Air Car 1000 Mile Range 94mph
- Thread starter libertad
- Start date
ahh yess
vaporware and salesman's puffery at the height of an oil craze. Seeking investors dollars, of course. Hear nothing from them again. The money gone. The stock back into the pink sheets at pennies per share.
I saw that on television. The reporter even said that since air was free, it was a free ride. Buncha hogwash. Still takes energy to compress the air. How much energy? To move the car 10 miles on compressed air, you need at least that much energy for compressing the air, plus any inefficiencies in the compressing process (i.e., piston drag). So for all practical purposes, the car couldn't be any more efficient than just putting an air compressor engine in it and paying for fuel or electricity to run the air compressor motor.
The only real free lunch that I can see is if the power comes from a free outside source, so maybe something like a big solar panel that sits on your roof and charges your electrical car (or perhaps runs your air compressor for your air car). Alternately, home-based windmills that do the same thing. But then you've got a big up-front capital cost.
SM
The only real free lunch that I can see is if the power comes from a free outside source, so maybe something like a big solar panel that sits on your roof and charges your electrical car (or perhaps runs your air compressor for your air car). Alternately, home-based windmills that do the same thing. But then you've got a big up-front capital cost.
SM
Excellent Commentary All
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Advantages
The principal advantages of an air powered vehicle are:[5]
Compressed air engine reduces the cost of vehicle production by about 20%, because there is no need to build a cooling system, fuel tank, spark plugs or silencers.
Most compressed air engines do not need a transmission, just a flow control.
Very low self-discharge rate (most batteries will deplete their charge without external load at a rate determined by the chemistry, design, and size, while compressed gas storage will have an extremely low leakage rate)
Long storage lifetime device (electric vehicle batteries have a limited useful number of cycles, and sometimes a limited calendar lifetime, irrespective of use). This means that batteries in operation are much more expensive than compressed air storage, and are more pollutant because a lot more pollutant material needs to be used (typical car batteries are made from sulfuric acids and lead).
Lower initial cost than battery electric vehicles when mass produced. One estimate is â¬3,000,
Compressed air not subject to fuel tax at present (one taxing method would apply also to electric cars by taxing the electricity used for compression or charging).
Expansion of the compressed air reduces its temperature and heat from the passenger compartment may be cooled using a heat exchanger, providing both relief from hot weather by air conditioning and increased efficiency.
Zero pollutant emissions from the vehicle itself.
Compressed air is not a fire hazard, only a rapid depressurization hazard (this can be mitigated by using carbon fiber tanks).
Air turbine technology, closely related to steam turbine technology, is a practice over 50 years old. It is simple to achieve with low tech materials. This would mean that developing countries, and rapidly growing countries like China and India, could easily implement a less polluting means of personal transportation than an internal combustion engine automobile.
Possibility to refill air tank at home (using domestic power socket).[6]
[edit] Disadvantages
Having solved most of the high pressure storage and handling problems, the main remaining disadvantages are related to the thermodynamics.[7]
At the supply station, compressing the air heats it, and if then directly transferred in a heated state to the vehicle storage tanks will then cool and reduce the pressure. If cooled before transfer, the energy in this heat will be lost unless sophisticated low grade heat utilization is employed (see cogeneration).
Within the vehicle, expansion and consequent pressure reduction in the throttle or engine chills the air, reducing its effective pressure. This is called Adiabatic expansion. Addition of ambient heat will increase this pressure and this addition leads to a more complex propulsion system, and the necessity for an onboard fuel tank and heater system. While an attempt was made in the Nègre system to warm the air in a long portion of the stroke at top dead center, it appears that this scheme has been abandoned due to inherent imbalances causing unacceptable levels of vibration.
Passenger compartment heating is more difficult since the propulsion system does not provide a source of waste heat. Some form of heat pump, or more likely, an electric heater would be required.
Limited range due to available tank technology. The air engine suffers from similar problems to hydrogen vehicles in this regard.
Using energy to compress air is less efficient than charging a battery with that same energy[8][9] - compressed-air car's overall efficiency is approximately one third of a comparable electric car.[10][11][12]
While the air engine reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle, the energy used to compress the air may not come from clean sources. (However, electricity used in electric cars also may not be clean, and in the case of standard gasoline engines it is even worse.)
Long refill time when refilled using a home or low-end system (circa 4 hours). However, at a commercial station refilling would take only a few minutes.[13]
...................................................................................
