Formula 3 Racing Car Powered by Chocolate
This racer eats chocolate, carrots, and a few other ingredients.
Researchers from the University of Warwick in Britain have retrofitted a Formula 3 racing car to consume leftover chocolate, carrots, potato starch, and flax. While that really doesn't sound appetizing no matter how its prepared, this interesting brew enables the vehicle to reach a top speed of 135 miles per hour. It can also go from zero to sixty in a mere 2.5 seconds.
According to Planet Ark (via Reuters), the car's designer Kerry Kirwan said that the 2.0-liter BMW engine has been converted over to diesel and configured to run on a fuel comprised of waste from chocolate factories or other plant-based oils. Many of the components for the fuel can be found at a farmer's market or in a trashcan.
Called Lola, the Formula 3 racing car took more than nine months and around $200,000 to build at the university. The designers even threw in a radiator that converts ozone back to oxygen. "It's a racing car that cleans up as it goes along," said Steve Maggs, another member of the design team.
The car was recently on display at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) energy conference in Boston. "The public has really taken the car to its heart, because she's fun," Kirwan said.
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Could someone make a production vehicle that can run on similar fuel that doesn't need processing before being used (bio-diesel). Thats the real problem with bio-diesel is the processing needed before it can be run safely through an engine. It would be nice having a car that would filter the gunk out and produce all of the usable fuel on board.
When are they going to make a car that uses "Mr. Fusion"?
Actually shuff you can use vegetable/peanut oil to run a diesel engine with slight modifactions. It really doesn't cost that much.
You can take the used oil from mcdonalds..etc and simply filter it to make it useable. And it isn't that hard to do. It's simply a matter of straining it very good to make sure to get all the grime out.
The problem is it pretty much has to be used oil. Otherwise you'd spend more on the oil then on regular disiell or gas
Actually shuff you can use vegetable/peanut oil to run a diesel engine with slight modifactions.
I know about being able to do that but I'm just trying to find something thats more likely to sell well. Look at how lazy people are, if the car had a built in filter and a small tank to capture all of the sludge/fat then that could be emptied whenever you fill up with new fuel. Also you need to be aware of the pH of the fuel or it'll eat the gaskets in the engine and fuel lines. That could be solved with a built in pH meter and having a solution of a strong base and a strong acid to neutralize the fuel in the tank that could also be refilled separately.
Actually shuff you can use vegetable/peanut oil to run a diesel engine with slight modifactions. It really doesn't cost that much. You can take the used oil from mcdonalds..etc and simply filter it to make it useable. And it isn't that hard to do. It's simply a matter of straining it very good to make sure to get all the grime out. The problem is it pretty much has to be used oil. Otherwise you'd spend more on the oil then on regular disiell or gas
First of all, that is NOT biodiesel. As the OP said, biodiesel requires considerable processing. What you are advocating is SVO (straight vegetable oil) - worse, you're advocating using used oil with only minimal filtering (screening).
In order to use SVO, you need to do an SVO conversion in most cases. Furthermore, SVO will significantly reduce the lifespan of a diesel engine! Properly prepared biodiesel, on the other hand, shouldn't hurt the longevity of a diesel engine. Especially if you're using a biodiesel blend.
Oh and cold weather? Forget it. Even properly processed, cleaned, dried, cold-filtered --biodiesel-- STILL requires blending with winter diesel and/or keresene to avoid gelling at very cold temperatures. Nevermind most SVO batches, some of which would probably start gelling at near-room temps. Plus, I hope you like changing your fuel filters often - did I mention recent model diesels often use multiple fuel filters and they're quite expensive?
"...have retrofitted a Formula 3 racing car to consume leftover chocolate"
When does anyone have leftover chocolate?
First of all, that is NOT biodiesel.
kingnoobe never did say anything about biodiesel, and was probably referring to straight vegetable oil (SVO). The original article also did not mention that they were converting the oil to biodiesel before usage, which might indicate that the converted engine is indeed running on SVO.
The original diesel engine could also run on peanut oil (not biodiesel).
The gelling problem though is a real problem with veggie oil or biodiesel.
