The Air Car - Cars Running On Compressed air ?

santhoshx · 19th October 2006, 14:59

Have a look at this - http://www.theaircar.com

"Guy Negre has developed an engine that could become one of the biggest technological advances of this century. Its application to CAT vehicles gives them significant economical and environmental advantages. With the incorporation of bi-energy (compressed air + fuel) the CAT Vehicles have increased their driving range to close to 2000 km with zero pollution in cities and considerably reduced pollution outside urban areas."

windsurfer · 4th December 2006, 13:34

Source : CNN.com - Car that runs on compressed air - Mar 30, 2005

A Korean company has created a car engine that runs on air.

The engine, which powers a pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), works alongside an electric motor to create the power source.
The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the PHEV pollution-free.
Cheol-Seung Cho, of Energine Corporation, told CNN the system is controlled by a computer inside the car, which instructs the compressed-air engine and electric motor what to do.
The compressed air drives the pistons, which turn the vehicle's wheels.
The air is compressed using a small motor, powered by a 48-volt battery, which powers both the air compressor and the electric motor.
Once compressed, the air is stored in a tank, Cho said.
"The compressed air is used when the car needs a lot of energy, such as for starting up the car and acceleration. The electric motor comes to life once the car has gained normal cruising speed."
He said the system was relatively simple to manufacture and could be easily adapted to any conventional engine system.
"You could say our car has two hearts pumping. That is, we have separate motors running at different times, both at the time when they can perform most efficiently."
Cho also said the system could reduce the cost of vehicle production by about 20 percent, because there was no need to build a cooling system, fuel tank, spark plugs or silencers.
Cho hoped to see PHEVs on streets in the near future.
Peter Kemp, editor of "Petroleum Intelligence Weekly," told CNN that one of the biggest challenges for the invention was persuading the general public to embrace it.
"For this invention to take off, you'd need to get the backing of a major manufacturer. The major manufacturers that are looking at hybrid motors at the moment are looking at fuel cells -- battery with a gasoline diesel combination," he said.
Kemp said Toyota, which has released a hybrid car, had sold about 150,000 of the environmentally friendly model worldwide.
"But that is over several years. There is a lot of demand for that car but that is the only one that is really available and nobody knows whether Toyota is making any money out of it."

For more information, please see

Howstuffworks "How Air-Powered Cars Will Work"
How it works - The World´s Cleanest Car.

ajitkommini · 4th December 2006, 13:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by windsurfer

The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the PHEV pollution-free.

Not so sure about pollution free, but it is shifting the pollution out of the cities and to the powerplants i guess.

basilmabraham · 4th December 2006, 14:27

Saw a similar story on Discovery channel yesterday...The prospects looks good...but dunno how much would the wait be.. also need to wait ans see how economically viable would these cars be..

naveendhyani · 4th December 2006, 23:04

nybody seen "who killed the electric car?"

Sony Pictures Classics Presents : Who Killed the Electric Car?

revvedup · 25th January 2007, 22:56

Yes this is indeed true.Students at the university of washington have already developed a working vehicle called ln 2000 which works on compressed liquid nitrogen .Although
the energy density is quite low as compared to fossil fuel powered cars it is still more than electric cars.
Here's the link to the howstuffworks article
Howstuffworks "Could a car run on compressed air?"
To the site about the ln 2000
CryoCar

amu1983 · 5th February 2007, 22:44

In case you haven't heard, please read up on this topic on Google, before you call me crazy

. The idea is pretty simple. In a regular IC engine, an explosion of petrol/air mixture causes a high pressure build-up (24 psi, I think) , pushes the piston, which in turn rotates our wheels. The same effect can be achieved by using compressed air that is stored in a tank.

Such a car can be 'recharged' by means of a small electric pump which 'charges' the air tank. The air tank in effect, acts as a energy reservoir.

The design of the car is also simple. A pneumatic engine, air flow controller, air tank and a light body. The 'charger', which basically is an electric pump can be an external accessory (like the mobile charger).

If implemented properly, I'm sure this idea will be a BIG hit, and I would sure like to give this a try... just for the sake of the pleasure. But sadly, I don't have any infrastructure in place (like a workshop, engine parts, etc), except for some cash.