Other Reasoning
Some of the smaller non oil producing countries could benefit in several ways.
Jobs
Self sufficiency
Reduce city pollution
Lower costs
Safer for families....drier than motorcycles....
Low cost infrastructure....
Fuel always available....
There are a lot of positives....
..............................................................................
This looks particularly interesting for some of the cane producing countries, particularly with more efficient methods than are currently successful in Brazil....
Wind and solar driven would be very interesting.
Some have reasonable hydro electric production....
...............................................................................
The prospects for some countries are very interesting....
.......................................................
Advantages
The principal advantages of an air powered vehicle are:[5]
Compressed air engine reduces the cost of vehicle production by about 20%, because there is no need to build a cooling system, fuel tank, spark plugs or silencers.
Most compressed air engines do not need a transmission, just a flow control.
Very low self-discharge rate (most batteries will deplete their charge without external load at a rate determined by the chemistry, design, and size, while compressed gas storage will have an extremely low leakage rate)
Long storage lifetime device (electric vehicle batteries have a limited useful number of cycles, and sometimes a limited calendar lifetime, irrespective of use). This means that batteries in operation are much more expensive than compressed air storage, and are more pollutant because a lot more pollutant material needs to be used (typical car batteries are made from sulfuric acids and lead).
Lower initial cost than battery electric vehicles when mass produced. One estimate is â¬3,000,
Compressed air not subject to fuel tax at present (one taxing method would apply also to electric cars by taxing the electricity used for compression or charging).
Expansion of the compressed air reduces its temperature and heat from the passenger compartment may be cooled using a heat exchanger, providing both relief from hot weather by air conditioning and increased efficiency.
Zero pollutant emissions from the vehicle itself.
Compressed air is not a fire hazard, only a rapid depressurization hazard (this can be mitigated by using carbon fiber tanks).
Air turbine technology, closely related to steam turbine technology, is a practice over 50 years old. It is simple to achieve with low tech materials. This would mean that developing countries, and rapidly growing countries like China and India, could easily implement a less polluting means of personal transportation than an internal combustion engine automobile.
Possibility to refill air tank at home (using domestic power socket).[6]
[edit] Disadvantages
Having solved most of the high pressure storage and handling problems, the main remaining disadvantages are related to the thermodynamics.[7]
At the supply station, compressing the air heats it, and if then directly transferred in a heated state to the vehicle storage tanks will then cool and reduce the pressure. If cooled before transfer, the energy in this heat will be lost unless sophisticated low grade heat utilization is employed (see cogeneration).
Within the vehicle, expansion and consequent pressure reduction in the throttle or engine chills the air, reducing its effective pressure. This is called Adiabatic expansion. Addition of ambient heat will increase this pressure and this addition leads to a more complex propulsion system, and the necessity for an onboard fuel tank and heater system. While an attempt was made in the Nègre system to warm the air in a long portion of the stroke at top dead center, it appears that this scheme has been abandoned due to inherent imbalances causing unacceptable levels of vibration.
Passenger compartment heating is more difficult since the propulsion system does not provide a source of waste heat. Some form of heat pump, or more likely, an electric heater would be required.
Limited range due to available tank technology. The air engine suffers from similar problems to hydrogen vehicles in this regard.
Using energy to compress air is less efficient than charging a battery with that same energy[8][9] - compressed-air car's overall efficiency is approximately one third of a comparable electric car.[10][11][12]
While the air engine reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle, the energy used to compress the air may not come from clean sources. (However, electricity used in electric cars also may not be clean, and in the case of standard gasoline engines it is even worse.)
Long refill time when refilled using a home or low-end system (circa 4 hours). However, at a commercial station refilling would take only a few minutes.[13]
...................................................................................
Other Reasoning
Some of the smaller non oil producing countries could benefit in several ways.
Jobs
Self sufficiency
Reduce city pollution
Lower costs
Safer for families....drier than motorcycles....
Low cost infrastructure....
Fuel always available....
There are a lot of positives....
..............................................................................
This looks particularly interesting for some of the cane producing countries, particularly with more efficient methods than are currently successful in Brazil....
Wind and solar driven would be very interesting.
Some have reasonable hydro electric production....
...............................................................................
The prospects for some countries are very interesting....
Well you better get ready for that type of air vehicle - this is how you will ALL be living once OIL hits $200 a barrel!!! :eek:
http://www.gamerevolution.com/images/misc/road_warrior.jpg
http://www.gamerevolution.com/images/misc/road_warrior.jpg