Andrew:
If you are generating electricity directly from heat -thermo-electric-
then you are dead in the water. The efficiency is terrible and the
capitol cost very high.
If you are generating steam, and you need rotary motion, then of course
you use a steam engine or steam turbine.
But then the question is how to couple the power to the wheels, and here
it gets into details, like the weight, bulk, and cost.
Consider the Diesel locomotive: Big generator, smaller motors in the
wheels.
Stanley Steamer: direct drive.
A turbine may be dictated by several factors, and then the high cost of
high speed gearing may dictate a generator/motors drive. A battery may
be necessary for several reasons.
It gets complex.
Ol' Bab
On 5/26/2013 4:21 PM, Andrew wrote:
I'm not very versed in the engineering of heat engines versus
electrical generators. If you want to use a heat source like the E-Cat
(assuming it's as advertised with COP >> 1) for powering a drive train
in a car, is it necessary to go through an electrical conversion and
use electric motors; is it more efficient to go directly to a heat
engine?
Andrew
