Question

Two common methods of improving fuel efficiency of a vehicle are to reduce the drag coefficient and the frontal area of the vehicle. Consider a car with 1.85 m width and 1.75 m height, with a drag coefficient of 0.30. Determine the amount of fuel and money saved per year as a result of reducing the car height to 1.50 m while keeping its width the same. Assume the car is driven 25,000 km (15,000 miles) a year at an average speed of 100 km/h. Take the density and price of gasoline to be 0.74 kg/L and $1.04/L. Also assume the density of air to be 1.20 kg/m3, the heating value of gasoline to be 44,000 kJ/kg, and the overall efficiency of the car’s drive train to be 30%.

Answer 1

Answer:

$\Delta V = 209.151\,L$, $\Delta C = 217.517\,USD$

Explanation:

The drag force is equal to:

$F_{D} = C_{D}\cdot \frac{1}{2}\cdot \rho_{air}\cdot v^{2}\cdot A$

Where $C_{D}$ is the drag coefficient and $A$ is the frontal area, respectively. The work loss due to drag forces is:

$W = F_{D}\cdot \Delta s$

The reduction on amount of fuel is associated with the reduction in work loss:

$\Delta W = (F_{D,1} - F_{D,2})\cdot \Delta s$

Where $F_{D,1}$ and $F_{D,2}$ are the original and the reduced frontal areas, respectively.

$\Delta W = C_{D}\cdot \frac{1}{2}\cdot \rho_{air}\cdot v^{2}\cdot (A_{1}-A_{2})\cdot \Delta s$

The change is work loss in a year is:

$\Delta W = (0.3)\cdot \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)\cdot (1.20\,\frac{kg}{m^{3}})\cdot (27.778\,\frac{m}{s})^{2}\cdot [(1.85\,m)\cdot (1.75\,m) - (1.50\,m)\cdot (1.75\,m)]\cdot (25\times 10^{6}\,m)$

$\Delta W = 2.043\times 10^{9}\,J$

$\Delta W = 2.043\times 10^{6}\,kJ$

The change in chemical energy from gasoline is:

$\Delta E = \frac{\Delta W}{\eta}$

$\Delta E = \frac{2.043\times 10^{6}\,kJ}{0.3}$

$\Delta E = 6.81\times 10^{6}\,kJ$

The changes in gasoline consumption is:

$\Delta m = \frac{\Delta E}{L_{c}}$

$\Delta m = \frac{6.81\times 10^{6}\,kJ}{44000\,\frac{kJ}{kg} }$

$\Delta m = 154.772\,kg$

$\Delta V = \frac{154.772\,kg}{0.74\,\frac{kg}{L} }$

$\Delta V = 209.151\,L$

Lastly, the money saved is:

$\Delta C = \left(\frac{154.772\,kg}{0.74\,\frac{kg}{L} }\right)\cdot (1.04\,\frac{USD}{L} )$

$\Delta C = 217.517\,USD$