This is a call for enthusiastic people (like finetuning, and others) to team up and utilize the synergy.

kkr2k2 · 6th February 2007, 01:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by amu1983

.... just for the sake of the pleasure. ...

now thats what i say what makes one an auto enthusiast. all the best for your project buddy.

Rehaan · 6th February 2007, 02:29

Amu1983,

Just a few days back someone was showing me pictures of a car running on compressed air that he built.

The "engine" was a pneumatic gun/wrench used for changing truck tyres. (can switch directions so it has reverse as well), which belt drove a simple "CVT" type transmission, and then chain driven rear axle.

The car had six air tanks, overall volume...similar to about 4 LPG tanks, and it could travel about 1000ft before running out of air!

cya
R

theMAG · 6th February 2007, 09:03

The car would probably resemble the Hindenburg

srishiva · 6th February 2007, 11:26

The above mentioned system uses electric motor to compress the air. Wouldn't it be efficient for the electric motor to run the wheels directly. If the air was compressed by some other means and stored(and not on the vehicle), it makes sense.

Am I missing something here ?

amu1983 · 6th February 2007, 11:50

>> The car had six air tanks, overall volume...similar to about 4 LPG tanks, and it could travel about 1000ft before running out of air.

Hmm... that's pretty bad mileage for 4 tanks. A little dig-up of physics fundaes tells you that energy stored in a compressed gas is PV. So, if you have a 1m3 (3ft X 3ft X 3ft) tank of air under 44 psi pressure, you are only gonna get 300,000 J of energy, assuming 100% efficiency. That's equivalent to 300 ml of petrol :-(

We'll have to use a specialized tank that can withstand much higher pressure. The pneumatic engine should also be able to work at that pressure.

The only relief is that the efficiency is expected to be pretty good (80+%) compared to about 50% of the regular IC engine. So, the 300ml petrol worth of energy in the air car is actually equivalent to ~ half a litre of petrol in a regular car.

Rehaan · 2nd March 2007, 02:58

Heres a pretty cool video.... the first model seems rather dull (or secretive), but the second one is cool!

8min Video

Heres the website for the second one - Angelo Di Pietro's Air Engine

cya
R

Ram · 2nd April 2007, 11:55

The frenchman Guy Negre spent 14 years of R&D, developed his trailblazing new engine. His small, family-controlled company is called MDI (Moteur Developpment International). They are located at Carros, near Nice (S. France).

Tata Motors has signed an agreement with MDI, France for using their compressed air powered engines in India. Tata will fund further R&D and own its use and licensing in India, thereby stealing a march on the Japanese, the Americans and the rest of the world.

MDI has two technologies for different needs:
* Single energy compressed air engines
* Dual energy compressed air plus fuel engines

A dual energy engine, will work exclusively with compressed air while under 50 km/h in urban areas.

Available in 2, 4 and 6 cylinder configurations, When the air tanks are empty the driver will be able to request the computer to switch to fuelled mode.

At highway speeds above 50 km/h, the engine's computer will automatically switch to fuel mode. It can use any fuel such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, bio-diesel, gas, liquidized gas, alcohol, etc.

90,000 litres of air is compressed to 4,351 psi (300 bars) and stored in a carbon-fibre tank to drive the MiniCAT's engine. This compressed air filling takes 3 min. in a filling station, or 5½ hours at home with a conventional 230V compressor.

The Tata MiniCAT is a youthful two-seat runabout that will sell for about Rs. 3.25 lakh.

The body is made of carbon-fibre and injected foam. The chassis frame is made of aluminium rods glued together, (aircraft style) more securely than possible with welding.

Ram

Ram · 2nd April 2007, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by theMAG

The car would probably resemble the Hindenburg

245 m long, the Hindenburg was longer than three Boeing 747s placed end-to-end.

It contained 200 million litres of flammable Hydrogen gas in 16 cells, to lift 112 tons. It was powered by four 1200 bhp Daimler-Benz diesel engines.

So MiniCAT is more like the Zen Estilo, than the hydrogen-powered Hindenburg, what?

