Journal of Advanced Research in Automotive Technology and Transportation System

Volume 3, Issue 1&2 - 2018, Pg. No. 1-4

Peer Reviewed Journal
Review Article

A Review of Compressed Air Vehicle

Mahendra Singh1
Asst. Prof, MED, NIET, Alwar (Raj.).
1

Abstract
With the increasing consumption of the fossil fuels is one major cause of concern. With the increasing levels
of pollution the carbon foot print is increasing as a result of which the green house gases are depleting the
ozone layers and the environment is getting hotter day by day. The effect of this increase in the temperature
can be widely seen with the melting of Glacier and the overall increase in the overall temperature by an
approximately 3-40 C per year. This is an alarming situation as the ultimate pollution is emitted either by the
vehicles using the hydrocarbons as fuels r by the industries which use the coal for feeding the furnace in
order o operate and gain energy. So as to get rid of this we cannot completely quit the economical practices
like industrial activities or the transportation activities. So there was a need for the alternate fuels which
led to the invention of alternative fuels. The alternative fuels which were ecofriendly and doesn’t lead to
the pollution. The pollution level in some metro cities worldwide is alarming and has led to serious health
problems like the Lung cancer, Tuberculosis and other respiratory related diseases.

The solution we tried to find out was the air compressed engine whose history dates back to the 1800 AD
when they were used to run the locomotive engine. In 1872 the Mekarski air engine was used for street
transit, consisting of a single stage engine. Numerous locomotives were manufactured and a number
of regular lines were opened up (the first in Nantes in 1879). In 1892, Robert Hardie introduced a new
method of heating that at the same time served to increase the range of the engine which in turn helped
to increase the distance that could be traveled at a stretch.

Power produced by pressurized gases/air has been used in many applications since decades. The power
produced by that means is pollution free too. Hence substitution of petrol/diesel in engines with compressed
air will be a step towards pollution free engine. The 4-stroke IC engine is to be converted into a 2-stroke
pneumatic engine. Various design changes in camshaft design were carried out. The valve timing diagram
was derived for the same. The cam profile of a double lobed cam as required in the valve timing diagram was
designed in Pro-e software and was cut on a wire cut machine. The cam and camshaft were manufactured
separately and then assembled.

Keywords: Transportation, Air Engine, Machine, Fuels

Introduction
Petroleum products are nowadays extensively used in every
field of modern society. It is consumed at such a quick rate
that in next few decades its petroleum products may get
extinct. Man must thus shift from non-renewable resources
like petroleum to renewable resources like solar energy,
wind energy, tidal energy, etc. Thus renewable resources
are the future of mankind. Moreover, the extensive use of
petroleum products has resulted in hazardous pollutions
which lead to effects like Global Warming.
Thus it is extensively important to shift to something
pollution free and renewable in near future. The power
produced by pressurized gases/air has been used in many
applications since decades. The power produced by that
means is pollution free too. Hence substitution of petrol/
diesel in engines with compressed air will be a step towards
pollution free engine. Thus the use of pneumatics is one
of the options available. And also almost all people are
suffering from the high rate of petrol and diesel. The gas
is also not convenient so far for vehicles in recent days.
Angelo Di Pietro had worked on the compressed air engine.
A French inventor Guy Negre and A French company MDI

E-mail Id: mahendra.singh718@gmail.com

Orcid Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2504-2496
How to cite this article: Singh M. A Review of Compressed Air Vehicle. J Adv Res Auto Tech Transp Sys 2018; 3(1&2): 1-4.

Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Advanced Research in Automotive Technology and Transportation System
Singh M
J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2) 2

has launched air car in the market. But still one has not
made a pneumatic bike engine. Here is the methodology
for the conversion of 4-stroke single cylinder engine into
2-stroke pneumatic engine.

Concept and Methodology

A compressed air engine (CAE) is powered by using
compressed air, which is stored in a tank. Instead of mixing
fuel with air and burning it in the engine to drive pistons
with hot expanding gases; compressed-air vehicles use Figure 2.Compression stroke
the expansion of compressed air to drive their pistons. Power Stroke
One manufacturer claims to have designed an engine
that is 90 percent efficient. Compressed-air propulsion Inlet and outlet valve remain closed.
may also be incorporated in hybrid systems, e.g., battery
electric propulsion and fuel tanks to recharge the batteries. Mixture burn and High pressure and temperature gases
This kind of system is called hybrid-pneumatic electric push down the piston to create motive power.
propulsion. Additionally, regenerative braking can also be
used in conjunction with this system. Piston moves from T.D.C. to B.D.C as in Fig. 3.

Working Cycles of Conventional 4-Stroke IC Engine

The working cycle of a 4-stroke IC engine consists of four

stroke and two rotations of crankshaft.

