Welcome! Please use the navigational links to explore our website.
PartsASAP LogoCompany Logo Auction Link (800) 853-2651

Shop Now

   Allis Chalmers Case Farmall IH Ford 8N,9N,2N Ford
   Ferguson John Deere Massey Ferguson Minn. Moline Oliver

Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

air powered engine?

Welcome Guest, Log in or Register
Author 
Rich Iowa

04-09-2005 15:11:02




Report to Moderator

I stopped and talked to an older gentleman today about a mower conditioner he had, uses it for swathing oats (took top roller off). Anyways, I got talkin' to him about this and that. He said his latest project was redoing a (get this,) air powered engine. Said it's kinda like a steam engine, only it uses "dry" air. You use the same block, heads, etc. The only things you have to change are the carb to a "air carb", the spark plugs are changed to some sort of injector that injects pure air, and the distributor is fine tuned to fire the instant air is pumped in the cylinder. You also need an air comp., air tanks. Said it has just as much power as a gas engine. Has anyone ever heard of one of these. I got me thinking...

[Log in to Reply]   [No Email]
Averyman

04-10-2005 12:58:05




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
Go here: >Link
Apparently>Link not as far out as it sounds...



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Jerry/MT

04-10-2005 21:33:04




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Averyman, 04-10-2005 12:58:05  
I reviewed the reference with interest. Nothing really new here as these proposals have been around for some time, at least since the oil crisis of the early '70's.
One can make a simpler design than this by using electricity to spin up a flywheeel and use the kinetic energy to power a vehicle. But you still have to "pay the piper" 'cuz it takes another energy source to provide the initial power. While the vehicle is pollution free, you still generate pollution in producing the power to provide the vehicle energy source.
I'm reminded of proposals to us Hydrogen fuel to power airplanes to reduce greenhouse emmisions. We did studies on this and just to have enough fuel to run LAX would take sixteen 500 Megawatt nuclear plants! And to top it off, one of the combustion by products, water vapor, is also a greenhouse gas! (Because of the high combustor outlet temperatures, you also get oxides of Nitrogen which are not good.) But I digress. My point is the usefulness of these kind of devices is very limited and very few make it to the market place, not because of some conspiracy of OPEC, the oil companies, etc, but because they are not widely useful. But maybe someday.....

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
George G

04-10-2005 07:00:06




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
It sounds like he is using eather a 2-stroke or a 4-stroke engine, being a steam engine don't use sparkplugs, distributor or a carberator. A 2-stroke engine would'nt work at all. The pressure on both sides of the piston trying to do the work would be equalized, and the pistons not doing the work would have high pressure on the bottom of the piston's only. The engine would'nt turn.
On a 4-stroke engine, you would have to make a camshaft from scratch. With the original cam, you would have a compression stroke. The pressure between the piston trying to do the work and the pressure in the cylinder on the compression stroke would equalize. The engine would'nt turn. Tomorrow's lesson. Tank capacity + pressure vs. engine capacity + pressure required to do work.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
JoeK

04-10-2005 05:17:51




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
Many,many yrs back,late 50s,early 60s,there was an old illiterate bachelor tinkerer in my hometown,that had a small Deere(a trike H or M maybe)that ran on compressed air.Had two 100lb LP bottles mounted on each side of the engine horizontally and a totebox on the back for his "groceries".He had no drivers license and it was his transportation around the village.It was NOT LP powered.Just made a Pss-Pss-Pss-Pss sound.I was just a kid at the time.General thought was that ole Vern was "not right",but he could fix or figure out just about anything.No idea whatever happened to the Deere.He passed on in the late 70s.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
sibby(Aus)

04-10-2005 02:59:25




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
fellas, Look up Link not as silly as it sounds. cheers.p.s., copy and paste, dunno how to set up.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Farmered

04-10-2005 00:11:33




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
Now, I have seen a converted V-8 that one bank of four ran on gasoline and the other bank was an air compressor. Sounded funny but worked real well. I'm about ready to build a producer gas generator like the Germans used during and after WW2 when petrol wasn't available. I wonder if I can use it on my throttle body fuel injected 302.
Might have trouble with the 'puter if I shut the gas off. Would need to cut the power to the tank mounted fuel pump. Any ideas? Ed

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Bernie in MA

04-11-2005 08:07:59




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Farmered, 04-10-2005 00:11:33  
Lindsay Books has several books on wood gas. I was thinking about it a few yares ago when gas hit (gasp) 1.50 a gallon.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Davis in SC

04-09-2005 20:46:40




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
I heard the Oil companies are on their way to see him as we speak. They are going to give him several million to forget that idea, & never discuss it again.....



