h a l f b a k e r yGetting blown into traffic is never fun.
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Asphalt is composed of petroleum byproducts - usually coal-like long chain alkanes and the like. This material is durable and well suited to road construction, with the result that long stretches of highway are paved with it. It can also be burned for fuel. Why not take advantage of this fact to power
your car!?
The Asphalt Harvester is a picklike scoop which drags below the car, scraping up a curl of asphalt from the road below. The action is concealed by view, as some might disapprove of harvesting the road. Comprised of alkanes, the asphalt is dissolved in the fuel, adding extra material to burn. With judicious use of the Harvester, a car need fuel up only often enough to ensure there is enough solvent to liquefy the asphalt. When not in use, the Harvester draws up and is concealed in the body of the car.
(?) Asphalt as fuel.
http://www.babcockp...com/pdf/rst-159.pdf
[bungston, Sep 14 2005]
Water Scoop
http://jimquest.com...ins/pans/scoop2.htm
Steam Engine water tender scoop [Coal Drag, Sep 14 2005]
(?) Asphalt milling
http://makmilling.com/
Road grinder at work [Coal Drag, Sep 15 2005]
(?) Gasoline thieves adopt a new drill
http://www.star-tel...s/story/688574.html
Someone apparently read my anno... [ldischler, Jun 09 2008]
[link]
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Nope, don't see a single problem here. |
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It can be burned for fuel, but not in your car. |
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I can't see anything at all, due to the smog. [half], is that your voice I hear? |
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Half-baked - Bruce Sterling, 'Distraction'. One of my favourite books. |
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Is the water scoop on certain steam train tenders similar to this idea? Please see the link. |
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this would take a large engine, but the bigger the truck the better the idea sounds. |
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[Coal Drag] - if I understand the role of water in a steam engine, it is to facilitate transfer of power, not to generate power. Some water losses in a steam engine are inevitable (or at least on these old trains they were), so you need more. In this idea, the asphalt is burned for power. |
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An excellent idea. Though the gravel in the asphalt will probably wreck your harvester. Perhaps you could harvest the gas from parked automobiles? Simply park next to one, automatically drill through the thin sheet metal into the gas tank, and suck out what you need. They're not using it, after all. The supply is high quality, and almost infinite. |
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I expect the gravel will hone the harvester, automatically sharpening it, and also heat the harvester, improving efficiency. |
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/They're not using it, after all/ - A triumph of applied reason, [ldischler]. |
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without even reading it / just cos it's bung. + for the title. |
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anything to do with Terry Pratchett?
cars with rocks |
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Watch it, po, there's someone around you'll make pretty darn mad, saying things like that. |
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I meant to ask whether your idea is similar to the water scoop on tenders or similar to the asphalt milling machine for road repair. See the link. |
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Literally, an "asphalt-eating car?" |
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The idea of using asphalt as fuel seems a bit dubious, as does the "harvesting" method. I would think a suction device, such as found on those pickup trucks that clean parking lots, would serve at least as well, picking up already-loosened bits of asphalt- I would suggest one could drive around neighborhoods where the streets are less-well maintained. |
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I don't see any increase in efficiency (the reverse, actually) but, if universally applied, at least the streets would be nicer... |
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"Aye, son... See these here muddy lanes? When I were a lad, they all used to be roads. 'Course, that were a while ago now - before ev'ryone got buying them 'Automobile Asphalt Harvesters'..." |
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This idea is second only to Vagina Jam in wonderful hideousness. Bun. |
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