Interesting new concept car-runs on compressed air

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a concept car that purportedly runs on compressed air, exploring its feasibility, energy efficiency, and comparisons to traditional engines. Participants engage with theoretical and practical implications of using compressed air as a power source.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the viability of using compressed air for powering a car, questioning the energy extraction potential from compressed gas.
  • One participant estimates the energy capacity of a 100-litre tank at 300 atmospheres, suggesting it is significantly less than that of a car battery or petrol.
  • Another participant draws parallels between the proposed compressed air system and steam engines, noting similarities in energy conversion methods.
  • Some participants highlight concerns regarding the reliability of the information provided on the concept car's website, particularly the dead link to thermodynamics details.
  • A participant recalls past promotions of similar technology, expressing doubt about its practicality and emphasizing that energy is required to compress the air initially.
  • There is a mention of a related thread, indicating ongoing interest and discussion about similar topics within the forum.
  • A separate post introduces a different topic regarding thrust motors and wing effect technology, which appears unrelated to the compressed air car discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the feasibility of the compressed air car concept. There are multiple competing views regarding its energy efficiency and practicality, with some expressing skepticism and others exploring theoretical possibilities.

Contextual Notes

Some limitations in the discussion include missing assumptions about energy conversion efficiency and the dependence on specific definitions of energy output from compressed air systems.

pack-rat
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Interesting new concept car-runs on compressed "air"

link here : http://www.theaircar.com/

thoughts ?
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
I find it telling that the link to the 'thermodynamics' details is dead.

Who knows though. There is nothing that says that compressed air couldn't be used to power a car, it's just a matter of harvestable energy.
 
The website says: "Although a number dates have been released to the media in the past, the programme required some more time to complete."

That is usually not a good sign.
 
So let's see if I've got this right. I don't know how much energy can be extracted from compressed gas, but my guess is PV/2. (Correct me if I'm horribly wrong) The tank is 100 litres [tex](0.1m^3)[/tex] at 300 atmospheres [tex](3.10^7 pascals)[/tex]. That gives 1.5 megajoules of energy (less than half a kilowatt hour). A car battery can hold more than twice as much and a single litre of petrol gives more than ten times as much. They claim to be able to do 300 km, so that's 5000 J/km. When cycling I would expect to use about [tex]10^5 J/km[/tex]. Must be an amazing design! :rolleyes:
 
Hi sry i am relatively new here. I didn't know this was posted here before.
 
it should probably work the same basic way as a steam engine, as that just heats wather to make compressed water vapor
 
And a petrol engine effectively does the same thing too, - heating air to compress it (in a roundabout kinda way), the resulting expansion driving a piston. The key difference is the way the air, steam or whatever, is given its energy.
 
Many years ago I heard Paul Harvey hype such a thing. It was bragged up and was mentioned that it's emissions were non-existant. I thought it was goofy at the time and I still do. Energy of some sort is spent on compressing the air to begin with.
 
  • #10
using wing effect technology, what would be the best thrust motor. one that is in the front or in the back of the aircraft.
how could one get a higher level of flight from the use of wig technology?
 
  • #11
:confused:
jjrwilliams said:
using wing effect technology, what would be the best thrust motor. one that is in the front or in the back of the aircraft.
how could one get a higher level of flight from the use of wig technology?[/QUOTE
 

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