International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 07 Issue: 05 | May 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Design & Fabrication of Pneumatic Air Engine

Pokharkar Tushar B. 1, Bhoi Hrishikesh B. 2, Bhavarthe Amit A. 2, Jadhav Pawan G. 2,
Kamble Janardhan A. 2
1Assistant Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering at S.S.J.C.O.E, Dombivli (E), Maharashtra, India
2Students of B.E in Department of Mechanical Engineering at S.S.J.C.O.E, Dombivli (E), Maharashtra, India
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Abstract - The environmental pollution in the cylinder or turbine, forming a type of internal combustion
metropolitan cities is increasing rapidly mostly because of
the increased number of fossil fuel powered vehicles. Many
alternative options are now being studied throughout the
world. One of the alternative solutions can be a compressed
air powered vehicle. Main advantage of this engine is that
no hydrocarbon fuel is required which means no
combustion process is taking place. In this project, an SI
engine is converted into a compressed air engine. A four
stroke single cylinder SI engine is converted to two stroke
engine which operates using compressed air because of its
design simplicity. As we converted the already existing
conventional engine into an air powered one, this new
technology is easy to adapt. Another benefit is that it uses
air as fuel which is available abundantly in atmosphere.

Key Words: Compress Air Engine, Pneumatic Air

Engine, Compress Air Vehicle, Air Powered Engine.

1. INTRODUCTION

A Pneumatic air engine is a double acting pneumatic

cylinder that creates useful work by expanding
compressed air. A compressed-air vehicle is powered by
an air engine, 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 engine (CAE) uses the expansion of
compressed air to drive their pistons. They have existed in
many forms over the past two centuries, ranging in size
from hand held turbines up to several hundred
horsepower.
For example, the first mechanically-powered
submarine, the 1863 Plan gear, used a compressed air
engine. The laws of physics dictate that uncontained gases
will fill any given space. The easiest way to see this in
action is to inflate a balloon. The elastic skin of the balloon
holds the air tightly inside, but the moment you use a pin
to create a hole in the balloon's surface, the air expands
outward with so much energy that the balloon explodes.
Compressing a gas into a small space is a way to store
energy. When the gas expands again, that energy is
released to do work. That's the basic principle behind
what makes an air car go.
Some types rely on pistons and cylinders, others use
turbines. Many compressed air engines improve their
performance by heating the incoming air, or the engine
itself. Some took this a stage further and burned fuel in the

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7.529 Journal
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 05 | May 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
engine. One manufacturer claims to have designed an We have studied various advantages of air pneumatic
engine that is 90 percent efficient. engine by Prof. Kalpesh Chavada & Mr. Manish “On study
and Development of Compressed Air Engine-Single
Compressed air propulsion may also be Cylinder”. International journal for scientific Research &
incorporated in hybrid systems, e.g., battery electric Development Vol.2 Issue 05, 2004. Prof. Kalpesh Chavda
propulsion and fuel tanks to recharge the batteries. This Patel & Mr. Manish details about reports on the review of
kind of system is called hybrid-pneumatic electric compressed air engine for the design and development of
propulsion. Additionally, regenerative braking can also single cylinder engine which can be run by compressed
be used in conjunction with this system. air. Current four strokes single cylinder engine
(bikes\moped) can be run on the objective of the study.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW Compressed air filled by electricity using a compressor.
According To Felix Creutzig’s journal about “On The electricity requirement for compressing air has to be
Economic and environmental evaluation of compressed considered while computing overall efficiency.
air cars”. Res. Lett.40411. Felix Creutizig explained how We learned the Conceptual diagram and fabrication
the compress air cars are useful for the future based on pneumatic air engine by Mr. N. Govind, Mr. S.Sanayasi Rao
Economic and Environmental factors. Such that climate & Manish Kumar Behera “On Design and Fabrication of
change and energy security require a reduction in Compressed Air Vehicle”. International Journal & Magazine
travel demand, a model shift, and technological of Engineering, Technology, Management and Research
innovation in the transport sector. Through a series ISSN No: 2348-4845. Mr. N. Govind, Mr. S.Sanayasi Rao &
press realises and demonstrations, a car using energy Manish Kumar Behera discussed on Compressed air as a
store in a compressed air produced by compressor have source of energy in different uses in general and as a non-
been suggested as an environmentally friendly vehicle polluting fuel in compressed air vehicles has attracted
of the future. We analyse the thermodynamic efficiency scientists and engineers for centuries. Efforts are being
of a compressed air car powered by pneumatic energy made by many developers and manufacturers to master
and the consider the merits of compress air versus the compressed air vehicle technology in all respects for
chemical storage of potential energy. its earliest use by the mankind.

