Pneumatic Vehicle Using Compressed Air-303
Pneumatic Vehicle Using Compressed Air-303
Abstract: Now days the world faces fuel crisis and pollution problem. Also the conventional fuels are about to end
in some years. This necessitates the search for alternative fuels. Compressed air is one of the best alternative fuels
which are easily available in atmosphere in abundant form. The main objective of this project is to reduce
dependency of vehicle on conventional fuel. The air car is a car currently being developed which is still in the R&D
stage all over the world. Compressed air is stored in storage tank with some modifications from the compressor.
The pneumatic motor (vane type motor) is used to convert pressure energy into mechanical energy. The rotation of
air motor is controlled by controlling the air flow with the help of air gun (flow control valve). The gear box is
provided at the end of motor shaft for increasing torque capacity of vehicle. Unlike conventional transmission
system includes clutch, counter shaft, flywheel, propeller shaft, differential, our pneumatic motor is coupled to the
rear wheel with intermediate gear box which greatly reduces the transmission losses and weight of vehicle. The
running and maintenance cost for air car is less than conventional cars. This is a revolutionary design which is not
only eco friendly, pollution free but also very economical. With some modifications in storage tank, pneumatic
motor, materials used for chassis it is possible to increase the performance of vehicle.
Keywords: fuel crisis; alternative fuel; compressed air; pollution control; pneumatic vehicle.
1. INTRODUCTION
About 100 years ago, the major source of energy shifted from recent solar to fossil fuel (hydrocarbons). Technology has
generally led to a greater use of hydrocarbon fuels, making civilization vulnerable to decreases in supply. The current
study made in the year 2004, predicts that if the oil is consumed at the current rates, then by 2020, we will be consuming
80% of the entire available resource. This necessitates the search for alternative of oil as energy source or preserving it by
tapping some other alternatives such as Non-conventional energy like battery operated vehicles, wind mills, photocells
etc. and to convert their output into mechanical energy, which may alternatively preserve oil source.
From the last two decade lot of researches are being made to tap down air freely available in atmosphere at high
compression, which can easily be stored in cylinders with little modified design. This compressed air can be used to run
combustion engine with mixture of gas which gets fire at compression stroke at TDC. Compressed air helps for fire stroke
when ignition is given. Thus efficiency of IC engine gets improved and without all running four stroke cycle it runs two
stroke cycles.
The main objective of our project is to reduce dependency of vehicle on conventional fuel. These conventional fuels are
available in very small amount & perish after some time. These fuels also produce a pollutants such as CO, CO 2, NOX,
SOX which are harmful to human being & produce effects such as cancer, headache etc. So for these fuels alternatives are
used for ex.CNG, Compressed air, biogas etc. Here development of pneumatic vehicle using compressed air (prototype) is
main objective project.
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2. COMPARATIVE STUDY
Comparison of several types of green car basic characteristic
Types of vehicle Fuel economy Range Production cost Reduction in co2 compared
or power train (mpg equivalent) for given range to conventional
Conventional ICE 10-78 Long(400-600 mile) Low 0%
Biodiesel 18-71 Long(360-540 mile) Low 100%
Electric vehicle Battery Shorter(73-150 mile) High Varies
Compressed air 30-60 380 mile Medium 100%
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
Anirudh Addala et. al. [1] examines the performance of a car which takes air as the working medium. Air car is a car
currently being developed which is still in the R&D stage all over the world.Compressing a gas into a small space is a
way to store energy. When the gas expands again, that energy is released to do work. That's the basic principle behind
what makes an air car move.
A.A.Keste et. al. [2] describes the working of a vehicle which works on pneumatic power. In this system a double acting
pneumatic cylinder is operated as a slider crank mechanism which converts the linear reciprocation of the cylinder piston
rod into oscillatory motion of the driver crank about the pinion shaft.
S. S. VermaS.L.I.E.T., Longowal et. Al.[3] introduce to the latest developments of a compressed-air vehicle along with
an introduction to various problems associated with the technology and their solution. Compressed air as a source of
energy in different uses in general and as a nonpolluting fuel in compressed air vehicles has attracted scientists and
engineers for centuries.
