Air Powered Cars

  Air Powered Cars: Not Just Inflated Claims
 
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Guy Ngre, a former Formula-One engineer, has designed a biofriendly car that literally runs on air. Compressed air, that is. An obvious advantage of using air to power a car is that it does not pollute the air or produce greenhouse gases. (1)
The compressed air engine is similar, in many ways, to the steam engine that once was used to drive locomotives and early automobiles, except of course that it uses air, rather than steam. The engine is much simpler than a gasoline engine, because there is no combustion. The engine has an air intake and exhaust, a piston inside a cylinder and a crankshaft that turns.
The compressed air is contained in carbon-fiber high-pressure tanks at 300 bar (4351 psi) that with external compressors can be charged up in about three minutes. Using the on-board compressor that task takes about 3-4 hours. Carbon fiber tanks are much safer than metal ones. The worst that can happen if a carbon-fiber tank is smashed, is that it will crack open with a loud bang. (2)
The driving range on a set of tanks is about sixty miles, but by heating the compressed air using any of a number of fuels, that range can be extended to about 500 miles, giving an equivalent of about 120 miles per gallon. The plan is to have service stations equipped with compressors to fill tanks that they can then sell to motorists.
The so-called OneCAT car (CAT stands for Compressed Air Technology) will sell for about $6,000. An agreement has been signed with Tata Motors in India to manufacture these vehicles. Tata is the same company that will produce the super-cheap $2,500 Nano cars. Tata may also use the compressed air technology for local power generation.
So far, Negre's company, Moteur Developement International (MDI), has spent about $30 million on the compressed air vehicle development. Negre wants various countries to set up their own manufacturing plants that would then sell their CAT cars direct to the public.
Meanwhile, "down under" in Melbourne, Australia, Italian-born Angelo Di Pietro has been busy developing an air-driven rotary engine, similar to the Wankel design, but with fewer moving parts. This biofriendly engine weighs less than 30 lbs., is very efficient, and has very low friction. In fact, Angelo claims that the engine can be operated with as low a pressure as 1 PSI! (3)
Angelo suggests that his engine be used to directly drive the wheels of the cars, thus eliminating heavy and costly transmission systems. A muffler won't be required either, because the motor is so quiet. Speed and torque are controlled with an air intake throttle. Moreover, because expanding gases have a cooling effect, the engine runs very cool and can be used for air conditioning. (4)
Angelo plans to license his engine to car manufacturers. He has received a letter of intent from China, as well as interest from an American car manufacturer.
The future looks bright for these air-driven vehicles. Meanwhile, gasoline and diesel engines are still the order of the day and because of dwindling oil supplies it is important to use the remaining fossil fuels effectively. California-based Biofriendly Corporation helps in that respect with its Green Plus liquid fuel catalyst that improves fuel economy, reduces harmful emissions and provides increased torque in internal combustion engines.
To find out more about Green Plus, visit the Biofriendly website at http://www.biofriendly.com/.
References:
(1) http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/06/09/autoblog-qanda-miguel-celades-sales-manager-of-mdi-they-make-th/
(2) http://www.greenoptimistic.com/index.php/2008/02/18/onecat-the-car-that-runs-on-air/
(3) http://www.engineair.com.au/airmotor.htm
(4) http://pesn.com/2006/05/11/9500269_Engineair_Compressed-Air_Motor/

  Author, Peter Verhoeff, contributes articles on environmental issues for Biofriendly Corporation. More information on these and other topics can be found on the Biofriendly site.
 
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