Reg: Vehicle That Runs In Air

Yes, I have an idea about it: Why would you equip a small automobile with a bomb?

The idea has been around and many people have constructed prototype vehicles. All have failed to make it.. so far, that is.

Do you have an idea for a better air motor?

I remember I was about 14 years old, and recieved a CO2 piston for christmas.

I took it out, it must have been about 10 degrees F.

Even with a new CO2 cartridge, the pellet barely went 10 feet.

Back to the Daisy pump.

Generally, compressed air is the most expensive form of stored energy around. And as Doorman suggested, it is not the most safe energy either.

Perhaps it appears to be less expensive than petroleum based fuels but that is only because all of the suppliers are making such big profits on it.

Electricity and battery technology are still king. Fuel cell technology is the future and hydrogen is the ultimate fuel. But until there is a demand, there will be no supply.

Use of a high-efficiency IC engine to power your air compressor is the best way to go.

I could not get your point exactly.Can you please brief about it

I think he's being sarcastic.

It's not practical. In order to store a greater mass of air in your cylinder you will need to cool down the air resulting in a loss of stored energy. You could get more thrust out of your compressed air by heating it to a very high temperature just before it enters the turbine chamber but this requirement for heating will defeat your purpose in using compressed air to drive the engine. Also, you will need to have a very large high pressure vessel to store sufficient air to achieve a reasonable range. Should this vessel be punctured in an accident the results of the explosive decompression could be catastrophic.

You could store the air in liquid form then vaporize and heat it to drive your turbine by cryogenic storage is very expensive because of the need for a very effective insulation. And then of course the downsides I highlighted above will come into play once more. And let's not forget the potentially disastrous results of an accident involving cryogenic fluids.

All in all, it's just not worth it.

Yes i understand,But i heard that tata is doing this research and it was announced that soon there will fuel pumps which will fill compressed airs.

So how is it possible??

Read the responses again -- no one said it wasn't possible, it's simply not an efficient use of energy.

I Think its a wague answer company like tata is not fools to do research on an engine which is not efficient.

ragavan,

Nothing "vague" about it -- you asked "So how is it possible??", and I answered. If you are interested in why a large, successful company such as Tata Motors would bother investing in development of a compressed-air vehicle, that's an entirely different question.

In all seriousness, do you ever attempt any of your own research before posting questions on this forum?

If you really want to know the answer to this question you should check with Tata Cars themselves. I can only tell you why while compressed air cars are doable, they're not feasible. If you want to know why a major automotive company will want to invest money in something that isn't feasible, you'll have to ask them yourself. At the very most, all I can give you is my personal opinion which is probably wrong anyway.

Anyway, to answer your question, my personal opinion is that it could be a scam to claim financial losses so that the company doesn't need to pay income tax on their profits. Now I'm not saying that Tata Cars is really out to cheat the Indian government; as I said this is just my personal opinion which is very likely to be wrong anyway. Nonetheless, there have been many cases in other countries and probably in India also where companies deliberately choose to invest money in projects that are doomed to fail so as to claim tax write-offs. Is this the case here? I don't know. I suggest that you check with an accountant, economics professor or a legal expert if you want to know more about this.