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COMPRESSED AIR CAR

Principle
A compressed air car is a car that uses a motor powered by compressed air. The car can be powered solely by air, or combined (as in a hybrid electric vehicle) with gasoline, diesel, ethanol, or an electric plant with regenerative braking.
How it functions?

Compressed air cars are powered by motors fueled with 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.
Storage tanks

Carbon-fiber is brittle and can split under sufficient stress. Carbon-fiber tanks safely hold air at a pressure somewhere around 4500 psi, making them comparable to steel tanks. The cars are designed to be filled up at a high-pressure pump. Compressed air cars are emission-free at the exhaust. Since a compressed air car's source of energy is usually electricity, its total environmental impact depends on how clean the source of this electricity is. Different regions can have very different sources of power, ranging from high-emission power sources such as coal to zero-emission power sources such as wind. A given region can also update its electrical power sources over time, thereby improving or worsening total emissions. The tanks must be designed to safety standards appropriate for a pressure vessel, such as ISO 11439. The storage tank may be made of:
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steel, Aluminum carbon fiber

Kevlar or other materials, or combinations of the above.

Compressed air
Compressed air has a low energy density. In 300 bar containers, about 0.1 MJ/L and 0.1
MJ/kg is achievable. The pressure of compressed air tanks falls as air is drawn off.

Advantages
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Pollution is controlled.
Reduces the cost of vehicle production by about 20%, because there is no need to build a cooling system, fuel tank, Ignition Systems or silencers

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The engine can be massively reduced in size. The engine runs on cold or warm air, so can be made of lower strength light weight material such as aluminum, plastic, low friction Teflon or a combination.

Disadvantages
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Like the modern car and most household appliances, the principal disadvantage is the indirect use of energy. Energy is used to compress air, which - in turn - provides the energy to run the motor. Any conversion of energy between forms results in loss.

Refueling the compressed-air container using a home or low-end conventional air compressor may take as long as 4 hours though the specialized equipment at service stations may fill the tanks in only 3 minutes.

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Tanks get very hot when filled rapidly. When air expands, as it would in the engine, it cools dramatically and must be heated to ambient temperature using a heat exchanger similar to the Intercooler used for internal combustion engines.

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