The important significance of Pneumatic Air engine drives up the pressure. However, if well insulated, such as
according to Mr. Kunjan Shinde IJRMET Vol. 7, Issue 1, Dewar (vacuum) flask design, the heat would not have to be
Nov. 2016 – April 2017 Issn: 2249-5762. Issn: 2249- lost but put to use when the car was running.
5770 “On  Early tests have demonstrated the limited storage capacity
Electric Bike”. Mr. Kunjan Shinde’s journal on Electric Bike of the tanks; the only published test of a vehicle running on
describes the idea of harnessing the various energy and compressed air alone was limited to a range of 7.22 km (4
uses it in today’s existence of human life. Electric bike mi).
which will be driven with the help of battery and thus
 A 2005 study demonstrated that cars running on lithium-
provide required voltage to the motor. The focus of this
report is Design & Fabrication of Pneumatic Air Engine 5 ion batteries out-perform both compressed-air and fuel cell
to perform power calculations and system design of this vehicles more than threefold at same speeds. MDI has
Electric Bike. recently claimed that an air car will be able to travel 140 km
(87 mi) in urban driving, and have a range of 80 km (50 mi)
3. PROBLEM DEFINITION with a top speed of 110 km/h (68 mph) on highways, when
operating on compressed air alone.
 When air expands, as it would in the engine, it cools
dramatically (adiabatic cooling; Joule–Thomson effect) 4. OBJECTIVES
and must be heated to ambient temperature using a heat
exchanger similar to the Intercooler used for internal • To find substitute to internal combustion engines
combustion engines. The heating is necessary in order to • Modification of I.C. engine into an air power engine.
obtain a significant fraction of the theoretical energy • To develop an engine that has always zero emissions.
output. The heat exchanger can be problematic. While it • Designing our own test rig.
performs a similar task to the Intercooler, the temperature • To reduce pollution
difference between the incoming air and the working gas • To save conventional fuel
is smaller. In heating the stored air, the device gets very • To improve the performance parameters like output and
cold and may ice up in cool, moist climates. efficiency of engine template format, Define abbreviations
and acronyms the first time they are used in the text, even
 Refueling the compressed-air container using a home or
after they have been defined in the abstract. Abbreviations
low-end conventional air compressor may take as long as
4 hours, while the specialized equipment at service
stations may fill the tanks in only 3 minutes.
 Tanks get very hot when filled rapidly. SCUBA tanks can
be immersed in water to cool them when they are being
filled. That would not be possible with tanks in a car and
thus it would either take a long time to fill the tanks, or
they would have to take less than a full charge, since heat
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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 05 | May 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
such as IEEE, SI, MKS, CGS, sc, dc, and rms do not have the Engine attains its motion.
to be defined. Do not use abbreviations in the title or
heads unless they are unavoidable. 6. APPLICATIONS
5. METHODOLOGY
 Air driven engines can be used as drives for different
Fig -1: Layout of Pneumatic Air Engine

A pneumatic air engine is a type of engine which

does mechanical work by expanding compressed air.
Pneumatic engine generally converts compressed air
energy to mechanical work either into linear motion or
rotary motion. Once compressed air is transferred into
the onboard storage tank, it is slowly released to power
the pistons. The motor then converts the air power into
mechanical power. That power is then transferred to
the wheels and becomes the source of power for the
Engine.
types of conveyors such as Belt conveyors, Chain
conveyors, Screw conveyors, etc,. It is normally used for
Connections are done as per the circuit diagram slow speed conveyors. Medium load can only be used.
as shown in figure-1 when the accelerator pedal is
 In operations like carpentry job clamping generally
pressed, air is passed through the solenoid valve from
requires low loading. Air Driven Engine can provide this
the reservoir to the cylinder. Now the piston inside the
low load clamping.
cylinder is pushed forward. When it attains maximum
 Air Driven Engine can also be utilized for small
position. The reed switch sensor which is connected
displacement pumps of low pressure capacities.
along the cylinder changes the direction of flow of air
 The usage of the Air Driven Engine is possible for
hence, the piston is pushed backward. Thus the forward
automobiles as two wheelers and light motor vehicles.
backward movement of the piston is connected to the
crank shaft Hence linear movement of the piston is  The pneumatic grease gun or air powered grease gun is
converted into a rotary motion by mean of chain really a great new invention in the field of grease guns
sprocket, which is connected with the rear axle. Thus on the market. Pneumatic grease gun actually is rather
heavy

