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Originally Posted by JRMichler
The big problem with compressed air anything is efficiency.
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Have to disagree on this. While efficiency is a problem, the BIG problem is storing enough compressed air to power a vehicle for any distance. People complain about the lack of range of current EVs - 70-200 miles or so on a charge - but a comparable air-powered vehicle might have a 7-20 mile range. And high-pressure storage vessels are heavy: ever humped scuba tanks around?
Now those working examples; air powered tools, torpedos, tunnelling equipment and so on? If you think about it, they're either powered from a central compressor (thus eliminating the need for on-board storage), or like the torpedo, only need to go for a fairly short distance before exploding.
And with tunnelling equipment, you're killing a couple of birds with one stone: you can't have exhaust fumes or sparks underground, and you have to ventilate the tunnel anyway, so you might as well pipe the compressed ventilation air through your equipment...
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We need to keep this thread going for the entertainment value.
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Agreed :-)