2. CRYOGENICS
Cryo - means cold
Genics - means science.
The branches of physics and engineering that
involve the study of very low temperatures, how to
produce them, and how materials behave at those
temperatures.
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3. WHAT IS A CRYOCAR ?
It is a liquid nitrogen powered vehicle.
Propulsion systems are cryogenic heat engines in
which a cryogenic substance is used as a heat sink.
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4. CRYOGENIC HEAT ENGINE
It is a engine which uses very cold substances to
produce useful energy.
There is always some heat input to the working
fluid during the expansion process.
Cryoengine works on Rankin Cycle.
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5. LIQUID NITROGEN(LN2)
Liquid Nitrogen is the cheapest, widely produced
and most common cryogen.
It is mass produced in air liquefaction plants
The liquefaction process is very simple.
Normal, atmospheric air is passed through dust
precipitator and pre-cooled.
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7. • It is then compressed inside large turbo pumps to
about 100 atmospheres.
• Once the air has been cooled to room temperature it
is allowed to expand rapidly through a nozzle into an
insulated chamber.
• By running several cycles the temperature of the
chamber becomes low enough. The air entering it
starts to liquefy.
• Liquid nitrogen is removed from the chamber by
fractional distillation and is stored inside well-
insulated Dewar flasks .
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8. Main Components of the Engine:
A pressurized tank to store liquid nitrogen.
Pressurant bottles of N2 gas substitute for a pump. The gas
pushes the liquid nitrogen out of the Dewar that serves as a
fuel tank.
A primary heat exchanger that heats (using atmospheric heat)
LN2 to form N2 gas, then heats gas under pressure to near
atmospheric temperature.
An Expander to provide work to the drive shaft of the vehicle.
An economizer or a secondary heat exchanger, which preheats
the liquid N2 coming out from the pressurized tank taking
heat from the exhaust.
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11. Principle of Operation:
LN2 at –320 °F (-196 °C) is pressurized and then vaporized in
a heat exchanger by ambient temperature of the surrounding
air.
This heat exchanger is like the radiator of a car but instead of
using air to cool water, it uses air to heat and boil liquid
nitrogen.
Liquid N2 passing through the primary heat exchanger
quickly reaches its boiling point.
The N2 expands to a gas with a pressure of 150 psi.
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13. •The pressurised N2 gas drives the motor.
•The only exhaust is nitrogen, which is major
constituent of our atmosphere.
•Energy+N2(l)-->N2(g)
hence, there is no pollution produced by running
this car.
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15. ADVANTAGES OVER ELECTRIC CARS:
Much like electrical vehicles, liquid nitrogen vehicles
would ultimately be powered through the electrical grid.
Which makes it easier to focus on reducing pollution from
one source, as opposed to the millions of vehicles on the
road.
Transportation of the fuel would not be required due to
drawing power off the electrical grid. This presents
significant cost benefits. Pollution created during fuel
transportation would be eliminated.
Lower maintenance costs
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16. Conti……
Liquid nitrogen tanks can be disposed of or
recycled with less pollution than batteries.
Liquid nitrogen vehicles are unconstrained by the
degradation problems associated with current
battery systems.
The tank may be able to be refilled more often and
in less time than batteries can be recharged, with
re-fueling rates comparable to liquid fuels.
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17. DRAWBACKS:
The N2 passing through the tubes of the heat exchanger is so cold that
the moisture in the surrounding air would condense on the outside of
the tubes, obstructing the air flow.
Then there's the safety issue. Should a nitrogen car be kept in a poorly
ventilated space and, if the Nitrogen leaks off, it could prove fatal.
Turning N2 gas into a liquid requires a lot of energy. So while cryogenic
cars have zero emissions, they rely on energy produced at emission
generating power plants.
The principal disadvantage is the inefficient use of primary energy.
Energy is used to liquefy nitrogen, which in turn provides the energy to
run the motor. Any conversion of energy results losses. For liquid
nitrogen cars, electrical energy is lost during the liquefaction process of
nitrogen.
Liquid nitrogen is not yet available in public refueling stations.
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18. Efficiency:
The LN2 car can travel 15 miles on a full (48
gallon) tank of liquid nitrogen going 20 MPH.
Its maximum speed is over 35 MPH.
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19. Why not commercialized?
Even though the technology is 10 to 12 years old,
still it has not come to the market for two reasons.
Safety issues have not been sorted out as yet.
Lack of funds for research.
Technology has certain limitations such speed,
leakage hazard, generating liquid nitrogen etc.
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20. Conclusion:
In a real sense, the more such vehicles are used, the
cleaner the air will become.
In addition to the environmental impact of these
vehicles, refueling using current technology can
take only a few minutes, which is very similar to
current gas refueling times.
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21. References:
Research paper on “Liquid Nitrogen as a Non-
Polluting Vehicle Fuel” by Mitty c. Plummer, Carlos
A. Ordonez and Richard F. Reidy, University of North
Texas.
The University of Washington’s Liquid Nitrogen
Propelled Automobile
Popular Science, 1998.
Wikipedia
Nhts.com(National Highway Traffic Security)
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