…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.
I thought that guy was banned for disagreeing with the hierarchy. I suspected he was genuine.
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.
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 am sure many people have been up this path during decades past, without having written about it on pilot forums…
You bet! Just think about those multi-engined bombers of WWII or the big piston engine powered airliners of the 1950ies. They were designed by pretty smart people. If exhaust heat anti-ice would have been a suitable option, they would have done it that way. Instead, they fitted de-ice boots.
The other issue with exhaust gas heat recovery is the corrosive byproducts, due to the low temperature of the final exhaust.
This is a big problem in condensing boilers. You get a nasty acid dripping out at the end, and it has to be piped somewhere suitable. With a domestic boiler, UK regs, it can go into the ground but has to be at least 5m away from the foundations. It is OK to run it to the sewer, which in many cases is impractical.
With an airborne aircraft, one would just let it drip out, but you would have to keep it well away from any part of the airframe, which is difficult. And it will make a nasty stain on the hangar floor.
The exhaust-jacket cockpit heater on GA planes recovers only a tiny % of the exhaust heat. It’s a very poor heat exchanger. I reckon it collects maybe 5-10%.
I am sure many people have been up this path during decades past, without having written about it on pilot forums…
I doubt that there would be enough heat in the exhaust of a piston engine. Not in a small TIO360 as it isn’t enough to keep the cabin above freezing at -32C outside.
Liquid-cooled? Blasphemy!
The Orenda engine is still alive, called TRACE.
That’s good to hear. When I used to fly the C421 I was really wishing for an Orenda/Trace conversion. More power, liquid cooling, no more constant fear of shock cooling the engines, faster warm-up time in winter. But as it looks, they are right now mainly focusing at the ag-plane market. In their list of aircraft conversions they have a Kingair 90, but google doesn’t show it anywhere.
