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abesh
Warrior SixDelta




Registered: 07/31/07
Posts: 321
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Air Car
#7637650 - 11/14/07 10:40 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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Hi. This is my first post in this forum, so I hope this is not too retarded (some of you fu#kers seem really smart).
Anyways, I just watched a show on Discovery about "Future cars", and towards the end of the show they had a car that ran on compressed air.
Since I am stoned it seemed very interesting, and I have a lot to discuss, but trying to type is a royal pain.
So here is the link to MDI the company that designed and made it.
It makes sense because the fuel that we used combust (don't know if that is a word ) and releases air pressure that pushes the pistons. They just designed an engine that uses air pressure.
I do understand that energy is needed to compress the air in the first place, but this can be done in many ways. regardless it seems very fascinating to me.
They also mentioned they are trying to build a compressor that would run on compressed air. kind of like a perpetual energy generator, which, by my calculations is .... "fu#king impossible man" (Half Baked). But ... who knows!
From what I gathered it seems that the engine also has an alternator that can be plugged in (to a outlet!!?), and it uses the engine to compress the air back into the tanks.
Here is and article about the car.
And the web-site's FAQ page.
Hope this was worth your time. If not, I do apologise. Just remember it is easier to hit the BACK button, than to spend time to type something to flame me.
Abesh
-------------------- If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions? - Scott Adams
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freddurgan
Techgnostic



Registered: 01/11/04
Posts: 3,648
Last seen: 11 years, 11 months
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Re: Air Car [Re: abesh]
#7637695 - 11/14/07 10:56 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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You're right when it says that it takes energy to compress the air. Just like it takes energy to push pistons. Without that information the idea of compressed air means nothing.
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Diploid
Cuban



Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: Air Car [Re: abesh]
#7637822 - 11/14/07 11:33 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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Here's my take on this.
First consider this from their FAQ:
-- Q: How do you refill the compressed air tanks? How much does it cost? A1: The car's air tanks will be refilled thanks to the same internal engine working in compressor mode. This will take about four hours and 22 Kwh of electricity are needed as energy. --
This seems like good performance on the face of it. A typical electric car gets maybe 100 miles out of 22 KwH and they claim 180 miles from a full charge, but this isn't the whole picture.
In order to get the air in the tanks, you need to run the engine basically in reverse as a high-pressure compressor operating at over 4,300 PSI. Compressors that work at such high pressures are very finicky.
I scuba dive a lot and have my own compressor (see pics below) and it's a giant pain in the ass operating at only 3,500 PSI. And it's permanently bolted to a concrete floor, doesn't have to run in reverse, and never hits potholes and speed bumps. I would be really surprised if they've figured out how to make theirs reliable with all the disadvantages that come with having to power a car.
-- A2: Otherwise the tanks can be refilled with high pressure in three minutes at an air station. --
This is straight up bullshit. If I fill a tank from near empty to just 3,000 PSI in three minutes, it would get so hot that it would boil water. That heat would artificially indicate incorrect pressure on the gauges and by the time the tank cooled to ambient, the pressure would drop by more than half.
The only way to fill high pressure tanks to full capacity is to do it slowly enough that they don't get hot. That's at least 30 minutes or more. This is why scuba shops fill tanks submerged in a tub of water and why it takes a lot longer than three minutes to finish. And that's a tiny scuba tank compared to the big tank you'd need in a car, and then only to 3,000 PSI not 4,300+ PSI.
Also, their car could not have any useful air conditioning. That's a big problem in some places and it's one big advantage hybrids have over pure electric or pneumatic cars. They could feed the exhaust air (which would be adiabatically cooled) into the cabin but it would be a pretty feeble air conditioner anywhere with warm summers. Even then, the cold air would only be available when the car is moving. When the car is stopped in traffic, there would be no cooling at all. Finally, there wouldn't be ANY heat at all for winter.
I wish them luck, though. If they've managed to design a truly reliable engine-compressor, then they may be onto something, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Check out my scuba fill station. Click to enlarge: 
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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Silversoul
Rhizome


Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 23,576
Loc: The Barricades
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Re: Air Car [Re: Diploid]
#7637843 - 11/14/07 11:41 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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I was just watching something about this on the Discovery channel. I figured there had to be SOME sort of drawback. So I guess they'll probably have a few kinks to work out. In the meantime we can switch to biofuels. I always assumed the next step after that would be hydrogen, but maybe they'll have working air cars by then.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 34,267
Loc: High pride!
Last seen: 18 hours, 52 minutes
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Re: Air Car [Re: abesh]
#8169234 - 03/19/08 09:15 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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-------------------- -------------------------------- Mp3 of the month: Sons Of Adam - Feathered Fish
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Anno
Experimenter




Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,166
Loc: my room
Last seen: 7 days, 1 hour
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Re: Air Car [Re: Learyfan]
#8170417 - 03/20/08 03:59 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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