Posted on 01/23/2013 2:21:05 AM PST by rawhide
Great concept, if the car could only make it 117 miles without requiring a visit to the mechanic.
Not completely adiabatic, but you insulate the storage tanks and tubing.
But will the average motorist be able to afford one ??? Don't see any mention of the price but I'm guessing not...
Citroen and Renault.......
Two reason why the French are known for their wines.
Just remember to take along a air mattress hand pump for those long drives.
Thanks rawhide.
“...reuse all the energy lost when slowing down or breaking...” I don’t think so. There will be leaks. There well be friction. There will be heating of the fluid (air) during compression that then bleeds away... The real question is, even with all these losses, can they make the system more efficient than anelectrical regenerative braking system? Oh, being lighter, smaller, cheaper, safer, and longer lasting would be nice too.
Part of the headline, but no room for it here on FR.
[The process also condenses a LOT of water out of the compressed air...]
[...running parallel to the exhaust.]
Perhaps placing the compressed air tank next to a heated source solves that problem.
We're going to need a bigger car.
Don't worry. It's all vaporware anyway.
A true free lunch. The weight of batteries is eliminated. Exploding gas cylinders are a concern, but the tanks will probably be constructed from fiberglass. Fiberglass tanks puncture and burst, but they don't produce shrapnel, like metal tanks. Could be a great urban vehicle.
Peugeot 508
But don’t forget that the weight of batteries is eliminated. That’s a lot of weight. But yeah, the 117 mph claim is hard to believe.
All of my cars, since my ‘57 Chevy, ran on “petrol and air”.
But, they each weighed more and were less fragile than a 10oz. bag of chips.
Air is not a fuel. The car really runs on whatever fuel is used to power the compressor (coal, natural gas, nuclear, etc.) Air is not the fuel...it’s an energy storage system like a battery.
lol...my Ford Expedition sh*t one of these this morning...
This is what's left of a man's garage after he bumped into a scuba tank while parking. From the 1/5/2011 Fayetteville Observer...
"A scuba tank explosion in a west Fayetteville home injured a nationally known videographer and his wife, who is a photographer for The Fayetteville Observer. Rick Allen bumped into a cannister of compressed oxygen in the couple's garage around 11:30 p.m. Monday, knocking it to the ground. The explosion was so strong that it blew out a wall between the garage and a bathroom, where Allen's wife, Cindy Burnham, was brushing her teeth. Allen was in critical condition Tuesday at UNC Hospitals' Jaycee Burn Center, a spokesman said. Burnham was treated for facial cuts at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and released.
Matt Blashfield, a neighbor on Partridge Court, was watching television at home when he heard an incredibly loud blast. "At first, I thought it was Fort Bragg," he said, "but a millisecond later, I said 'no way.' " Blashfield went to the scene where a garage door was blown into the yard, along with bumpers from the couple's vehicles. One of Allen's hands was severed by the blast, but he used a garden hose with his other hand to douse flames from the flash fire."
Bottom line, there's a helluva lot of explosive power in an air tank which requires just a puncture to release.
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