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Jerry/MT

04-09-2005 20:15:51




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
The old gentleman was either pulling your leg, you misunderstood him, or he's a charlatan! Producing power takes energy input in the form of fuel, electricty, etc. The First Law of Thermodynamics says so. The Second Law tells you you can't break even.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
dr.sportster

04-10-2005 05:28:21




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Jerry/MT, 04-09-2005 20:15:51  
Jerry,In this case the prime mover as its called is the compressed air.It could work.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Jerry/MT

04-10-2005 21:05:35




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to dr.sportster, 04-10-2005 05:28:21  
Respectfully, the original statement discussed an "air carburetor" and a "finely tuned distributor" ot something to that effect. Running off a compressed air tank requires neither of these. In any case,it's a misnomer to call it an "air powered engine". If the compressor is powered by a liquid fueled engine or and electric motor, then it's not an "air powered engine". I'm sorry I'm such a stickler but I'm a former aircraft propulsion engineer and who has had to evealuate a lot of these types of schemes from people who thought they were really on to something.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
dr.sportster

04-11-2005 11:47:21




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Jerry/MT, 04-10-2005 21:05:35  
When I first read it I thought it had spark plugs dismissed it as bogus.After I read Sids post I figured out what they meant.Once a guy told me he invented an amazing motor that works on magnetism and would I like to invest in this invention.I told him its already invented but its called an electric motor.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
dr.sportster

04-10-2005 05:35:13




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to dr.sportster, 04-10-2005 05:28:21  
The energy was spend electrically or gas wise when the air tank was filled by the home compressor. Then it was stored energy when it was in the mobile tank in the vege/pinto.No different than charging an electric golf cart.After I read Sids post I understood what the deal was here.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Redmud

04-09-2005 20:08:52




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
I'm working on one that will run on bull shutt, got enough fuel now, all I need now is finish the engine.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Sid

04-09-2005 19:39:37




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
A few years ago I visited with a fellow in Joplin MO He had a little car a Vega or Pinto or something like, that and it ran on compressed air. The engine was built like a steam engine, had a big air tank had a regulator that was his accellarator. It had an awful big tank on it but if I remember he could travel about twenty miles or so at about twenty miles an hour which was the most economical speed.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
dr.sportster

04-09-2005 19:56:59




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Sid, 04-09-2005 19:39:37  
Ah you dont need no stinking spark plugs.I get it.I see now at two something a gallon I might be trying to make one of these.How big is this air tank??



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Sid

04-10-2005 00:32:46




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to dr.sportster, 04-09-2005 19:56:59  
It seemed almost as big as the car almost as big as the car. I think twenty gallon or so. Took up most of the back seat area.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
dr.sportster

04-09-2005 19:35:33




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
And the spark plugs did what????? Oh fired the air yeah ok that should work real good.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Seth_ia

04-09-2005 18:00:07




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
Back in the energy crisis days there where some things in farm show magasine about something like your describing. The ones i saw had no cumbustion what so ever. Compressed air was fed into the cylinders to push them down. Similar in conceptthe pistons on some old steam engines. I think the problem with these engines was holding enough air in a storage tank while you where driving. Think about running an impact off a portable air tank. t he last article I saw the guy some how was trying to recycle the exhust air. Seems like a nice idea, but impractical.

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
cdmn

04-09-2005 17:29:50




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
If you look it up, I believe you'll find the very first internal combustion engines ran on gun powder. That would be dry. So maybe that's what he's talking about.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
TomH

04-09-2005 15:32:52




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
Sounds like he was pulling your leg.



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Sloroll

04-09-2005 15:21:50




Report to Moderator
 Re: air powered engine? in reply to Rich Iowa, 04-09-2005 15:11:02  
I've heard of a "Hot Air Engine" I have also heard of a compressed air engine (Used a lot on older model airplanes) Both are external combustion type engines. I'm missing the process of combustion somewhere here. Did he give you any more information? Sounds interesting. Now, in my home town we had a fellow perfecting a perpetual motion engine... he controled the weather too. Every once in awhile, on slow days, he made the news

[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
Sloroll

04-09-2005 15:55:32




Report to Moderator
 Now that I start thinking.. in reply to Sloroll, 04-09-2005 15:21:50  
Popular mechanics, years ago, used to advertise something like that. "Convert Your V8 to Steam" I think it was steam. Anyway, what ever it was claimed simple modifications and efficient HP. I always wanted the X Ray Glasses @^@



[Log in to Reply]  [No Email]
[Options]  [Printer Friendly]  [Posting Help]  [Return to Forum]   [Log in to Reply]

Hop to:


TRACTOR PARTS TRACTOR MANUALS
We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]

Home  |  Forums


Copyright © 1997-2023 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy

TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters

Website Accessibility Policy