No fuel needed: Now, a go-kart that runs on air

Engineer David Alderson drives an air-powered go-kart that he helped build




It’s a balmy afternoon. Thousands of fans cheer wildly as race cars fly by at speeds nearing 320 kmph for 200 laps. They whiz down the pit road making pit stops, changing tires and refuelling. Only, the tanks are not being filled with petrol; they’re being filled with air.

That scenario may sound futuristic, but it may not be long before we see air-powered engines take to the track. Five mechanical engineering students from Dalhousie University in the US have already started the journey down that road.

David Alderson, Scott Allan, David Langille, Michael Roy and Dave Spencer were inspired by air-powered car concepts and decided to develop a compressed air engine of their own.

“We had done read a lot about renewable energy and became really interested in the airpowered car,” says Langille.

The students modified a 40-year-old snowmobile engine and ran compressed air through it to produce power similar to a petrol engine. They attached the engine to a refurbished go-kart using two scuba tanks to house the air. The air is released through a standard scuba fitting with a high-flow regulator. The released air travels through tubing to a ball-valve connected to the foot pedal and throttle. “It operates much like a normal rotary engine,” says Langille. While producing zero local emissions is a good thing, Langille adds that a generator is still required to get the compressed air in the tank, but that’s something he hopes can be researched to a greater extent.

In tests, the air-powered vehicle performed comparatively to the electric-powered carts in use. The greatest drawback however is that the cylinder runs out of air quickly. However, the students believe the engine will improve with refinements and could be a successor to conventional fuel-powered engines.

“We can do three laps here or just under two minutes going flatout at 43 kmph with two tanks,” Langille explains.

He and his four colleagues are thrilled with their project: “It was an awesome experience; very fulfilling. We’re excited to see it work so well because there were a lot of people who were doubtful and it was exciting to get an A+.”

Langille says he sees initial practical uses in forklifts and smaller indoor machines. “The zero local emissions make it attractive for indoor operations and the tanks are easy to refill.”