19th October 2006, 14:59	#1
santhoshx BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bangalore/New Jersey Posts: 47 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	The Air Car - Cars Running On Compressed air ? Have a look at this - http://www.theaircar.com "Guy Negre has developed an engine that could become one of the biggest technological advances of this century. Its application to CAT vehicles gives them significant economical and environmental advantages. With the incorporation of bi-energy (compressed air + fuel) the CAT Vehicles have increased their driving range to close to 2000 km with zero pollution in cities and considerably reduced pollution outside urban areas."
	() Thanks

4th December 2006, 13:34	#2
windsurfer BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Dundee, UK Posts: 513 Thanked: 25 Times	The Air Car - Cars Running On Compressed air ? Source : CNN.com - Car that runs on compressed air - Mar 30, 2005 A Korean company has created a car engine that runs on air. The engine, which powers a pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), works alongside an electric motor to create the power source. The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the PHEV pollution-free. Cheol-Seung Cho, of Energine Corporation, told CNN the system is controlled by a computer inside the car, which instructs the compressed-air engine and electric motor what to do. The compressed air drives the pistons, which turn the vehicle's wheels. The air is compressed using a small motor, powered by a 48-volt battery, which powers both the air compressor and the electric motor. Once compressed, the air is stored in a tank, Cho said. "The compressed air is used when the car needs a lot of energy, such as for starting up the car and acceleration. The electric motor comes to life once the car has gained normal cruising speed." He said the system was relatively simple to manufacture and could be easily adapted to any conventional engine system. "You could say our car has two hearts pumping. That is, we have separate motors running at different times, both at the time when they can perform most efficiently." Cho also said the system could reduce the cost of vehicle production by about 20 percent, because there was no need to build a cooling system, fuel tank, spark plugs or silencers. Cho hoped to see PHEVs on streets in the near future. Peter Kemp, editor of "Petroleum Intelligence Weekly," told CNN that one of the biggest challenges for the invention was persuading the general public to embrace it. "For this invention to take off, you'd need to get the backing of a major manufacturer. The major manufacturers that are looking at hybrid motors at the moment are looking at fuel cells -- battery with a gasoline diesel combination," he said. Kemp said Toyota, which has released a hybrid car, had sold about 150,000 of the environmentally friendly model worldwide. "But that is over several years. There is a lot of demand for that car but that is the only one that is really available and nobody knows whether Toyota is making any money out of it." For more information, please see Howstuffworks "How Air-Powered Cars Will Work" How it works - The World´s Cleanest Car.
	() Thanks

4th December 2006, 14:27	#4
basilmabraham BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sydney/Cochin Posts: 772 Thanked: 76 Times View My Garage	Saw a similar story on Discovery channel yesterday...The prospects looks good...but dunno how much would the wait be.. also need to wait ans see how economically viable would these cars be..
	() Thanks

4th December 2006, 23:04	#5
naveendhyani BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Melbourne Posts: 542 Thanked: 9 Times	nybody seen "who killed the electric car?" Sony Pictures Classics Presents : Who Killed the Electric Car?
	() Thanks

25th January 2007, 22:56	#6
revvedup BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Delhi Posts: 269 Thanked: 24 Times	Your future car mat run on compressed air Yes this is indeed true.Students at the university of washington have already developed a working vehicle called ln 2000 which works on compressed liquid nitrogen .Although the energy density is quite low as compared to fossil fuel powered cars it is still more than electric cars. Here's the link to the howstuffworks article Howstuffworks "Could a car run on compressed air?" To the site about the ln 2000 CryoCar
	() Thanks

