AIR CAR

D.M.Arjun, 8th sem, Mech. Dept., JNNCE, Shimoga.

The fuel used fossil

like electricity, till the
fuelsdate
or bioisfuels
gasoline, but
and stored made onproperties
Physical the surfaceof theofcarbon
balloon,
fiberair
are,expands
gradually
in a tank. This it's tankdepleting
containswith highlytime adding
pressurized suddenly with high energy which could explode
pollutants to air. The time has come to look Temp Range: 0-30000C.
the balloon.
air. The pressure rating may be around 300 bars.
forward for high
the pressurized
alternative air, source which is Tensile Strength:
The basic 5650 MPa.
principle behind the air car is
To hold this the tank should
economic friendly. The air present in the nature Modulus of elasticity
compressing a gas into: 531 GPa space (storing the
a small
designed taking all the safety of passengers in car
could act asofthe
and pressure air fuel of the future. The air in
into consideration. energy). When the gas expands the energy is
nature nevertheruns offwith
and conventional
non polluting. The air Compressed
released to doAir workTechnology
in the engineEngine
[4]
. Here the
If we design tank materials
is
the weight of the tank becomes very high and tank
squeezed and stored in a mechanical in pressurized air is used as the working fluid and in
which
turn theacts as the
weight of carworking fluid increases,
drastically to run a car. whichA turn is responsible for the movement of the
new
makestechnology based enginenot
the car economically popularly
feasible.known
It is as piston.
compressed
advised to reduce air the technology
weight of the engine
car and(C.A.T.
also to Here we are squeezing the air in the conventional
engine)
increase the strength of the compressed air tank,the
which takes the pressurized air as passion by using electricity or fossil fuels or bio
input
thus itenergy and the
is suggested toexpansion
use composite of airmaterials
takes placefor fuels. This compressed air is stored in a high
in the engine, thus the reciprocating
the same. Carbon fibers are suggested in movement of strength tank of low weight. To achieve these
piston
designing takes
the place
tank asinbasic
the C.A.T.
materialengine
because leaving
of its features composite materials are used rather than
the air at
properties like, atmospheric pressure to the conventional materials like steel or iron.
surrounding atmosphere. It is very important to
1. High
theStrength to Weight
air tankRatio ( High Specific
hold
Strength
pressurized in the
) should be so designed to hold the
car safely and AIR CAR:
the air tank FIG. 2: C.A.T. Engine[2]
2. High Tensile
pressurized andStrength
the weight of the tank should be The whole world is trembling with atmospheric
3. Low Thermal
reduced as much Expansion
as possible. The mechanism pollution and the major challenge is to avoid the
4. Low Weight
dates back to the middle of 19th century even increase in the global warming. For this we are in
before Internal Combustion Engine was invented. search of many alternative fuels which could
The prototype was built during 1920 only, but it reduce the pollution[1].
had it's own problems which made the The zero polluting car, which uses the
mechanism uneconomical but with the invention compressed air as the fuel and the reciprocating
of many alternative methods we are now in a movement of piston is achieved by the same.
situation to use the same. Thus air car can be termed as the car for the
future. The main components of the air car are as
INTRODUCTION: follows,
Compressed Air Tank
The very old and simple law of physics dictates 2. Compressed Air Technology Engine ( C.A.T.
that uncontained gases will fill any space. This FIG. 3: Working of a C.A.T. Engine
Engine )
can be easily demonstrated by the action of This is the engine in which the working fluid is
balloon. When we fill the balloon with air, the Compressed
compressed air Air
(3-d Tank
figure as shown in fig.2).
elastic skin holds the air tightly but when a hole is
The air is compressed by some external means

FIG.1: Carbon Fibers in the form of yarn[3]
The carbon fibers are knitted in the form of yarn
as shown in fig.1. This can be produced by
pyrolsis or poly acrylonitrile (PAN)[3]. Here the
carbon atoms are arranged in a regular hexagon
pattern which gives high strength and low thermal
expansion for the material.
the cylinder escapes into the atmosphere and it
forces the piston to travel from B.D.C to T.D.C[2].
The theoretical P-V diagram is as shown in fig.4.
which shows the pressure volume changes that
take place inside the cylinder.
FIG. 4: Theoretical P-V Diagram of C.A.T. Engine
Process 1-2: Here the pressurized air in let into
cylinder which forces the piston to move from
T.D.C to B.D.C
Process 2-3: Here the exhaust port is opened and
the pressurized air moves out of the tank
This is an engine which works in 2 strokes. The
working of the compressed air technology engine
is clearly explained[2] in fig.3.
1. In the first stroke the inlet port is opened
and pressurized air is let to the cylinder
which pushes the piston from T.D.C to
B.D.C. Here the expansion of the air takes
place which forces the piston
downwards[2].
2. In the return stroke or second stroke the
exhaust port is opened and the pressurized
air in
ADVANTAGES:
1. No fossil fuel is used to run the car.
2. Here pure compressed air is used and
consequently no pollution at the tailpipe.
3. The air can be pre heated before entering
the engine which will decrease the density
of air and which in turn increases the
pressure and expansion of air in the
engine.
4. Air Car does not contain any heat
rejection unit like radiators, which could
even increase the efficiency of the engine.
5. The running cost of cars will be reduced
drastically.
6. Eco friendly.
7. No change of phase takes place.
8. The weight of the car can be drastically
reduces by using composite materials in
tank part.
9. Strength of the tank also increases with
the use of carbon fibers.
. DISADVANTAGES:
1. According to an analysis in website
http://gas2.org/ the air car could emit 50
grams of carbon dioxide for 1 km ride. (If
we consider the emission from power
plant till the air gets compressed) if we
compare this with other vehicles such as