Dr. S.S. Thipse et.al.[4] describes the development of compressed air engine. MDI is one company that holds the
international patents for the compressed air engine. . Although it seems to be an environmentally-friendly solution, one
must consider its well to wheel efficiency.
B. R. Singh et.al.[5] studied about alternative fuel for automobile engines with a special emphasis on compressed air
driven engine. In view of the enormous potential of air as working fluid an engine is being designed to run on compressed
air
Saurabh Pathak, Kontham Swetha et.al.[6] states the effective application of pneumatic power. Pneumatic vehicle will
replace the battery operated vehicles used in industries. Pneumatic powered vehicle requires very less time for refueling as
compared to battery operated vehicle. On the whole, the technology is just about modifying the engine of any regular IC
engine vehicle into an Air Powered Engine
S.S. Verma et.al.[7] briefly summarize the principle of technology, latest developments, advantages and problems in
using compressed air as a source of energy to run vehicles. Compressed air for vehicle propulsion is already being
explored and now air powered vehicles are being developed as a more fuel-efficient means of transportation.
D.Ravi et.al.[8] analyzed the Climate change and energy security require a reduction in travel demand, a model shift and
technological innovation in the transport sector. . Through a series of press releases and demonstrations, a car using
energy stored in compressed air produced by a compressor has been suggested as an environmental friendly vehicle of the
future.
Working :-
1. First we compress the air with the help of compressor. An air compressor is a device which compresses the atm. Air
to a high pressure on the expense of external work (electric energy).
2. The compressed air is stored in the storage tank and supplied when required.
3. Pressure gauge is mounted on the storage tank to indicate the pressure inside the cylinder.
4. The compressed air from storage tank supplied to pneumatic motor through the air gun which acts as flow control
vale. Pneumatic motor is an rotary actuator used for converting pressure energy of air into rotary motion.
5. Torque capacity of the motor is less than our requirement hence modification is done by adding the warm and warm
wheel gear box.
6. Gear box is a power transmission device and it is generally used for torque variation. Warm and warm wheel gear is
attached to the shaft to increase the torque capacity of the motor.
7. After the gear arrangement chain drive is connected to transfer the motion to the wheels. Wheels are last member of
power transmission devices and it is directly contact with road surface.
8. Wheel drives the vehicle.
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1. Chassis:
The basic structure or framework is the backbone of the vehicle component assemblies. It is the important component of
the vehicle on which the other units such as storage tank, pneumatic motor and gear box are mounted. The shape of
chassis is rectangular as per the requirement. Hollow bars (M.S.)are used to construct the chassis and CO2 welding is the
process used for the fabrication of chassis.
Wheel Mounting:
After the completion of chassis, wheels are mounted; one on the front side and two on the rear side.
Component Dimensions in mm
Wheel rim diameter 440
Wheel diameter 520
Wheel width 45
Front track length 550
Ground clearance 260
Side length 850
Vehicle length 1200
2. Storage tank:
Cylinder is a mechanical device used for storing, receiving, processing or carrying the fluids. A cylinder may be
a) Pressure vessel;
b) Storage tank;
c) Hydraulic device;
d) Engine cylinder, or
e) Pipe.
Depending upon whether the cylinder wall thickness is appreciable or not, in relation to the inner diameter of the cylinder,
the cylinder are classified into two categories:
Thin cylinder (Di/T>20)
Thick cylinder (Di/T <20)
Cylinder used in this project is thin cylinder i.e. ratio of internal diameter to thickness is greater than 20.Cylinder is made
up of C-40 steel.
Fig. cylinder
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Technical specification
Parameters Dimension
Internal diameter 200 mm
Outer diameter 208 mm
End closure Semi elliptical
Maximum pressure 14 bar
Volumetric capacity 0.153
3. Pneumatic motor:
An air motor is opposite in principle to that of an air compressor. Air compressor takes mechanical power supplied by an
external power sources and used it to compress air to a high pressure. Where as an air motor uses this compressed air to
develop mechanical power by continuous rotation of a shaft.
Pneumatic rotary actuators provide continuous rotary motion to an output shaft. Rotational speeds of pneumatic actuators
are generally very high as compared to that of hydraulic actuators.
Technical specification
1. Rated torque = 32 N-m
2. Rated speed = 60 RPM
4. Power transmission system:
Gear box is that part of power train system that provides a mean to have suitable variation of the motor torque to road
wheels. The gear used in this system is warm and warm wheel type.
