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| Main Article: "Compressed Air Engine" |
Engines
Main article: "Compressed Air Engine"
Compressed air cars are powered by engines fueled by compressed air,
which is stored in a tank at high pressure such as 30 MPa (4500 psi or
300 bar). Rather than driving engine pistons with an ignited fuel-air
mixture, compressed air cars use the expansion of compressed air, in a
similar manner to the expansion of steam in a steam engine.
Storage tanks are often made of carbon-fiber for weight reduction while
maintaining strength; if penetrated carbon fiber will crack but not
produce shrapnel.
There have been prototype cars since the 1920s and compressed air has
been used in torpedo propulsion as well. |
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Storage tanks*
*Main article: Compressed air tank*
The major manufacturers that are developing air cars have designed
safety features into their containers.[citation needed] In contrast to
hydrogen's issues of damage and danger involved in high-impact crashes,
air, on its own, is non-flammable. It was reported on Seven Network's
Beyond Tomorrow that on its own,[clarification needed] carbon-fiber is
brittle and can split under sufficient stress, but creates no shrapnel
when it does so. Carbon-fiber tanks safely hold air at a pressure
somewhere around 4500 psi, making them comparable to steel tanks.
Compressed air is also relatively space inefficient of storing energy
when compared to conventional gasoline. Air at 30 MPa (4,500 psi)
contains about 50 Wh of energy per liter. Gasoline contains about 9411
Wh per liter.[1]
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