The History of Compressed Air Vehicles

It cannot be claimed that compressed air as an energy and locomotion vector is precisely recent technology. In fact
at the end of the 19th century the first approximations to what could one day become a compressed air driven
vehicle already existed, through the arrival of the first pneumatic locomotives. Yet even two centuries before that
Dennis Papin apparently came up with the idea of using compressed air (Royal Society London, 1687).

The first recorded compressed-air vehicle in France was built by the Frenchmen Andraud and Tessie of Motay in
1838. A car ran on a test track at Chaillot on the 9th July 1840, and worked well, but the idea was not pursued
further.

In 1872 the Mekarski air engine was used for street transit, consisting of a single-stage engine. It represented an
extremely important advance in terms of pneumatic engines, due to its forward thinking use of thermodynamics,
ensuring that the air was heated, by passing it through tanks of boiling water, also increasing its range between
fill-ups. Numerous locomotives were manufactured and a number of regular lines were even opened up (the first in
Nantes in 1879).

Mkarski system tram networks were also built in other towns in France: Vichy (1895), Aix-les-Bains (1896), La
Rochelle (1899), and Saint-Quentin (1901).

The H. K. Porter Company in Pittsburgh sold hundreds of these locomotives to coal-mining companies in the
eastern U.S. With the hopeful days of air powered street transit over, the compressed air locomotive became a
standard fixture in coal mines around the world because it created no heat or spark and was therefore invaluable in
gassy mines where explosions were always a danger with electric or gas engines.

Also in 1896, Porter supplied ten compressed air motor cars for the Eckington System in Washington, D.C. There
was a tank on the front of the engine and it was recharged at the station.

Between 1890 and 1902 ten compressed air trams circulated in Bern, Switzerland.
In 1892, Robert Hardie introduced a new method of heating that at the same time served to increase the range of
the engine.

However, the first urban transport locomotive was not introduced until 1898, by Hoadley and Knight, and was
based on the principle that the longer the air is kept in the engine the more heat it absorbs and the greater its
range. As a result they introduced a two stage engine.

Charles B. Hodges will always be remembered as the true father of the compressed air concept applied to cars,
being the first person, not only to invent a car driven by a compressed air engine but also to have considerable
commercial success with it.

Later on, in 1912 the Americans method was improved by Europeans, adding a further expansion stage to the
engine (3 stages).

After years of working on a system for driving an automobile by means of compressed air Louis C. Kiser, a 77 year
old from Decatur USA has succeeded in converting his gasoline engine into an air compressed system. Kiser
removed the entire gasoline line, the cylinder head, water-cooling system, and self starter. A special cylinder head
is substituted and a compressed-air tank added in place of the gasoline tank.

In 1926 Lee Barton Williams of Pittsburg USA presented his invention: an automobile which, he claims, runs on air.
The motor starts on gasoline, but after it has reached a speed of ten miles an hour the gasoline supply is shut off
and the air starts to work. At the first test his invention attained a speed of 62 miles an hour.

The first hybrid diesel and compressed air locomotive appeared in 1930, in Germany. The pressures brought to
bear by the oil industry in the transport sector were ever greater and the truth of the matter is that they managed
to block investigation in this field.

In January 1932 what appears to be the first journalistic article ever written about a car driven by compressed air
was published.

Later he was send off to a concentration camp where he remained until he was near death and his idea for a motor
that ran on air was long forgotten.
According to his design the hot air was pressed into a motor which contained a number of cylinders, half of which
go down when the others rise up. As in an ordinary engine, the crankshaft forced a rotating movement. The major
difference was that the air after having passed through the cylinders, passed again through the cylinders by means
of a compressor at the side, causing a continuous circulation and enough perpetual movement to last three
months.

After the Second World War the term air engine was never again used in textbooks referring to compressed air or
pneumatic locomotives and, whenever they were mentioned the article would go on to state that these engines

were of little use or efficiency.

In 1976 Ray Starbard from Vacaville, California developed a truck that is able to drive on compressed air. He felt
that he had invented the power system of the future, a system that would greatly change the automotive face of
the world. Its the car of the future, theres absolutely no doubt in my mind Starbard comments and all because
of mother natures purest gift Air.

In 1979, Terry Miller decided that compressed air was the perfect medium for storing energy. He developed Air Car
One, which he built for $ 1,500. Terrys engines showed that it was feasible to manufacture a car that could run on
compressed air. He patented his method in 1983 (US4370857).

In the 1980s Carl Leissler developed a motor that was able to function on air. The retired horticulturalist had been
working from his garage in Hollywood for over 15 years. He says that to use his motor in a car you might have to
use a small electric or gas energy source to help drive the air compressor. We might be able to get 2000 miles per

gallon, air is a power in itself Leissler comments.

Oblivious to curious stares Claud Mead drove his air compressed car through the streets. The aim of this car was to
spare the American motorists from gasoline woes. The big version of the car would be able to go 800 miles on a
full tank.

Australian inventor Des Hill had been working on an air compressed motor for thirty years and had spend more
than $ 20.000 on his project. with his air compressed motor). The air compressor which worked when the engine
was running, would ensure that the cylinder was filled to capacity at all times. Thus Hills engine would realize the
This machine can be in full operation for months and months before its air tank must be artificially refilled. Perez
promises.

