What does 1X, 2X, 3X, etc. mean?
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:38 am
READ BEFORE YOU ANSWER!
OK, nominally speaking 1X is a stoichiometric mix of fuel and air at 1 atmosphere pressure. 2X is at 2 atmospheres. 3X at 3. Blah blah blah.
But here's the catch....
Around here everybody assumes "1 atmosphere" is the same as ambient pressure, but it's not!
1 atmosphere is 14.7 psi.
If you live on the beach? Yeah, it's the same. But if you live in Denver, ambient pressure is only 12.3 psi. That's 2.4 psi - 16% - different. That's significant!
So... Is a "1X" load only achievable at high(er) altitude with a hybrid? I would argue that this is the case. I would argue that an "ambient pressure load" in Denver is actually a 0.84X load.
Thoughts?
OK, nominally speaking 1X is a stoichiometric mix of fuel and air at 1 atmosphere pressure. 2X is at 2 atmospheres. 3X at 3. Blah blah blah.
But here's the catch....
Around here everybody assumes "1 atmosphere" is the same as ambient pressure, but it's not!
1 atmosphere is 14.7 psi.
If you live on the beach? Yeah, it's the same. But if you live in Denver, ambient pressure is only 12.3 psi. That's 2.4 psi - 16% - different. That's significant!
So... Is a "1X" load only achievable at high(er) altitude with a hybrid? I would argue that this is the case. I would argue that an "ambient pressure load" in Denver is actually a 0.84X load.
Thoughts?