Quote:
|
Originally Posted by zharzhay
hello all,
I'm trying to figure out some approximate numbers, for an alternative fuel prototype. I want to use engine oil to heat my fuel. In order to engineer a heat-transfer system, I need to know the rate of flow for engine oil (I can figure out flow rate for fuel, based on mpg) and the psi of both fuel and engine oil in the lines.
Could somebody give me a ballpark number on the following?
- psi in fuel line *up to* injector?
- psi in engine oil line, downstream of oil pump?
- flow rate of engine oil?
Thank you!
Erik
|
rough answers to your questions, assuming you're using a gasoline-fueled engine (in which case its my guess that you're wasting your time anyway):
* My guess is that you would want to know fuel pressure so that you could be sure that you're not boiling the fuel in the lines when you heat it. 30-60psi is probably going to be in the right neighborhood, but you want to be conservative vs boiling, so figure 20psi.
* I'm not sure why you care what the oil pressure is, unless you're worried about rupturing the hx tubes. Pressure downstream of the oil pump is commonly regulated by a spring-loaded valve, its worst-case peak is in the neighborhood of 5 bar for many engines (3.5 bar for lower noise engines), but you might want to pull a spec for your specific engine
* Volume flow rate of oil will depend on the engine size and oil pump size, and a host of other factors about the application. Oil flow can be roughly estimated as 6.6 cc/rev for every liter of engine displacement, but it varies significantly based on application. For a naturally aspirated gasoline engine operating at rated speed with 140hp power output, the oil flow rate out of the pump will likely be approximately 40 L/min.