Compressed Air Engine Trike

ke5wv

Newbie
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Messages
60
Location
Colorado Springs
Aircraft
GyroBee
Total Flight Time
90
I'm intreagued by the concept of compressed air engines for flight and came acress this air powered trike.
http://kernelys.free.fr/spip.php?article63&lang=en
They claim 2 hours flying time on one charge.
An interesting characteristic of air engines is that they actually get colder during operation due to the thermal expansion of the compressed air. Unlike internal combustion engines there is no power reduction at high altitude.
Happy New Year to All
Thomas
 
Iv'e been told by a few friends that in Germany and France your allowed to carry an extra 2,000 lbs of air pressuree in a cylinder. Int he U.S. the capacity is 3,000 lbs over there it's 5,000 lbs this would add alot of engine run time we would not be allowed
 
Compressed air is a great way to store energy . Air motors are fairly simple and have been used by industry for years. One drawback has been the weight of the storage tank but apparantly composites are being used now.

Oxygen welding tanks here (Canada) hold 2000 psi but are quite heavy steel. I never did try it , but at one time I was going to try run a large air powered grinder from one of those oxygen tanks just to see how long it would last.

It also would require a special compressor to pump to 2000 psi or higher. Overall I think compressed air has a future , there are some cars being built now , and with this trike aircraft experiment it should be interesting.

You are right Thomas about the cooling effect. On hot humid days in the summer my air tools will sometimes form a ball of ice around the air inlet.

Thanks
Arnie
Bell 47 G2
 
No free lunch

No free lunch

While compressed air engines get cold as they run the compressed air tanks get quite hot when they are being filled.

These engines seem quite efficient because the energy required to fill the tanks is not taken into account.
 
Bumperdog

Bumperdog

Hi,
My grandson asked me if I could fill his paint ball gun tank with compressed air so I did some research. It takes 4,800 psi to operate his gun and my compressor stops at about 150 psi. I found compressors on ebay that will get 5,000 psi but they cost anywhere from 6 to $20,000. These are the same compressors they use to fill diving tanks, which by the way are now made from very light weight materials. I think this is a very good idea that needs to be experimented with.

Bruce
 
Oxygen welding tanks here (Canada) hold 2000 psi but are quite heavy steel. I never did try it , but at one time I was going to try run a large air powered grinder from one of those oxygen tanks just to see how long it would last.


Thanks
Arnie
Bell 47 G2

Arnie, if you use an oxygen tank to power an air grinder it will last about as long as it takes to generate that first spark. Oxygen would be very dabgerours around an open flame.
I would try nitrogen.

I used an airbrush off a CO2 tank, for fairs when painting T-shirts, A large tank would last for days of contunuos use.
 
They do have aluminum air tanks that hold breathing air. we've used them at work before. They're pumped up to 2200 psi. They wieght alot less but there price tag is alot more.
 
Hum

Hum

When I was racing, the rules excluded any compressed gas containers except fire extinguishers. The reason is that in the event of a crash, the cannisters can become ballistic missiles. No way I'm going to fly around with compressed air tanks with valves that could blow off in a bad landing. Now, if there is a way to store the gas so that can't happen, it might be interesting.....
 
Scuba.

Scuba.

Guys,

Any Scuba shop should be able to fill your tank to 3200 to 3500 psi. A DIN style tank, high pressure to 5000 psi if the shop has a good compressor. Last I checked a fill was about 4 bucks. You will need to be certified by PADI or some scuba org. Hold an open water "C" card or you need to know they shop owner. No shop will fill a tank without a certification. Inland areas might not have a scuba shop like we have here on the coast.

Tanks are quite sturdy. Composite tanks are avail and are so strong they will take 6 shots from a 357 mag before failing. Actually very safe storage for energy. Tanks get inspected and "VIP'd" every few years so its not like you can run one into the ground.

So where do you get an air powered motor ?

J
 
Air powered motors have been around a long time. RC guys use them all the time (co2 powered motors)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVepKSuwhVM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VlMEQf6-0I&feature=related

Air powered Radial engine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voU3aRzOY7o&feature=related


I have modified some of them Wal-Mart airhog planes to run on Co2...I lost one sometime ago it flew away!
here is the airhog motor and how it works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivMOwKRnO1A&feature=related



I have Carbon fiber wraped alumnium tanks that I use with my miniguns that hold 5500psi they are filled with a a 4-stage compressor or ram air system.
 
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some one use air powered engine to drive propeller and then push paraglider, i wonder why not using expressed air to push autyogyro directorly?
 
Check out the MINI C.A.T. by M.D.I. A compressed-air driven car . VERY IMPRESSIVE!! It uses the fiber/wrap tanks instead of metal/aluminum tanks.
 
I'm wondering how much energy is left after the air has gone through the engine?

Kind regards,
Willem
 
I've long thought that compressed air would be excellent for gyroplane pre-rotation. Pre-rotator is run fairly briefly, while the gyro engine runs all the time you fly.

So, you need a relatively small tank, You can be filling it slowly, at ease, while you're flying.

Carbon fiber tanks are the norm these days, I think. They are quite lightweight and strong.

Air engines are tried and tested; no unknowns there. In the US, they are produced by Atlas Copco, I think.

The only thing I know nothing about is the exact type of compressor to use --it must be able to compress at high pressure using low power (so as not to rob the engine of too much power while flying) but can be very slow about it.
 
Dear Bruno, what is the max HP power do you think the compressed aire engine can reached? I am also plan to build one for pre rotation. how about use compressed aire engine as the main engine to drive rotor?
 
Dear Bruno, what is the max HP power do you think the compressed aire engine can reached? I am also plan to build one for pre rotation. how about use compressed aire engine as the main engine to drive rotor?
No idea, but air power is most commonly used for tools, so the easily available engines are probably relatively small. Google for Atlas air engines and you'll find out.

I don't think compressed air would be very good for powering a helicopter rotor. This requires plenty of power and the energy density of compressed air is poor. That means that it is not very good for sustained operation.

You'd need a whopping macho big tank to fly for more than a few minutes.
It's OK to have a big tank with a car, which has plenty of room and much less of a problem with weight, but a flying machine is very sensitive to weight.

That's why I think it would only be a very good pre-rotator. You pre-rotate for just a brief period of time. Flight time, during which the tank would be refillled, is always much longer.

This would be practically a fit-and-forget thing.
 
I'll try to attach a guide to Atlas air motors in pdf format here.

Oops. No way. The limit is 150 KB and the file is a bit over 1 MB.

Sorry
 
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