A chain drive consists of an endless chain wrapped around two sprockets. A chain can be defined as series of links
connected by pin joints. The sprocket is tooth wheel with a special profile for the teeth. The chain drive is intermediate
between belt and gear drive. It has some features of belt drive and some of gear drive. From the output power transmitted
to wheel, we select chain drive as 12B chain.
Technical specification
A. gearbox
1. Gear ratio= 1:5
2. Module(m)= 16 mm ,
3. Number of teeth on warm( Zw)= 2
4. Number of teeth on warm gear ( Zg)= 10
5. Diameter of warm (Dw)=32 mm
6. Diameter of warm gear (Dg)= 100 mm
B. Chain drive
1. Pitch of gear (p) = 19.05 mm
2. Roller diameter (d1) = 12.07 mm
3. width (b1) = 11.68 mm
4. transverse pitch (Pt) = 19.46 mm
5. simple chain with the braking load capacity= 28900 N
6. CONCLUSION
The technology of compressed air vehicles is not new. In fact, it has been around for years. Compressed air technology
allows engines/ motors that are both nonpolluting and economical. We designed 3 wheeled vehicle in order to reduce
weight. Unlike conventional transmission systems which include clutch, counter shaft, fly wheel, propeller shaft,
differential, our pneumatic motor is coupled to the rear wheel with intermediate gear box which greatly reduces the
transmission losses and weight of the vehicle. It also occupies lesser space compared to a four wheeler. However
excessive research is needed to completely prove the technology for both its commercial and technical viability.
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1. After successfully completing the project we conclude that we can use the air as an alternative fuel for conventional
fuel.
2. The vehicle is pollution free and Eco friendly.
3. With some modification the performance of the vehicle will be increased.
4. Low initial cost
5. Running cost is less than the conventional vehicle. (MDI’s air pod has running cost 1 Rs/km while conventional
vehicles have 2 to 3 Rs/km.)
6. Transmission losses are reduced.
7. Low weight of vehicle.
7. FUTURE SCOPE
The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the environment pollution-free. The compressed air drives the air motor,
which turn the vehicle’s wheels. Once compressed, the air is stored in a tank. The compressed air is used when the car
needs a lot of energy, such as for starting up and acceleration.
In future we are able to use air vehicle with some modifications:
1. After increasing tank capacity.
2. By using air engine and suitable air motor.
3. By using different composite materials of high strength, weight of the parts like chassis, storage tank etc. reduces
which results in low weight of the vehicle.
4. By providing different gear ratios in gear box.
5. By reducing losses of air flow through nozzles, pipes, etc.
With above some modifications it is possible to increase the performance and distance achieved by the vehicle.
REFERENCES
[1] “Fabrication and Testing of Compressed Air Car”; Anirudh Addala & Srinivasu Gangada, Viswanadha Institute of
Technology and Management; Global journal INC. (USA); Year-2013.
[2] “Vehicle Operating on Compressed Air by Inversion of Slider Crank Mechanism”; A.A. Keste, S.B. Vise, A.N.
Adik, P.R. Borase; IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE); Year-2013.
[3] “Latest Developments of a Compressed Air Vehicle: A Status Report”; S.S. Verma, S.L.I.E.T., Longowal; Global
journal INC. (USA); Year-2013.
[4] “Compressed air car”; Dr. S.S.Thipse; Tech Monitor; Nov-Dec 2008.
[5] “Study of compressed air as an alternative to fossil fuel for automobile engines”; B.R.Singh & Onkar Singh.
[6] “Compressed air vehicle: a review”; Saurabh Pathak, Kontham Swetha, V.Sreedhar, V.S.V Prabhakar; 4th IRF
International Conference, Chennai; 9th March-2014.
[7] “Air Powered Vehicles”; S.S. Verma; The Open Fuels & Energy Science Journal; Year-2008,
[8] “Fabrication of Compressed Air Engine”; D.RAVI; Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 20 (9): 1075-1077;
Year-2014.
[9] “Design of Machine element”; V.B.Bhandari; 3rd Edition, 2011.
[10] “Fluid Power”; Khurmi; 3rd Edition, 2011.
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