Piston engines have no chance at all, IMHO.
Just came across some tales of “con-pilot” on PPRunE and remembered this old thread. A good reason why exhaust gases of piston engines are not used for de-icing any longer.
BTW: The same author has posted some more “I learned about flying from that”-style stories recently. All of them brilliantly written!
http://www.pprune.org/accidents-close-calls/563987-hangar-flying-bar-can-save-your-life.html
I see no reason why exhaust gases could not be used except that there isn’t enough of the stuff. The temperature control issues could be dealt with, although the engineering would be tricky because the stuff is corrosive and becomes much more corrosive when it is cooled down (the same issue as with condensing boilers). Probably too complicated, lots of Inconel and specialised stainless steels, etc.
As regards that article, our guidelines prevent one from criticising other forums 
but on that particular site I would take anything with a massive pinch of salt – as anybody who (like me) hung out there for a decade or so will know only too well. It has a long history of hosting characters with the most astonishing experiences, who either had not nine but a hundred lives or were fakes who knew the lingo. A young lad with a lot of sim time who lives this stuff (no girlfriend, so unlimited time) could write amazingly convincing stories. If you are bright, you can become an expert in anything in about 1 year of dedicated reading. Remember that pompous aggressive guy who flew 747s into Kabul one day and was dumping water onto fires the next day? I would give him one thing: his grammar was impeccable! The final consensus was that he was a fake (they kicked him out, after a very long time) but one could be only 99% sure – the other 1% was that he really was James Bond. Then they had that fraudster who hung around for an awfully long time… That section melted down c. 2012 and has since been busy with one person starting a thread and the same person under another nickname replying. It’s a particular problem which commercial sites have… everything is grist to the mill.
I thought that guy was banned for disagreeing with the hierarchy. I suspected he was genuine.
…but on that particular site I would take anything with a massive pinch of salt.
Of course But that article is simply extremely entertaining to read. Whether this is fact or fiction does not matter too much – even if it is fiction, technically it could be true. His recent articles about thunderstorm encounters are also woth reading, much better narrative than anything I have read in pilot magazines for decades.
