Replies to post #28112 on Cyclone Power Technologies, Inc. (fka CYPW)

[Tom Swift]

PEOPLE VERY UNCLEAR REGARDING THERMODYNAMICS -- "EXTERNAL COMBUSTION RULES"

For our purposes, we can assume that there are two types of heat, sensible and latent. Sensible heat does not change the state of the material and causes a continuous temperature rise as heat is added. For example, if we take a glass of water at room temperature and heat it to 200 degrees, the temperature will go up a relatively constant amount for every BTU of heat added. On the other hand, if we start with water heated to 212 degrees, we will need to add 947 BTU of heat in order to convert a pound of water into a pound of steam -- the temperature still being 212. The energy needed to convert a fluid at boiling temperature into vapor of the same temperature is called latent heat. Only after we add that 947 BTU worth of latent heat can we start to superheat the steam.

Now, the problem is that adding this 947 BTU is a non-reversible process, meaning that we can't extract energy from the steam by condensing it back to water. So, for every pound of water we boil, 947 BTU worth of latent heat is lost. An internal combustion engine, by contrast, is not working with fluids and therefore avoids this loss of latent heat.

Now, this is very simple physics, which most of us should have learned in junior high (or middle school). On this basis alone, it is extremely difficult for the educated person to assume that external combustion -- particularly Rankine cycle (steam engines) -- actually "rule".