Air-Electric Drive System

[brian eiland]

I thought I would make reference to this forum dicussion occurring at the YachtForum site for those who might find the subject of interest and care to contribute to it.
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/technical-discussion/5884-air-electric-drive-system.html


TRY writes:
Hi all,
This reply is a bit aside from the main "diesel-electric" discussions, but it fits well within the alternative-drive philosophy.

With a small team of thermo-dynamic engineers we're currently working on an "air-only" or "air-electric" drive solution.

In the "air-only" solution - which we will first apply to catamarans, because they're much less power-hungry - 2 compressed-air engines will drive the props via shafts. The engines run since more than 5 years in a car, a genset, a mini-tractor, etc. We plan to install 2 x 25kw engines in a 40-45 ft cat by next summer (in Europe).

In the "air-electric" solution the main drive will come from electric motors, with electricity being supplied by one (or more) compressed-air gensets. This solution will apply to larger vessels, first stage will be a 65 ft cat.

In both configurations range will be increased by heating the compressed air between tank and engine with an external heater-burner, using any kind of fuel, at a rate of 2-3 liters / 24 hours.