Prototype Compressed Air Vehicle: An alternative to meet energy demand mitigation for sustainable development

Abstract

The urgent need of eco-friendly transport vehicles and alternate source of energy other than fossil fuels draw attention of entire world towards the sustainable development of green technologies due to sudden climate changes and global warming. In the face of the climate crisis, petroleum dependence, and volatile gasoline prices, it is imperative to explore possible opportunities in unconventional alternative-fuel vehicles. In this due course Compressed Air Vehicles (CAV) is a thrust area of research. CAV utilizes high pressure energy of air from compressed form which is converted into mechanical output. For the same Compressed air is stored in a cylinder and released by a nozzle connected through the piping. Compressed air passing through nozzle strikes the blade with a very high velocity, resulting in the rotation of prime mover. To produce a high torque and to reduce the rpm, this prime mover is coupled with gear train which is further connected with the axle. So that rotational energy of prime mover is converted into mechanical output easily and efficiently i.e. the motion of CAV. Based this protocol a prototype compressed air vehicle was designed and developed. The efficiency of the prototype model under the different condition of load and speed in rpm was studied. Results show that although the CAV is a bold, unconventional solution for today’s transportation challenges, it is ultimately not workable, and compares poorly with gasoline and electric vehicles in all environmental and economic metrics.