5th February 2007, 22:44	#7
amu1983 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 143 Thanked: 0 Times	Want to build an Air Car... Interested? In case you haven't heard, please read up on this topic on Google, before you call me crazy . The idea is pretty simple. In a regular IC engine, an explosion of petrol/air mixture causes a high pressure build-up (24 psi, I think) , pushes the piston, which in turn rotates our wheels. The same effect can be achieved by using compressed air that is stored in a tank. Such a car can be 'recharged' by means of a small electric pump which 'charges' the air tank. The air tank in effect, acts as a energy reservoir. The design of the car is also simple. A pneumatic engine, air flow controller, air tank and a light body. The 'charger', which basically is an electric pump can be an external accessory (like the mobile charger). If implemented properly, I'm sure this idea will be a BIG hit, and I would sure like to give this a try... just for the sake of the pleasure. But sadly, I don't have any infrastructure in place (like a workshop, engine parts, etc), except for some cash. This is a call for enthusiastic people (like finetuning, and others) to team up and utilize the synergy.
	() Thanks

6th February 2007, 02:29	#9
Rehaan Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 24,190 Thanked: 36,045 Times	Amu1983, Just a few days back someone was showing me pictures of a car running on compressed air that he built. The "engine" was a pneumatic gun/wrench used for changing truck tyres. (can switch directions so it has reverse as well), which belt drove a simple "CVT" type transmission, and then chain driven rear axle. The car had six air tanks, overall volume...similar to about 4 LPG tanks, and it could travel about 1000ft before running out of air! cya R Last edited by Rehaan : 2nd March 2007 at 02:59.
	() Thanks

6th February 2007, 09:03	#10
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,196 Thanked: 1,821 Times View My Garage	The car would probably resemble the Hindenburg
	() Thanks

6th February 2007, 11:26	#11
srishiva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 4,372 Thanked: 2,260 Times	The above mentioned system uses electric motor to compress the air. Wouldn't it be efficient for the electric motor to run the wheels directly. If the air was compressed by some other means and stored(and not on the vehicle), it makes sense. Am I missing something here ?
	() Thanks

6th February 2007, 11:50	#12
amu1983 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 143 Thanked: 0 Times	>> The car had six air tanks, overall volume...similar to about 4 LPG tanks, and it could travel about 1000ft before running out of air. Hmm... that's pretty bad mileage for 4 tanks. A little dig-up of physics fundaes tells you that energy stored in a compressed gas is PV. So, if you have a 1m3 (3ft X 3ft X 3ft) tank of air under 44 psi pressure, you are only gonna get 300,000 J of energy, assuming 100% efficiency. That's equivalent to 300 ml of petrol :-( We'll have to use a specialized tank that can withstand much higher pressure. The pneumatic engine should also be able to work at that pressure. The only relief is that the efficiency is expected to be pretty good (80+%) compared to about 50% of the regular IC engine. So, the 300ml petrol worth of energy in the air car is actually equivalent to ~ half a litre of petrol in a regular car.
	() Thanks

2nd April 2007, 11:55	#14
Ram Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Singapore, Mumbai, Nagpur Posts: 2,166 Thanked: 223 Times View My Garage	Tata's compressed-air powered MiniCAT The frenchman Guy Negre spent 14 years of R&D, developed his trailblazing new engine. His small, family-controlled company is called MDI (Moteur Developpment International). They are located at Carros, near Nice (S. France). Tata Motors has signed an agreement with MDI, France for using their compressed air powered engines in India. Tata will fund further R&D and own its use and licensing in India, thereby stealing a march on the Japanese, the Americans and the rest of the world. MDI has two technologies for different needs: * Single energy compressed air engines * Dual energy compressed air plus fuel engines A dual energy engine, will work exclusively with compressed air while under 50 km/h in urban areas. Available in 2, 4 and 6 cylinder configurations, When the air tanks are empty the driver will be able to request the computer to switch to fuelled mode. At highway speeds above 50 km/h, the engine's computer will automatically switch to fuel mode. It can use any fuel such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, bio-diesel, gas, liquidized gas, alcohol, etc. 90,000 litres of air is compressed to 4,351 psi (300 bars) and stored in a carbon-fibre tank to drive the MiniCAT's engine. This compressed air filling takes 3 min. in a filling station, or 5½ hours at home with a conventional 230V compressor. The Tata MiniCAT is a youthful two-seat runabout that will sell for about Rs. 3.25 lakh. The body is made of carbon-fibre and injected foam. The chassis frame is made of aluminium rods glued together, (aircraft style) more securely than possible with welding. Ram
	() Thanks