On Monday, January 20, 2020 at 1:04:12 AM UTC-5, Mike Duffy wrote:
On Sun, 19 Jan 2020 19:21:13 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Machines make noise.

This brings to mind something I've wondered about the past few years.

We can increase efficiency in internal combustion engines by supercharging.

Would it not also increase efficiency by a factor of 5 by eliminating the
~80% inert nitrogen in the intake manifold? For sure, an oxygen
concentrator would take away some power, but then superchargers do so as
well. They seem to be worth the extra weight as well, all things
considered.


AFAIK, they just get more power out of the same size engine by getting
more air/fuel mix into the same displacement. But if that's the efficiency
effect, ie getting more power from the same size engine, then yes,
feeding it pure oxygen should do the same thing. You could put more
fuel/air mix in the same space.