Inventor makes engine that runs on air

[grinner]

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP)
--http://www.rednova.com/news/images/3/2004/08/26/automobile_19big_air-compression_City-Wide_afp.jpg
Operations Manager Paul Grimes of City-Wide drives a prototype vehicle.(AFP/William West)

An Australian inventor claims to have made the world's first commercially-viable motor vehicle powered by compressed air.

The vehicle is being tried out by contractors in Melbourne's parks and gardens over the next 12 months as an alternative to conventional diesel or petrol engines.

The engine's designer, Angelo Di Pietro from Melbourne company Engineair, said the engine produced no pollutants and had only two moving parts, increasing its efficiency over conventional designs.

Di Pietro said it used compressed air to drive a rotary engine, abandoning the pistons and cylinders seen in regular designs.

The vehicle being tested in Melbourne has reached 50 kilometres an hour (31 miles an hour) in the workshop and had proved more efficient than battery-powered golf carts.

Di Pietro said the engine's potential was immense and he claimed to have attracted interest from the United States, China, the Netherlands and Britain. link (http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/3/2004/08/26/story002.html)

[LiLOrion]

Thats cool.

But I still dont think we will get off our reliance on gas in my lifetime. Too many people would stand to lose millions/billions of dollars if that happened, so they wont let it.

[Darth Buddha]

Hey, there are already vehicles that use hydraulic assist for accelleration... that keeps the gasoline or deisel engine running in a more efficient zone... ergo less hydrocarbons.

If compressed air is better, then we might see an "air assist" vehicle that is actually competitive.

[Rhys]

Of course, it's compressed air, so the power to do that compression has to come from somewhere, so don't think of it as 100% clean power. However, it should be possible to make that compression cleaner & more efficient than the conventional engines it's replacing.

Rhys

[I-am-so-Johns-girl]

Of course, it's compressed air, so the power to do that compression has to come from somewhere, so don't think of it as 100% clean power. However, it should be possible to make that compression cleaner & more efficient than the conventional engines it's replacing.

Rhys
I was thinking the same thing Rhys....some type of engine is need to compress the air into this engine. It's still a very interesting concept! :aok:

[Digger]

Now if someone would just come up with a commercially viable Sterling Engine.......And that is something I think we may see in our lifetimes.

[Third EYe]

I don't get it, where are the sails?

[trubador]

:boat:

[TheBladeRoden]

they need to make an engine that runs off of oxidation.

[B Sharp]

they need to make an engine that runs off of oxidation.

a rust-o-matic? love it!

[I-am-so-Johns-girl]

grinner...is that the whole story? Is there a link? :shrug:

[Darth Buddha]

Of course, it's compressed air, so the power to do that compression has to come from somewhere, so don't think of it as 100% clean power. However, it should be possible to make that compression cleaner & more efficient than the conventional engines it's replacing.

Rhys

Yes, but that engine would also be running at a constant speed.. and could be any size (say, one that could compress enough air for 1,000 tanks an hour or so) in order to select the most efficient, least polluting option. You could also compress with renewable energy.. windmills or the like.

Perhaps most importantly, from the viewpoint of big city mayors, you could ban all but zero emission vehicles in town where vehicle concentration was high, and the emissions would be moved to somewhere else. Might not go down well with the NIMBY crowd, and in this case, I might be a NIMBY myself!

[LT Garrix]

You know, if the state of California went to zero emissions cars we would be in trouble. There isn't enough electricity infrastructure to charge that many cars. And I'm not talking about places to plug it in, I'm talking about actual power available. We haven't had blackouts this summer, but we do get the occassional energy warning.

The hybrid cars are probably a good way to go. This compressed air car like the electric ones probably only has a range of about 60 miles or so and are probably difficult to recharge.

Still, we need ideas like this.

[grinner]

grinner...is that the whole story? Is there a link? :shrug:
I added the link

[Mike0812]

Still, we need ideas like this.

:yes: I couldn't agree more. Even if it's not feasible, at least people are throwing ideas out there and trying to come up with new alternatives. Someone's bound to hit the jackpot IF we keep trying. And that discovery may have the potential to drastically change the world...hopefully for the better.

[Third EYe]

I'm working on a methane model. My only issue is the collection and delivery device. I don't know how to integrate it into the cars seat without hurting the driver, which is also the provider of the methane gas.

[Mike0812]

:lol finally, a way to harness the power of the flatulently gifted :D

[LT Garrix]

So that would be bean burritos to the mile, huh? :lol:

[BillFrugge]

I'm working on a methane model. My only issue is the collection and delivery device. I don't know how to integrate it into the cars seat without hurting the driver, which is also the provider of the methane gas.

Hehe... Pass gas to replace gas...