duty mechanisms and is also especially manufactured REFERENCES Govind, Mr. S.S Sanyasi Rao & Mr.
just for rugged usage. The air motor connected within Manish Kumar Behera “On design
and Fabrication of Compressed Air
the grease gun is usually itself priming and allow [1] Felix Vehicle”. International Journal &
consumer to apply it for lubrications with power. The Creutzig Magazine of Engineering, Technology,
flip over feature of the pneumatic grease gun permits “On Management and Research ISSN No.
the user to use lubrication and grease to work surface Economic 2348-4845.
and
without sloping plus grease bypass hence helping to Environme [4] Mr. Kunjan Shinde “Compress Air,"
make them effective and very neat and clean to use ntal IJRMET ISSN: 2249- 5770 Vol.7, Issue
evaluation 04, Nov-2016.
7. CONCLUSIONS of [5] J. Gary Wood et al. “Design of a low-
Compresse pressure air Engine for third world
d Air Cars”. use” 17th Annual Intersociety Energy
 Efficiency of the system will higher than conventional Et al2009 Conversion Los Angeles, California
systems. Environ.Res August 1982.
 The mechanism designed is pollution free. .Lett. [6] Sharma P.C. & Aggarwal D.K.,
4044011. Machine Design, S.K. Kataria &
 Compressed air is non-conventional energy and it is
abundant in nature Due to global warming it is demand of [2] Prof. Sons,"Outline and Creation of
Kalpesh Pneumatic Air Engine," IJETAE ISSN
time to adopt green technology. Chavda & 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008
 With some modifications it will give better performance Mr. Manish Confirmed Diary, Volume 6, Issue 5,
than the conventional engines. This engine having "Plan and May 2016
minimum disadvantages. It is cheaper than any other Advanceme [7] S. S. Verma, Latest Developments of a
technology. nt of Air Compressed Air Vehicle: A Status
Engine," Report, Volume 13 Issue 1 Version
 From the observation it will be concluded that ISSN 0975 –
compressed air power engine can prove to the future 1.0 Year 2013.
668X| Nov
engine which is ecofriendly, pollution free, but also very 15 To Oct [8] Shen, Y.T. and Hwang, Y.R. (2009)
economical. This redresses both the problems of fuel 16 | Design and Implementation of an Air
Volume-04, Powered Motorcycles. Applied
crises and pollution. Energy.
Issue-01
[3] Mr. N.
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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 05 | May 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
BIOGRAPHIES SSJCOE, Dombivli and working on
project “Design & Fabrication of
Pneumatic Air Engine.”

Prof.
Tushar
B.
Pokhar Amit A. Bhavarthe is currently
kar is student of BE Mechanical
currentl Engineering at SSJCOE, Dombivli
y and working on project “Design &
working Fabrication of Pneumatic Air
Engine.”

as
Assistan
t Pawan G. Jadhav is currently
Profess student of BE Mechanical
or in Engineering at SSJCOE, Dombivli
Depart and working on project “Design &
ment of Fabrication of Pneumatic Air
Mechani Engine.”
cal
Enginee
ring at
SSJCOE,
Dombivl Janardhan A. Kamble is
i(E). His currently student of BE
current Mechanical Engineering at
area of SSJCOE, Dombivli and working on
work is project “Design & Fabrication of
in field Pneumatic Air Engine.”
of
Thermo
dynami
cs and
Heat
transfer.

Hrishik
esh B.
Bhoi is
currentl
y
student
of BE
Mechani
cal
Enginee
ring at

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