Yamaha-frame bike with scuba tank makes Dyson shortlist [Runs on AIR!]

Phys.Org ^ | 11-06-2012 | Staff

[backwoods-engineer]

The electricity is being produced anyway, in my part of the country mostly by hydro power. May as well use it. At least these wouldn’t be driving all over spewing fumes and noise like the two-stroke motors they usually run.

There are no mainstream NEW 2-stroke motorcycles. They've been banned in CA, and no manufacturer wants to build a mass market item that cannot be sold in CA.

The point is, they are claiming "Zero emissions". That is not possible, since only 6.2% of electricity comes from hydropower in the US.

This bike is a fraud, just like "Zero emission" electric cars.

[blueplum]

couldn’t the energy produced by spinning wheels be harnessed somehow to compress air real-time onboard?

[Red Badger]

....or windmills........;^)

[KarlInOhio]

http://biobug.org/scuba/scubatank/ calculates the energy in the compressed air in a scuba tank. So for a 230 bar 12L tank we have 230*12*450 Joules. 1,242,000 joules!

But gasoline has 34,200,000 Joules per liter, so a 12L scuba tank has the same amount of energy as 1.23 fluid ounces of gasoline. Woo-hoo!

[backwoods-engineer]

couldn’t the energy produced by spinning wheels be harnessed somehow to compress air real-time onboard?

That would be known as a Type 1 Perpetual Motion Machine. Do you have one that works? I'll give you a million dollars right now if it is demonstrated to work for a week under load.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“It would make for a pretty spectacular wreck to see that bike hit a truck and puncture that tank.”

I’m thinking of that scene in “Jaws.”

[Reddon]

I thought of a tank rupture too. I am scared of cheapo air compressors for that reason. I wonder what pressure these are charged to. You would be riding around with a bomb between your legs. In the event of a rupture there could be body parts lost that you will NEVER find again. Makes me cringe to think about it.

[Conserev1]

What I could not understand about the French car is It’s moving @ whatever MPH all it takes to compress the air back to the tank is a flywheel on a wheel moving to compress air!
With pressure valves and dual tanks the air could be replaced while driving!

[Red Badger]

This bike is a fraud, just like “Zero”................

[FreedomPoster]

I love making the comment to electric car owners: “Nice coal burner!”

The Fiskar people weren’t amused.

[Red Badger]

Uh.....no..............

[rottndog]

It requires a tremendous amount of energy to compress air....of all the equipment in my shop, I pay more for the air compressor than anything else. And that’s only at about 100 psi. A SCUBA tank requires a High Pressure Air Compressor (HPAC), anything in excess of 1000 psi, and would likely be a 5K psi compressor. Although it’s a cute idea, it would be far less efficient than good ole’ gasoline.

[Red Badger]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/fisker-karma-spontaneously-combusts/

[beelzepug]

You know, it occurred to me that that might be the case today. I haven’t done any dirt-biking for many years. I ride a cruiser these days and it takes a lot of air to move 800 lbs of bike and 200 lbs of rider. I think I’ll stick with dinosaur premium.

[Errant]

AirForce PCP Hand Pump, for AirForce Rifles, Incl. Hose + Adapter, Pumps up to 3600 psi

[doorgunner69]

Shops in SoCal usually charged $3-5, $6+ seems standard here in Hawaii with higher electric costs.

Same charge whether a small low pressure tank or a large high pressure tank. For this bike, a HP100+ would be the ticket. Not too heavy for the air load.

[Red Badger]

Oh, and BTW, FiskAR makes great scissors.

FiskER makes great outdoor grills.........kinda expensive though.....

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Just to play devil's advocate here; pneumatic motive power does have some advantages.

* If you're in a hot climate, you get "free" cooling, from the release of the expanding air. OTOH, if you're in a cold climate, you don't get this benefit and you still have to figure out how to heat your vehicle.

* The refills would be quick -- quicker than any solution proposed for battery-electric vehicles. Or, you could have slow refills using a small compressor at home.

* Regenerative braking could capture a lot more energy than is possible in an electric vehicle.

* The article mentions powering the compressors by using wind or solar power. That could be a way of making some use of the wind power or solar power that is produced when it's not otherwise needed. Of course, that requires an assumption that wind and solar power are inevitable, regardless of financial or other considerations.

* Compressed air tanks have greater energy density than batteries -- i.e. they don't weigh as much.



Tata "AirPod" prototype. (India)

[driftdiver]

“What’s the cost of filling up a scuba tank?”

Depends on the size, generally around $12.

[bert]

Me either.......

Air devices require CFM. A tank small enough to fit on a cycle can’t deliver many cubic feet.