AIR CAR - Working of air powered cars

This is to explain the working of air powered cars. These type of cars will run on compressed air instead of gasoline .The car is powered by a two cylinder compressed air engine.The air powered car is also called as a low pollution or zero pollution cars. Since the car runs on compressed air it is environmentally friendly.

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AIR CAR

Within the next two years, you could see the first air-powered vehicle motoring through your town. Most likely, it will be the e.Volution car that is being built by Zero Pollution Motors.

The cars have generated a lot of interest in recent years, and the Mexican government has already signed a deal to buy 40,000 e.Volutions to replace gasoline- and diesel-powered taxis in the heavily polluted Mexico City

VEHICLE PARTS

• Compressed air tanks
• Brake power recovery
• The body
• The Air Filter
• The chassis
• Electrical system

TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

• The first piston takes in ambient air and compresses it to approximately 300 psi and 200*f in the compression chamber during the first cycle of the engine.
• When the piston pause, a small amount of compressed air from the tanks is released into the expansion chamber to create a low pressured, low temperature volume of about 140psi
• Shortly before the valve to the exhaust cylinder is opened, a high-speed shutter connects the compression and expansion chambers. The sudden pressure and temperature difference between the low chambers creates pressure waves in the expansion chamber, thereby producing work in the exhaust chamber that drives the piston to power the engine.

The air tanks for storing the compressed air are localized underneath the vehicle. They are constructed of reinforced carbon fiber with a thermoplastic liner. Each tank can hold 3,180 ft3 of air at a pressure of up to 4,300 psi. When connected to a special compressor station, the tanks can be recharged within 3-4 minutes. They can also be recharged using the on-board compressor 3-4 hours after connecting to a standard power outlet.

   

NEW MODELS, NEW APPLICATIONS:

 

• The MiniCAT's prototype is featured in the latest edition of the 'Salon Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2002'. This model is as ecologically sound as its predecessors and has equally low fuel consumption; one tank of air is enough for 200 km, at a cost of only 2 Euro. Like its "sister" vehicles, the MiniCAT's emits only clean air at a temperature of -20ºC. A main innovation is that with 2.65 meters in length, and with a three seat configuration (the driver is in the center) the boot is as capacious as a conventional family saloon. 

• Guy Nègre has also designed a dual-energy vehicle for longer distances, which works on compressed air in the city, and air/petrol on motorways. This vehicle (the RoadCAT's) can travel more than 2000 km on 100 m3 of air and 50 litres of petrol, so can be used for long journeys and is not an exclusively urban vehicle. Other applications of the technology include power generation, compressing air as a means of storing energy, and powering boats. 

• MDI also presented the MultiCAT's concept of a zero pollution urban transportation system which incorporates several important economic advantages. Consisting of a Driver module and up to 4 transport modules, (as in a train with tyres) it has been developed with a view to transporting up to 135 people at a cost of only 2.5 Euros for each 100 km per module, which could allow local and/or national governments to offer practically free urban transport to its citizens. At the moment the sale of the first license to manufacture the MultiCAT's for the Spanish and Portuguese market is in an advanced stage of negotiation with a group of investors consisting of the MDI license holders for Spain and other companies involved in the transport and energy sectors of those countries.