If it converts ozone in to oxygen (O3 in to O2) it destroys ozone which leads to global warming - How can this be a good thing???
I'll keep this simple for you;
ozone up in the upper layers of the atmosphere = good thing
ozone at ground level = bad thing
converting ozone at ground level to oxygen = good thing
I really have nothing to add, except that I study at Warwick.
if you run with oil preheater - used chip oil (well filtered) or even straight oil runs on some cars with no problems
My bro tested his Citroen 1.9 TD at a MOT center and had 1/5th the particulate emisions (IIRC withouth checking from years back).
(His car didn't have a proper oil preheater - just worked well with the stuff) -- also they have to have the right model fuel pump (standard fitting or could be retrofit easily - just different part from another year) else the weaker ones die -- running on filtered but untreated raw oil.
His car gained 20mph to its top speed on used chip oil.
+ was smoother and quieter running.
is great stuff - but messy to get and deal with yourself.
What we really need is a mass produced hydrogen engine. Me and a few other guys converted a moped to hydrogen a few summers ago, and it's still running strong. Just fill the tank full of water, seal it up, and you're good to go.
You cannot run a car on water. That is a completely ridiculous myth perpetuated by internet ads and uneducated suckers who read them. If you use electrolysis to split the water then capture the hydrogen, THEN you can run the car on water. But then you're really just running the car on the battery you're using to split the water and you might as well just carry a battery that doesn't suffer from the negatives of hydrogen compression, storage, cooling, and protection from crashes.
It really doesn't cost that much. You can take the used oil from mcdonalds..etc and simply filter it to make it
yummm.. smells like fries..
Whew... You're really getting worked up. I don't think anyone is going to run out and start pouring barely sieved french fry oil in their vehicles on this guy's word.
So, you're telling me I just ruined my car?
...Damnit.
Called "LOLA". I can only resume the writer is a complete nerd who doesn't understand either the conversion of oils to become energy sources, or even realise that "LOLA" is the name of the manufacturer of the car's main chassis/hardware. Lola isn't the name given to this unique car/project LOL.
What a coincidence, I run on chocolate too!
Cars can't run on water? Says who in a hundred year? Maybe they invent something that does whatever the heck you said it needs to do.
What kind of exhaust fumes does this car put off? I bet they are just as toxic as any other diesel fuel. Whether the amounts of sulfur are lower doesn't matter... it is still pumping out toxic gas. I don't care how you put it. Your BURNING OIL.
Electrolysis isn't nearly as advanced as you make it out to sound. And not nearly as demanding as far as power goes. Sure, it'd take a good battery, but no more than an additional power source and an efficient alternator to keep it flowing. The rest of the details are the same kind of details that are worked through with current vehicles. Hydrogen powered cars are only impossible to the people who think it's too hard.
I think his underlying point was that it would be more efficient to just use an electric motor.
electrolysis on board doesn't make sense for hydrogen vehicles.
However, hydrogen fueled cars start to make sense when the combined efficiency of hydrogen production, and the conversion in the fuel cell to electricity, and the conversion in the motor to movement, becomes more energy efficient than just straight using a battery to power the motor.
Maybe a chemicle reaction to free up tonnes of hydrogen is what is being used at the moment?
so it doesn't actually run off chocolate, just the oil by product? I was hoping for a Wonka car.
Could someone make a production vehicle that can run on similar fuel that doesn't need processing before being used (bio-diesel). Thats the real problem with bio-diesel is the processing needed before it can be run safely through an engine. It would be nice having a car that would filter the gunk out and produce all of the usable fuel on board.
ROFL- Yeah, and every once and awhile the car will just take a big dump as your driving down the road.
ROFL- Yeah, and every once and awhile the car will just take a big dump as your driving down the road.
I can already imagine portable toilets specifically designed for vehicles.
ummmmm, nice show, but isn't this car just gonna end up in the garbage dump?
anything practical come out of this?
....smiles? conversation? debate? inspiration??
Was $200,000 and a race car the only way to get people thinking?
wow, what an interesting species we are.
:-S
It would have been nice if that money was invested in something more practical than a cool race car...
maybe a street worthy car that had the potential of being massed produced???