Practicality study on air-powered vehicle

Abstract

To investigate the feasibility and outlook of air-powered vehicles including compressed air-powered vehicle and liquid nitrogen-powered vehicle, thermodynamic analysis and experiment data were used to analyze the energy density, performance, safety, running efficiency, fuel circulation economy and consumer acceptance, etc. The results show that compressed air and liquid nitrogen have similar energy density as Ni-H battery; the characteristics of an air-powered engine is suitable for driving a vehicle; the circulation efficiency of liquid nitrogen is 3.6%–14% and that of compressed air is 25%–32.3% in practice, and existing technology can assure its safety. It is concluded that though the performance of an air-powered engine is inferior to that of the traditional inert combustion engine, an air-powered vehicle is fit for future green cars to realize the sustainable development of society and environment.

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