Michael > What I would like to know, if you can tell us, what is the > actual available energy in a kg of liquid air used in a piston > engine?
I think what you would really want to know is what is the maximum energy content form an engineered liquid, based on air, including the strain energy of particulates which can be easily included in that mix, if such could be accounted for now, correct? This is difficult to pin down, but never the shrinking ultraviolet, I will try. >From what one can guestimate, using the failure of ocean clathrates as a model, and the documented explosions of ice floes, and extending this to the optimum example of perhaps 10% clathrate (or even ice) held in liquid air at the optimum particulate size, I would guess it is 4-5 MJ/kg. This does not sound like much against gasoline at 40 MJ/kg but remember... ....with gasoline combustion your are working against Mr. Carnot and can get only 20-25% of that net, whereas working with explosive mechanical failure, you are working with isothermal efficiency, and can get as much as 85% of that.... in theory. Tell you what. Give me a 1% of the hot fusion budget for next year and I will prove it beyond all reasonable doubt by presenting an actual demonstration engine which will run on CA and gasoline but with an "apparent" Carnot efficiency, if you only consider only the gasoline as fuel, of 60%... guaranteed... ;-) Jones
