Automaker will sell auto powered by air!

[dubba]

Then there is the problem of getting rid of the heat

Getting rid of the heat? Maybe in other areas of the country this would be an issue, but we heat the house 9 months a year. Does anybody else heat hot water 12 months per year? I would gladly take a steady supply of heat.

 

[turnkey4099]

Like a turbo charger!..... Oh thats on the exhaust.
larry

Not sure where you are coming from on that but there are a lot of people out there who think a turbocharger is a 'free' boost of power. Not so. There is actually a net loss of power if it is measured going just across the turbo charger. The power boost comes from being able to add more fuel due to the denser air going in the intake valves.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

There is an outdoor childrens park in Rapid City, South Dakota that has a little blue train engine with yellow trim. It is only about 4 feet high and six feet long. Odd thing is, there is no motor on it, only an air tank. As I recall, it is an air powered locomotive for use in underground mines. The plaque said it could run for 4 hours on one charge. And it was very safe because there was no combustion engine to cause fires. Mines always have a source of compressed air. It was pretty cool. I have a picture of it around somewhere, just can't locate it now.

Of course, its pretty obvious that the energy required to pump that sucker up would be huge. I don't think it would save any energy at all. It would, however, save on emissions in the area it operated, but not in the area where the compressor got its power from, unless that power was electricity generated by solar, wind, water or nuker.

Ya, those type engines (I have even heard of forklifts) are used and have been for a long time. What the true believers in the MDI car overlook in these discussions is that while those things do work they are very limited in range and rely on a huge supply of already stored compressed air to re-tank with.

There was a recent discussion on another forum about this and the wasted heat problem. The 'true believer' proposed using an intercooler to cool the compressed air going into the tank and then another intercool (?after cooler?) to recover the heat from the ambient as the air was being used. Any body can spot the problem there. Dump heat at a couple hundred degrees and expect to recover it with ambient at less than 100? Ya, sure.

Harry K

Harry K

 

[MossRoad]

Ya, those type engines (I have even heard of forklifts) are used and have been for a long time. What the true believers in the MDI car overlook in these discussions is that while those things do work they are very limited in range and rely on a huge supply of already stored compressed air to re-tank with.

There was a recent discussion on another forum about this and the wasted heat problem. The 'true believer' proposed using an intercooler to cool the compressed air going into the tank and then another intercool (?after cooler?) to recover the heat from the ambient as the air was being used. Any body can spot the problem there. Dump heat at a couple hundred degrees and expect to recover it with ambient at less than 100? Ya, sure.

Harry K

Harry K

Read some of those links I posted. They talk about doing just that a hundred years ago.