rtbarton Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I stumbled accross this thread Click Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Still be a polluter as it can use electrical power for charging via it's on board electrically run air compressor, doesn't say how or where the tanks are stowed or how much compressed air it needs to run & only 2 to 300kms. I'll keep my diesel thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red90 driver Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I stumbled accross this threadClick I have always been told that compressed air is incredibly expensive to produce. About 10 times more expensive than electricity. Which is why we have been optimising our compressed air driven milking robot. To bring the operating costs down, all the cylinders and solenoids have been looked at and re-specified so that they only use the minimum amount of air required for the operation. I really don't see how you can make a compressed air car efficient to 'fuel up'. 90 cubic meters of air at what pressure? Sounds like April 1st come early. Or am I just a skeptical, grumpy old git??? (rhetorical question only) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 These links may be interesting Air Vehicle Compressed air car Air engine click Personally I think it would be more viable than an electric car, given the price & weight of batteries. With careful plant design home compressors would heat the hot water at the same time as charging the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Hmmm, Filling up at the Gas Station with 4500 psi or 300 bar! That sounds safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Hmmm,Filling up at the Gas Station with 4500 psi or 300 bar! That sounds safe With right equipment, safer than filling with petrol or LPG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rogers Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 300 bar doesn't sound too bad, most scuba diving tanks are 250 - 300 bar, and people are happy to strap them to their backs and have lots of rubber hoses coming from them! Probably safer in a car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Solves the on-board air problem too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Blimey, have they actuall built one yet ? Been following this little car for about 8 years or so now from MDI. http://www.theaircar.com/ Originally chap wanted £1million for turnkey factories all over the world. Car never seemed to get off the ground. Some Greens from Essex who went to the factory , in Southern France were concerned about it running properly in UK climate. Exhaust outputs is h20, and there was no heater, be interesting on winter evenings. Brilliant idea, and would solve Indias and other countries high pollution problems. (Going to make TATA billions) MDi said there was also a factory in Mexico city. The tanks are stored length-ways under the car. The vehicle is very light, so would not suit a heavy 4x4 machine. Electricity to run compressors can come from batteries that have stored enregy from daytime, solar panels and wind turbines, there are other was to generate electricity, not excluding - rigging up all the gyms round the country to the national grid and making 1 hours exercise on treadmills a national pastime. Get the kids to do an hour every morning to power our PC's for the day. Whether it'll happen in our lifetime I don't know but when the oil runs out there's going to be a hell of alot of people wanting these or a donkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 My concern would be running it in this country in the winter, I reckon the engine would ice up and become inefficient. One way round that would be to run a small, say 30cc, LPG powered engine driving a compressor. The heat from the engine & compressor could be fed to the vehicle engine (& passenger compartment) and the compressed air produced fed into the receiver. Running compressors off batteries defeats the object. IMHO they should be recharged form mains or wind powered compressor stations. They would use regenerative braking which would put compressed air back into the tanks and at the same time heat the engine up a bit. With a bit of imagination compressor (filling)staions would be sited on the groundfloor of tower blocks and the heat produced used to supply the shops & offices &c in the tower. I like the teradmill idea. In winter provide your passengers with a footpump each - you won't need a heater and sharing the running costs would be automatic! Prisoners could be sentenced to 300 litres at 100 bar and so on for different offences! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Google this victorian "compressed air" As usual the Victorians had already thought of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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