GM awarded DOE money to research Shape Memory Alloy heat engines ...
General Motors has been awarded $2.7 million by the Department of Energy to create a working prototype engine using Shape Memory Alloys (SMA). The idea is for the prototype to use SMA tech to capture heat energy from engine exhaust gasses via an electric generator and transfer that energy to recharge batteries for hybrids or electric vehicles. SMA tech can also theoretically power electronic devices like power seats and windows in a standard gas- or diesel-powered car, perhaps even replacing the power-sapping alternator. The GM press release, which is pasted after the jump, doesn't go into much depth explaining how memory alloys work, but the basic principle is easy to understand. While $2.7 million isn't a lot of coin in the realm of GM finances (the General seemed to shed about $2.7 million every ten minutes pre-bankruptcy) the grant was significant in that it was the only monies awarded by the DoE given to an automaker. GM is working with partners from outside the auto industry to make the concept a reality, a practice that the General says is imperative to get breakthroughs like this to market. No timetable was given as to when GM's SMA concept would see the light of day. The award from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Program Agency – Energy, or ARPA-E, was the only grant to an automaker among $151 million in distributed by the DOE. GM will work with HRL Laboratories; Dynalloy, Inc., a Tustin, CA manufacturer of shape memory alloys specially made to be used as actuators, and the Smart Materials Collaborative Research Lab at the University of Michigan.
I think BMW was working on something similar, but it used waste exhaust heat to create steam that add power directly to the drive shaft. I imagine it could be used to generate for electricity for a hybrid too. Here's the original Autoblog article with more detail.
http://www.autoblog.com/2005/12/09/bmw-turbosteamer-gets-hot-and-goes/
I ain't space craft engineer.......
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BMW has its "Turbosteamer" technology that it is researching and now General Motors is looking to recover heat energy from the tailpipe by using shape and more »
