I recently read some stuff about compressed air engines (on the
internet, where else!). They have been around for some time and were,
for example, used in mines because they were safer than steam or
early internal combustion engines. There has been a recent surge of
interest in using such engines in vehicles because they have no
emissions, can be efficient and that modern materials, eg carbon
fibre, can greatly reduce the weight of air tanks. This excludes the
emissions from power stations generating electricity which drives the
compressors needed to "refuel" the engine.
This got me thinking about compressed air's potential for self
launching or sustaining gliders and I wonder if someone could do the
numbers on the following scenarios to test their viability.
Standard carbon fibre cylinders are available which are about 2 ft
long, 8" diameter, weigh 12 lbs and hold 88 cu ft of air at 4500 psi.
I think they are used in SCUBA diving. Four could probably be fitted
into a fuselage; would the following work as a self launcher or a
sustainer?
1 As a fully throttleable jet
2 As a propellor driven by air outlets at the tips, cf the Sud-Ouest
Djinn helicopter of 1955.
It has been suggested that at slow , eg glider, speeds a narrow
column of fast moving air as from a jet is less efficient than a
large area of relatively slow moving air, eg from a propellor.
Thanking you in anticipation.
.
Graham
--
Dr Graham Holland
27 Johnston Crescent
Lane Cove
NSW 2066
Australia
e-mail: gra...@arch.usyd.edu.au
ph: 02 9427 3282
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