Compressed Air Engines

[cam76034]

Don't know if this is commercially viable but it's great to see new technology developing to wean ourselves from the oil ticks.


http://zeropollutionmotors.us/

[POS Racing]

http://forums.dfwmiata.com/showthrea...ighlight=india

Wonder if they are in production yet??

[black roadster]

Leave it to the French....

Don't know if I'd buy a French made car though.

Citroën, Peugeot, Renault

[channelmaniac]

On board compressor...

I wonder how you do maintenance on the air tank. You have to bleed out the moisture somehow.

Plus I wonder what effect that water will have on the cylinders in the engine since there's no combustion heat to evaporate it.

[creek]

If there is no combustion heat there is no need for metal cylinders. Imagine a Delrin piston running in a cylinder also made of some kind of plastic. In fact I think you would have just the opposite problem, expansion cooling and evaporative cooling of any humidity trapped in the system may freeze parts instead of melting them. "Honey, I froze my hand on the @*$&^ tailpipe." It's something we have to deal with on the airbrakes of our trucks in cold weather.

[Radio-Active]

On board compressor...

I wonder how you do maintenance on the air tank. You have to bleed out the moisture somehow.

Plus I wonder what effect that water will have on the cylinders in the engine since there's no combustion heat to evaporate it.

The air tanks are made of carbon fiber so that, in the event of a crash, they will split lengthwise and decompress without causing a bottle rocket effect.

[channelmaniac]

The air tanks are made of carbon fiber so that, in the event of a crash, they will split lengthwise and decompress without causing a bottle rocket effect.

Ah, but you misunderstood my post...

You can't compress water like you can air... and as the compressor pumps the air into the tank you'll eventually end up with quite a bit of water in the tank. I'm wondering how they handle THAT.

It's like going out once or twice a year and draining your compressor tank.

RJ

[MadMerv]

You do that????

[channelmaniac]

You do that????

It helps to keep rust out of the tank. A weakened tank and lots of air pressure don't mix well.

Granted, that problem won't affect the car's tank but having a bunch of water in there will as that will slowly affect the air tank's capacity.

[black roadster]

It helps to keep rust out of the tank. A weakened tank and lots of air pressure don't mix well.

Granted, that problem won't affect the car's tank but having a bunch of water in there will as that will slowly affect the air tank's capacity.

Maybe drying the tank will be part of it 30k service.

[motorollow]

The reason we do not all drive air powered vehicles is because the energy needed to compress the air is far greater than the output due to inefficiency of the compressor.

[Darron65]

+1 Just like proponents of plug-in conversions for hybrid cars, they never include the energy off the grid to "refuel". That will ruin the fantasy!

[Nails]

So does anyone know how many kilowatts you can get from one gallon of gas?

[Dave04]

So does anyone know how many kilowatts you can get from one gallon of gas?

According to THIS SITE you get about 33 kilowatt-hours out of a gallon.

[Nails]

Hmmm so if I get 30mpg then I use approximately 1.1 KwH per mile while that web site says (if true) that 1 KwH will move an electric vehicle four miles.

That's impressive.

[Dave04]

Hmmm so if I get 30mpg then I use approximately 1.1 KwH per mile while that web site says (if true) that 1 KwH will move an electric vehicle four miles.

That's impressive.

That would be true if you engine were near 100% efficient... it isn't... Your gas engine isn't nearly as efficient as an electric motor in this case.

I'm sure Altian will come on here in a minute and correct me, but according to THIS WIKI a gas motor is thermodynamically limited to 37% efficiency and most cars are around 20-25% efficient, so you are really burning more like 4.4 KwH per mile to the electrics 0.25 KwH per mile.

[creek]

Tanstaafl

[Titus]

How many gallons of water do I need to produce 1.21 Jiggawatts?

[jrj512]

How many gallons of water do I need to produce 1.21 Jiggawatts?

"...when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit."