Yes, I heard they tried to run the resistor in lieu of a waste gate at the 2014 Tests, and that was what caused them to lose so much running time. I wasn't aware that they had ditched the idea completely, as Renault still don't seem to be able to bypass their turbine.gruntguru wrote:I think Renault tried to run without a wastegate - using the load bank for the rare ocaision when the turbine was making power that couldn't be sent to the ES (battery full) or the MGUK (Driver throttle demand low). There was no suggestion that they don't have the same self-sustainig mode features as the other PU's. . . or am I missing your point?
Mechanical Engineering 101, if you have a pressurised system you need a "fail safe way" to relieve pressure to stop the system destroying itself. In the petroleum industry every pipe and vessel has over pressure protection relief valves, similar to the Waste gate on an FI engine. This can also be achieved with telemetry control, but component failure needs to be fail safe or the results can be catastrophic and extremely dangerous.
My comment on the self-sustaining mode was a guess at where their shortfall is (the numbers seemed to match so it was a neat fit). I just read that they have a major upgrade coming mid-year, so they possibly have not upgraded major components yet, which could also explain the shortfall in power production. It may be in many areas, rather than one...