Inlet stroke

Inlet valve remains open as shown in Fig. 1. Exhaust valve

remains closed. Mixture of fuel and air is inlet in cylinder.
Piston moves from T.D.C. to B.D.C. The piston has now
made one stroke and crankshaft 180 degrees of rotation
Guy Negre and A French company MDI has launched air
car in the market. But still one has not made a pneumatic
bike engine. Here is the methodology for the conversion
of 4-stroke single cylinder engine into 2-stroke pneumatic
engine.
Figure 3.Power stroke
Exhaust Stroke
Inlet valve remains closed and exhaust valve is open. The
piston moves from B.D.C. to T.D.C. During this motion,
the piston pushes out the burnt gases from the cylinder
as shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 4.Exhaust stroke

Figure 1.Inlet Stroke Cycle of 2-stroke Pneumatic Engine
Compression Stroke
Intake cum Power stroke Compressed air from the storage
Inlet and exhaust valves remain closed as shown in Fig. 2. tank enters the engine cylinder with opening of inlet valve
and piston at the T.D.C. This exerts pressure on piston
Piston moves from B.D.C. to T.D.C. which drives piston downwards towards B.D.C. allowing
compressed air to expand. This is the power stroke which
Fuel and air mixture is compressed up to its clearance ithe main source for engine power and torque. This stroke
volume [4]. is indicated in Fig.

3 J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2)
Figure 5.Cycle of inlet air engine
Figure 6.Exhaust stroke
Exhaust stroke
The inlet valve is closed and exhaust valve opens making
way for the expanded air in the cylinder to evacuate the
cylinder. The expanded air is at slightly higher pressure
than atmospheric pressure for easy evacuating of cylinder.
This is shown in Fig. Two stroke fuel engine every stroke is
power stroke but air compressed engine only one stroke
is power stroke. To complete one cycle 360º revolution
completed in crank shaft or one revolution completed. In
this engine, zero percentage pollution will be produced.
Valve Timing Diagram and Cam Design
For Conventional 4-stroke Engine
The Camshaft is the “heart” of the gasoline engine. The
engine will not perform to its highest potential unless
the cam is precision ground to provide performance at
the speeds required [1]. The valve timing diagram for the
conventional 4-stroke engine is shown in Fig.
Figure 7.Cam angles for 4- Stroke Engine
Singh M
Figure 8.Lobe of cam
The opening and closing angles may also refer to a specified
nominal lift, e.g. at 0.050 in cam lift [1]. A cam’s timing may
be stated as 25-65-65-25. These numbers are (1) intake
opening before T.D.C., (2) intake closing after B.D.C, (3)
exhaust opening before B.D.C. and (4) exhaust closing after
T.D.C. For these numbers to have meaning, the lift at which
the numbers are taken must be specified. The purpose of
the cam lobe is to raise the lifter and open the valve.
For 2-stroke Pneumatic Engine
The valves must operate twice for retrofitted engine as
compared to those of conventional engine. Thus the cam
for the retrofitted 2-stroke pneumatic engine must have
double lift i. e. for 360o of rotation; cam must actuate the
valve twice. So considering the above, valve timing diagram
was made as shown in Fig.
Figure 9.CAM Design and angles
Design and Implementation
The dimensions and design of the cams developed based
of the discussions provided are given under.
Inlet Cam
• Base Diameter: 20 mm
• Lift: 5 mm
• Open/Close: 3550 to 550 (shm\ua), 1750 to 2350
(shm\ua)
• Thickness: 12 mm
Singh M
J. Adv. Res. Auto. Tech. Transp. Sys. 2018; 3(1&2) 4

Figure 12.Cam and Camshaft Assembly view

Figure 10.Inlet Cam
Conclusion
Exhaust Cam
By this we have successfully run the Engine but we have
• Base Diameter: 20 mm to increase the power of the engine so that we will get the
• Lift: 5 mm exact running power for the four wheeler.
• Open/Close: 850 to1850(shm\ua), 2650 to 50 (shm\
ua) References
• Thickness: 12 mm.
Design Alteration of Motor-Cycle Engine Cam for
Pneumatic Operation
1. Jimil M. Shah1, Akash B. Pandey2 & Ujjwell Y. Trive-
di3 1Valia Institute of Technology, G.T.U., Gujarat
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of
Technology & Engineering, M. S. University, Baroda,
Gujarat 3Engineering Consultant, Baroda.
2. Haisheng Chen et al. “Air fuelled zero emission road
transportation: A comparative study”, Applied Energy
88 (2011), 24 June 2010, pp: 337–342.
3. [3] Amir Fazeli et al. “A novel compression strategy for
air hybrid engines” Applied European Fuel Cell Energy
88 (2011) ,8 March 2011, pp: 2955–2966.
4. http//www.popularmechanics.com/cars/g195/5-
Figure 11.Exhaust cam engine.
5. http//www.en.m.wikipidia.org/wiki/compressed-
air_vehicl.

Date of Submission: 2018-03-29

Date of Acceptance: 2018-04-18