High pressure tanks for air cars

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by JRMichler

...a patent means only that nobody else did it first..

I guess I knew that at some level (not a conscious level, obviously)

Isn't a patent a lot of work and effort to go through before you test that it works? I guess I made some assumptions when the posting included a few numbers.

[JRMichler]

A cellular air tank has theoretical safety and reliability advantages. Real world complications include the safety and reliability disadvantages of the valves and plumbing. The system design MUST include provisions for dealing with the failure of any component, including the fact that valves can fail fully open, fully closed, or stuck partway.

An efficient air motor for use with a high pressure air system would need both variable displacement and variable expansion ratio. The displacement would need to be variable from near zero for low power output with the air tank fully charged to large enough to get rated power with the air tank at minimum pressure.

The efficient air motor expansion ratio would be 300:1 for an air tank charge to 4500 PSI, and variable down to 8:1 when the air tank is discharged down to 100 PSI.

And the efficient air motor would need to use isothermal expansion, requiring an external source of heat.

And that is a few of the reasons why nobody has succeeded in building a practical air car.