Until 1987 the German company Arnold Jung Lokomotivenfabrik GmbH produced locomotives functioning on
compressed air to be used in mines. In the 1980s they were still selling and renovating locomotives.

Currently the tram association in Bern Switzerland (BTG) is developing a locomotive according to the original plans.
It is expected to be ready in 2010.

At present (2008) various persons and companies are developing compressed air motors applicable to
transportation, apart from the many companies that produce and commercialize compressed air motors for
industrial purposes.

Engine and Technology

The engine that is installed in a compressed air car uses compressed air
which is stored in the cars tank at a pressure as high as 4500 psi. The
technology used by air car engines is totally different from the
technology that is used in conventional fuel cars. They use the pressure
generated by the expansion of compressed air to run their pistons. This
results in no pollution, as air is the only product that is used by the
engine to produce power, and the waste material is the air itself.
Air Storage Tank/Fueling
As thought by engineers and designers, the storage tank would be made
up of carbon fiber to reduce the cars weight and prevent an explosion, in
case of a direct collision. Carbon-fiber tanks are capable of containing air
pressure up to 4500 psi, something the steel tanks are not capable of.
For fueling the car tank with air, the compressor needs to be plugged into
the car, which would use the air that is around to fill the compressed air
tank.

This could be a slow process of fueling; at least until air cars are
commonly used by people, after which high-end compressors would be
available at gas stations that would fuel the car in no time at all.
Emission
The air-powered car would normally emit air, as its what it would solely
use. But it would totally depend on the purity of air that is put into the air
tank. If impure air is filled in the tank, same would be the level of
impurity of the emission. The emission level would highly depend on the
location and time of filling air in the tank.

Compressed Air Technology - The CAT 34 Engine

How it works
Our engines have attracted much curiosity and prompted many questions.
For various reasons, one of which is industrial secrecy, we haven't published
all technical details on this site.

However, over the coming months, just before we begin serial production,
we've decided to reproduce an unprecedented amount of information and
data on the famous "MDI Air Car".

After ten years of research and development of pollution-free engines and

cars powered by compressed air, MDI is proud to present:

Compressed Air Technology systems : C.A.T's (*).

An exclusive technology for truly clean vehicles:

Engines

A range of pollution-free vehicles

Innovative industrialization and commercialization concepts

Zero-pollution urban transportation concept

Power generation sets

Co-energy generation

Marine engines

(*) CAT's and Compressed Air Technology systems are registered

trademarks of MDI SA

The basic principles of the CAT's 34 Engine

This engine was developed between the end of 2001 and the beginning of
2002. It uses an innovative system to control the movement of the 2nd
generation pistons and one single crankshaft. The pistons work in two
stages: one motor stage and one intermediate stage of
compression/expansion.
 The engine has 4 two-stage
pistons, i.e. 8 compression
and/or expansion chambers.
They have two functions: to
compress ambient air and refill
the storage tanks; and to make
successive expansions
(reheating air with ambient
thermal energy) thereby
approaching isothermic
expansion.

Its flywheel is equipped with a

5kW electric moto-alternator.
This motor is simultaneously:

the motor to compress air

the starting motor

the alternator for recharging the battery

an electric moderator/brake

a temporary power supply (e.g. for parking)

No clutch is necessary. The engine is idle when the car is stationary and the
vehicle is started by the magnetic plate which re-engages the compressed
air. Parking manoeuvres are powered by the electric motor.

The CAT's 34 P04 engine is equipped with patented variable-volume butts

and a dynamic variable-volume volumetric reducer.

The dual energy system

The Series 34 CAT's engines can be equipped with and run on dual energies
- fossil fuels and compressed air - and incorporate a reheating mechanism (a
continuous combustion system, easily controlled to minimize pollution)
between the storage tank and the engine.

This mechanism allows the engine to run exclusively on fossil fuel which
permits compatible autonomy on the road.
While the car is running on fossil fuel, the compressor refills the compressed
air tanks. The control system maintains a zero-pollution emission in the city
at speeds up to 60 km/h.

Applications:
1)Energy efficiency

2) easy maintenance and low noise emission are only some requirements which have to be
fulfilled by the compressors, nowadays. Thanks to the replacement of out-dated units, not only
in this field considerable improvements can be achieved

3) Clean-up, Drying, Process Low-pressure blowers, electric fans,

cooling brooms, nozzles
Sparging Low-pressure blowers and mixers
Aspirating, Atomizing Low-pressure blowers
Padding Low to medium-pressure blowers
Vacuum generator Dedicated vacuum pump or central
vacuum system
Personnel cooling Electric fans
Open-tube, compressed air- Air-to-air heat exchanger or air
operated vortex coolers without conditioner, add thermostats to vortex
thermostats cooler
Air motor-driven mixer Electric motor-driven mixer
Air-operated diaphragm pumps Proper regulator and speed control;
electric pump
Idle equipment* Put an air-stop valve at the
compressed air inlet
Abandoned equipment** Disconnect air supply to equipment