Reciprocating Air Compressor with Bull Power

Hi,

The first question that will be asked is, what is the bore and stroke (displacement) of the compressor and what pressure do you need (hope) to generate? That will give an indication of how many "Bull power" (Horsepower) you need.

Best of luck with your project

John

What is the target requirement? (Water pump? Machine tools?)

How much (volume @ pressure) compressed air is required over what time period?

Cost to acquire the animals? Cost of food for each bull/oxen per day? What are the veterinary costs per year? Cost of employees to care for the animals (e.g., hitch/unhitch the oxen to the machinery, feed & water them, etc.)?

Farm Impliments like pnematic spade .1 HP, small pneumatic tiller 1 HP,pnematic Augur1HP.We may need to OFFSET a demand of say 5 HP to start with

So 1 bp (bullpower) ≈ 0.5 hp. Ain't the metric system lovely?

Thank you very much sir...Thanks indeed, for your kind guidance.I have forwarded the literature to our small team. Thanks once again.We will meet at CR4 later if need be..

If the goal is to power other machines with compressed air, I guess it is doable. Doesn't sound very efficient. Using a system of pulleys and belts might be more efficient if the machines are stationary.

Farm impliments as stated .

Compressed Air to drive Maximum 5 hp any time

Let us hope that the SPCA does not hear of your plan.

"A Bull can be made to work for 10 years before eaten up, the food security boys argue."

Can you imagine biting into a hunk of 10 year old bull meat?

I think the SPCA does not operate in this country, where ever it may be.

Are you downstream from Minot?

The geography of North Dakota is unusual. The Souris river starts in Saskatchewan Canada, meanders south into ND running through Minot, and then turns north again heading into the Assiniboine river in Canada.

We in Fargo (even though we are in the same Red River drainage) are not directly affected by the rising river... however, the citizens of Minot are reeling from this record flood. At this writing, some 12,000 people are being ordered to vacate their homes by noon today, and an anticipated 3,000 or so are to be evacuated by 6:00 tonight.

tcmtech lives in that part of the world... He can give us more (if he doesn't float away!)

A ten year old bull, no big deal. Where do you think a truck stop gets their steaks from?

I will be be earnest and to the point, the project is not commercially viable.

Assuming there will be more than 20 bulls total (you'll need reserves) then you might want to look into collecting the waste products and building a simple bio-generator to produce some methane and use it as an energy source as well. Could make the whole thing a bit more productive...but I don't see this as a feasible project from the standpoint of efficiency. Too many losses in the system. Of course if the bulls are the only energy source available, then good luck.

Will the bulls be pushing/pulling a large wheel around in a circle? What will the ground they tread on be like and how much destruction from the bull's constant foot pressure will it sustain over time? Will there be an issue of weather, either hot or rain that might effect production.

(We keep saying bulls but I think we mean oxen...from the animals point of view there is a BIG difference )

Good luck!

"We keep saying bulls but I think we mean oxen..."

Good point, and I believe correct.

An ox (or bullock) is sometimes a former bull with a lot of time on his hands.

Why not consider centrifugal compressor? It can be geared for required rpm, and will be smooth.

If you can get a large pressure storage tank in the range of 300-500 gallons and just let them continuously pump up the pressure in it you would be able to use the tools for short bursts like augering fence post holes, etc.

It seems the efficiency of the system, muscle power to compressed air to useful mechanical work, is a key factor. A great deal of energy is lost when the compressor heats the air (isentropic compression) and the air is cooled before use. Then the expansion of the air in the tool is limited by exhaust being cold.

Suggestion: don't throw away the heat of compression. Store, transmit, and use the compressed air at its highest temperature and/or find uses for temperature differentials. For example, the hot compressed air could be used for space heating heating (drying sheds?) or cooking or boiling water. Cold expanded air (exhaust from an air motor) could be used for refrigeration. If you spray polluted water into the compressor air intake, the compressor output should be a mixture of compressed air and steam. When the mixture is expanded in the air motor, the steam should condense, reheating the air. Thermodynamically, that should be much more efficient than the 12-15% typically seen. The input is ambient temperature air and water, and the output (if the expansion ratio equals the compression ratio) is ambient temperature air and a cloud of distilled, potable, water droplets. The water can be filtered out, providing clean (sterile) drinking water "for free."

Ref: US Patent No. 5,832,728, which has expired and can be used by anyone.