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Definition
Have
you been to the gas station this week? Considering that we live in a very mobile
society, it's probably safe to assume that you have. While pumping gas, you've
undoubtedly noticed how much the price of gas has soared in recent years. Gasoline
which has been the main source of fuel for the history of cars, is becoming more
and more expensive and impractical (especially from an environmental standpoint).
These factors are leading car manufacturers to develop cars fueled by alternative
energies. Two hybrid cars took to the road in 2000, and in three or four years
fuel-cell-powered cars will roll onto the world's highways. While
gasoline prices in the United States have not yet reached their highest point
($2.66/gallon in 1980), they have climbed steeply in the past two years. In 1999,
prices rose by 30 percent, and from December 1999 to October 2000, prices rose
an additional 20 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In
Europe, prices are even higher, costing more than $4 in countries like England
and the Netherlands. But cost is not the only problem with using gasoline as our
primary fuel. It is also damaging to the environment, and since it is not a renewable
resource, it will eventually run out. One possible alternative is the air-powered
car. Air powered cars runs on compressed air
instead of gasoline. This car is powered by a two cylinder compressed engine.
This engine can run either on compressed air alone or act as an IC engine. Compressed
air is stored in glass or fiber tanks at a pressure of 4351 psi.
Within the
next two years, you could see the first air-powered vehicle motoring through your
town. Most likely, it will be the e.Volution car that is being built by Zero Pollution
Motors. The cars have generated a lot of interest
in recent years, and the Mexican government has already signed a deal to buy 40,000
e.Volutions to replace gasoline- and diesel-powered taxis in the heavily polluted
Mexico City. TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW These
new vehicles incorporate various innovative and novel systems such as storing
energy in the form of compressed air, using new materials such as fiberglass to
build the car and vegetable oil for the motor lubrication. Numerous
innovations have been integrated in the engine design. As an example, there is
a patented system of articulated conrods that allow the piston to pause at top
dead center. The following graph indicates this movement of the piston in relation
to the driving shaft rotation. The car engine
runs on compressed air and incorporates the three laws of thermodynamics.
1.
The first law states that energy can neither be destroyed nor be wasted.
2.
The second law describes the disorder within substances.
The third law defines
that only in crystals at 0o k, there is absolute disorder <<back |