The typical motorcycles used in the world of today, has an engine that burns gasoline. This source of power emits greenhouse gas and therefore, negatively contributes to environmental pollution.
Two Scientists in India have found a ground-breakthrough. They have designed a cleaner motorcycle engine: an engine using compressed air to rotate a small air turbine. The power generated is sufficient to power the motorcycle for around 40 minutes.
A previous issue of the Journal of Renewable & Sustainable Energy described the design of the engine. The compressed air cylinder could be a suitable substitute for the conventional combustion engine. Motorcycles powered by compressed air cylinders could reduce carbon emission tremendously, especially in regions where motorcycles are primarily used as public transportation.
One of the authors, Bharat Raj Singh, from SMS Institute of Technology in Lucknow, India, says that in some regions carbon emission could decline by up to 50 to 60 percent with this new clean technology. However, there are a few technical obstacles that need to be addressed. A major hurdle is to design high-capacity air tanks, which would provide adequate “fuel” to allow long rides.
The current inefficient tanks would require one to swap tank every 30 Km. The low-efficiency of the tanks is a major factor making compressed air engines cumbersome. The development of a high capacity air tank would render this innovative compressed air cylinder engine a stupendous solution to decreased greenhouse emission.
Source: Escience News and American Institute of Physics
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.