpm power surges, and the turbine can recharge it during
routine driving.  

You also could avoid viscous losses because the compressor could be located
independantly of the engine block and exhaust manifold.  This would make
intercooling and engine retrofitting much, *much* easier.

Of course, you've got the problem of a charge cap bank sitting around, but
you could always make it dump after the car turns off.  And during
operation, it would be the same as your ignition coil, so voltage
insulation would not be that much of a problem.

This idea would probably work the best with low boost, as it will be able
to use less efficient motors and compressors initially, and the surge
required by a low rpm start wouldn't require a big cap bank.

Who knows...  If you made an efficient enough generator, you could even use
the power to suppliment/replace the alternator.

So what do some of you otter tech gurus have to say about it?  Don't be
worried about throwing thermo numbers at me, as I have a pretty good grasp
of the mathematics of turbines.  

And is anyone out there intersted in working on the project???

Kenn Sebesta
http://www.euromajic.com

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