Ram Air Wind Alternator

[rh77]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

I still think that finding a way to do this with the exhaust gases would be the best bet.

Agreed. A turbo could do a variety of things aside from just pumping more air into the engine. If you somehow hook it to a gearset to step-down the RPMs of the output, it could easily be an alternator or more. Due to the high speeds, precision crafting would be essential.

RH77

[FX Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

It would work wonderfully at highway speeds IMHO, but what about city driving?

I still think that finding a way to do this with the exhaust gases would be the best bet. If you could rig it up to capture both exhaust and wind that would be the best.

KetelOne, I have to agree with Matt here. I've only started on this forum, so don't take my word for it, but here's the logic:

Alternator belt on the engine driveshaft produces drag on the engine, and your idea will simply move that drag to the aerodynamics side of things.

However, the combined heat and kinetic energy of exhaust gases is higher than that on the wheels of your car (SIC!). Therefore combining a modified turbocharger and alternator/powersteering/AC/etc. would logically make more sense.

Here is where I got the inspiration from:

YouTube vid explaining the energy in exhaust gasses

Then I googled "connect turbine to an alternator" and one of the first results is this patent website:

EXHAUST-DRIVEN TURBINE-POWERED ALTERNATOR

After I saw this I started a search on here and found your thread.
Might save a few HP and not produce ANY additional drag. What do you think? I'd be interested to see this.

I've also started looking at ebay listings for turbocharges that I could get cheaply and start modifying.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Hmmm, old thread here but I'll add my 2 cents worth. Modifying a turbo to power an alternator and a/c would create exhaust backpressure which would be a drag on the engine, maybe even more than just leaving the stock setup of being turned by a belt attached to the main drive pulley.

[JanGeo]

Anyway you do it, all you have to do is pump the current into the battery and the engine alternator will automatically not charge if the battery voltage is already high enough. The only thing you may want to do is let the battery run down a little if you know that wind power is coming down the road when you are heading for highway. An extra battery is also possible if you get a voltage booster you can pump the additional battery 12 volts up to 14 volts and feed it to the main vehicle battery you should be all set. I have a simple way of doing it with an inverter and a 35 amp switcher charger - might be interesting to give it a try then get something setup that will just boost the voltage directly like a beefed up hobby charger that operates off a 12 volt battery.

[JanGeo]

Don't think in terms of max rpm for max output - it can output a lot of power at lower rpms also. You should belt couple it to the wheel anyway and gear it up - be good to spin up the tire however or there will be a lot squeeling tires.

[GasSavers_Brock]

Looks like an Air 403 to me.

[onegammyleg]

Its just like this but runs on solar...

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

Originally Posted by onegammyleg

Its just like this but runs on solar...

I used to have one of those vans ('cept mine said "Hartig Plumbing" on the side).

Looking again at the link I put with the Model A picture, when they were traveling at 20 mph the alternator was putting out 12 amps at 12 volts. That's with a 7 foot rotor on the front. They said beyond 20 mph things got really scary, I guess because they had a 7' gyroscope turning at right angles to the direction the car was traveling.

According to a book I own, "Producing Your Own Power" (1974, Rodale Press, Carol Stoner, ed.), it takes a 6' rotor in a 30 mph wind to generate 1kw. Assuming the average car alternator is around 85 amps (that was what was in my Lincoln, my Plymouth Voyager (junked) and Cadillac have 100 amp alternators, dunno what's in the Geo), the output is near 1kw. (12V * 85A = 1020 W). From this info I suspect you won't get enough power to run the alternator with anything you can put behind the grille...

[MetroMPG]

Too funny. There are some short videos on the solarvan site (last time I looked) which show him setting up the mast & generator, etc.

[JanGeo]

That looks like the one on my buddy's boat that I saw putting out 20 amps into the 12 volt batteries in a 29mph wind and his blades looks about the same size - supposed to be a 600 watt wind generator on his boat.