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Lol I assume Monomethylaniline is the kind of stuff Walter White uses to make his 'product'.
That wasn't part of the OP. Racing aircraft need only hold themselves together for about a hour tops.In an airplane, you want something that can make good power for many hours at a time, and be reusable for 1,500 - 3,000 hours of operation. So, you do NOT want to push the HP/liter or cubic inch up anywhere near the limit; you want RELIABLE power.
I'd have to think a 27 L engine today would generate close to 3,000 hp. I assume we're looking for liquid cooled rather a radial, but our modern 27L engine wouldn't be a V-12 like the Merlin. Instead it would be a compact 24 - 48 cylinder X engine. The 8L W-16 on the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport generates 1,578 hp.Talk to Cosworth or Riccardo, I think the biggest advantage today is we have the machines and technology as well as the materials to make what they knew back then a reality, 1800hp out of 27L today I feel would be quite easy to achieve.
Didnt the BMW M12/13/1 produce 1400hp from 1.4L on standard street fuel? A result of very effective intercooling and high RPM presumably.
the fuels contained around 80% toluene and were poisonous and enormously expensive, costing up to USD $300 per litre at the time
Modern F1 standard engines can run 4bar boost with fuel you can buy from a commercial fuel station on the street (a select few in the UK at least sell 99 RON octane stuff (Shell V-Power).
1400hp Grand Prix engine is good for about 700hp at 22,000ft.
Wouldn't a dual or triple stage supercharger be a better bet?Assuming that the turbocharger doesn't have enough capacity to compensate for altitude.
That would assume that they were using a larger, heavier turbo charger than needed for the race car at or near sea level. It also assumes that the larger turbo would be operating at decent efficiency at an air flow far from normal.Assuming that the turbocharger doesn't have enough capacity to compensate for altitude.
Thanks for all your replies. Got this from PBehn's link (thanks)
Aviation spirits with TEL used in WWII reached 150 octane to enable supercharged engines such as the Rolls-Royce Merlin and Griffon to reach high horsepower ratings at altitude.[19] In military aviation, TEL manipulation allowed a range of different fuels to be tailored for particular flight conditions.
In 1935 the licence to produce TEL was given to IG Farben, enabling the newly formed German Luftwaffe to use high-octane gasoline. A company, Ethyl GmbH, was formed that produced TEL at two sites in Germany with a government contract from 10 June 1936.[20]
So if the Germans had TEL why were they running their planes on 87 Octane?
While a current F1 engine could run on high octane commercial petrol, the race fuels are custom synthetic blends. The rules limit what can be done, and specify a fuel that is similar to commercial fuels.
A couple of years ago the FIA felt compelled to insert a regulation that restricted the maximum static compression ratio of the engine to 18:1. Since all that information is held closely by the manufacturers, it is not clear if any of them where approaching that amount of compression.
That goes with ~4 bar/58psi MAP (ie ~3 bar/43.5psi boost).
Maximum power in the 10,500rpm (lowest rpm with maximum fuel flow allowed) - 12,000rpm range.
I hope you're right. Piston engined airplanes just sound so nice.Below is an article about NREL making triptane out of biomass.
Race for a Better Fuel Begins with NREL Researchers
Triptane was once seen as the magical material with a RON of 170 with both sides trying to synthesize it in WW2. In actuality it's RON is about 113 lean.
"Hensley's ongoing research could make racing fans take notice. He and his colleagues in the laboratory's Thermochemical Catalysis Research and Development group have created a catalyst that converts biomass into a hydrocarbon mixture rich in 2,2,3-trimethylbutane, also known as triptane. Triptane is added to gasoline to reduce engine knocking, to boost the octane rating, and to increase the motor's efficiency. The biofuel NREL developed is 85% triptane.
"When we purify the crude product we just boil off some of the lower octane components, predominantly light hydrocarbons," Hensley said. "Once we get up to a concentration of about 85% triptane, we don't see much benefit in increasing the purity. Octane rating doesn't increase much above 85% triptane, and it also happens to be an easy stopping point in the distillation. Going above about 88% purity requires a lot more energy."
The anti-knock number, often called the octane rating of gasoline, varies from 85-87 for regular grades to 91-94 for premium grades in the United States. The 85% triptane mixture produced at NREL registers an estimated octane rating of 107. NREL's fuel is better suited for race cars because current standard engines aren't designed to take advantage of such high octane."
107 MON octane lean is pretty good.
I suspect aviation piston engines will make a come back. The Celera 500L with its laminar flow fueselage will prove it.
I believe triptane was in commercial production and did find its way into aviation fuels.
I hope you're right. Piston engined airplanes just sound so nice.
The 130/131 Merlin series engine produced 2060BHP, it isnt a massive leap of faith to think they could improve by 50% in 10 to 20 years if Jet engines didnt exist.That wasn't part of the OP. Racing aircraft need only hold themselves together for about a hour tops. I'd have to think a 27 L engine today would generate close to 3,000 hp. I assume we're looking for liquid cooled rather a radial, but our modern 27L engine wouldn't be a V-12 like the Merlin. Instead it would be a compact 24 - 48 cylinder X engine. The 8L W-16 on the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport generates 1,578 hp.
View attachment 622017
Combine three of these into one unit, add some structure and weight for greater reliability and the 27L 48 cylinder will be close to 4,000 hp.