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MDI TECHNOLOGY

 

Compressed Air Engines
with Thermodynamic Cycle

MDI Compressed Air Engine		 Air Engine V 42

  • Based on the new MDI thermodynamic cycle.

  • External heat source combined with compressed air as the energy carrier and storage medium.

  • Air storage pressure 300 bar, engine operating pressure 30 bar.*

  • Efficient, clean and clean external combustion, multi-fuel capable, enables
    competitive use of biomass fuels and direct thermal solar.

  • Surplus power used to recharge the compressed air storage.

  • Overall energy efficiency more than twice that of internal combustion engines and
    capable of reaching over 70%.

  • Enables impressive cost reductions for manufacture, operation and maintenance of low cost, zero emission vehicles and environmentally sound distributed power generation.

This compressed air engine reached international recognition in February 2007 when Tata Motors Ltd of India announced it had concluded an agreement with MDI to apply the MDI technology to its Indian markets, corroborating that the MDI technology has the potential to open up the way to the rapid and highly competitive commercialisation of alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels for electrical power and transport.

The MDI Engines are protected by many patents registered worldwide. They consist of an active chamber and are made up of modules of two opposing cylinders. These modules can be coupled to make groups of 4 or 6 cylinders for a wide range of uses from 4 to 75 hp in the following applications:

  • MDI CityCATs and MiniCATs Clean Cars

  • The MDI MultiCATs Urban Transport System

  • Electricity Power Generators and Emergency Generators

  • Tow Tractors, Pallet Trucks and Hoists

  • Agricultural Tractors

  • Outboard Motors

  • Light Aircraft Engines and APU units

Based on this new Technology, MDI is now in the process of developing a “thermodynamic concept” that will enhance these results even further, over the next ten years, thus initiating a genuine energy revolution.

 

*Tyre pumps 1 to 3 bar, Scuba tanks 150 to 200 bar, Air Car tanks 300 bar - hence the need for special air compressors


MDI Factory in Carros, Nice, France where all research & Development is taking place

MDI Compressed Air Engine, Multifuel External Burner Tests

MDI Factory, Nice France, January 2008

Test Engine Electronic Monitoring of Tests

Louis Arnoux & Guy Negre
Watch Videos and read the explanation on http://www.itmdi-energy.com/news/
Saturday January 12, 2008 By Pierre Thebault, CARROS, France --

In an interview with Guy Nègre he explains -
A car that runs on air?

What seemed like a pipe dream may soon become reality, as Frenchman Guy Nègre hopes versions of his compressed air car will be produced in India this year by Tata Motors.

It follows a 15-year quest for backers for his invention.

Nègre believes the time is right for his design with oil prices at record highs and pressure on carmakers to improve the fuel efficiency of their vehicles.

"It is clear that with oil at US$100 ($130) a barrel this will force people to


Guy Nègre's compressed air engine has the backing of India's Tata Motors. Photo / Reuters
change their use of fuel and pollute less," Nègre said at his firm Motor Development International (MDI), near Nice in the south of France.

"My car is zero pollution in town and almost no pollution on the highways," he added, saying the vehicle could travel 100km at a cost of €1 ($1.88) in fuel.

The former Formula One motor racing engineer's invention depends on pressurised air to move the pistons, which in turn help to compress the air again in a reservoir.

The engine also has an electric motor, which needs to be periodically recharged, to top up the air pressure.

The bottles of compressed air - similar to those used by divers - can be filled up at service stations in several minutes.

The latest versions of the cars - MDI made an entire series of prototypes of engines and vehicles - also include a fuel engine option to extend the car's range when not in reach of a special power plug or service station.

Tata, India's largest carmaker with revenue of US$7.2 billion in its last financial year, concluded a deal last year investing €20 million.

Pre-production in India is set for this year, Nègre said.

The vehicle, protected by some 50 patents, will cost €3500 to €4000. Using composite materials, it will weigh no more than 330kg and its maximum speed is 241km/h.

"The lighter the vehicle, the less it consumes and the less it pollutes and the cheaper it is. It's simple," Nègre said.

 

He aimed to set up mini factories in regions where the car is used.

"No transport, no parts suppliers. Everything will be made at the place of sale in production units that can make one car per half hour," said Nègre.

"That is more profitable, more ecological than the big factories of the large carmakers."

MDI Air Car will hit the roads of India and Australia first, France will have to wait until 2009


Guy Nègre & his wife at launch of X-Prize in New York

$10 Million Progressive Automotive X PRIZE - the Race to Develop Ultra Fuel-Efficient Cars that will travel 100 miles on 1 gallon of fuel

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.

MDI and ZPM will enter two vehicles in the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition: the US production 6-seat, 4-door family-size model will compete in the Mainstream Class; and the 2-door, 3-seat economy/utility model on display at NYIAS will compete in the Alternative Class.

It's a whole new way of thinking about energy!
 by Sudden Disruption - Saturday, January 19, 2008

Amazing New Air Car - It's NOT About the Air!

And it's not even about the car!

Every now and then an idea comes along that will change the world - and gets mostly ignored. Some of you have heard me talking about this new air powered car from MDI (Moteur Development International) in France which is now to be manufactured by Tata Motors of India.

MDI did a press release a few weeks back and it was handled like, well, another press release. The automotive press paraphrased a few paragraphs, but I wonder if they actually THOUGHT ABOUT what they wrote?

And when Tata Motors introduced their more conventional yet inexpensive Nano at the Detroit Auto Show last week, it got amazing coverage, but not ONE mention of this new air car to be manufactured by the very SAME company!

The highly touted Tata Nano is a cute little bug that will get more than 50 MPG - cool. But the MDI OneCat which is about the same size will go more than 20 TIMES farther on the same gallon of fuel! Did no one actually READ the spec sheet on the OneCAT?

To be fair, the objective of the Nano is low price, not mileage. And the OneCat is much lighter, which helps, but surprisingly, that's not the key to it's mileage advantage. Here's how they do it...

As almost everyone knows, the standard internal combustion engine is only about 30% efficient under the very best of conditions. This means 70% of the energy in a gallon of gasoline leaves the car as wasted heat.

The only heat that produces power is that narrow band of highest temperature that causes rapid expansion of air when the spark plug fires. Once the piston reaches the bottom of it's cycle, all the lower temperature energy from that cycle is wasted and must be pumped out the exhaust pipe.

If you add MORE heat at the point of ignition (higher octane), you get more power. But Newton and his second law of thermodynamics limits us from using any of the heat BELOW the temperature of ignition. THAT is the primary reason for the inefficiency of the internal combustion engine. But what if we COULD use ALL of that heat?

CAT - Compressed Air Technology

Guy Nègre of Formula 1 fame and his company, Moteur Development International have spent the last 14 years developing a new type of engine for automobiles.

Compressed Air Technology has been described as using air as fuel, but that's not quite right. The air works more like a battery. It actually uses a carbon-fiber air tank with up to 300 times normal atmospheric pressure driving a piston to give the car a range of 100 Km. You can think of this system as a standard compressor motor and air tank - except it's running backwards. The air tank drives the compressor, instead of the other way around.

So far, no big deal. Any advantage is a matter of strength, weight and volume per unit of energy stored in the "battery" - the carbon-fiber tanks helps some. But if a short range compressed air car is all they had, it wouldn't be very impressive. The next detail is the key. When you think about it, you'll discover it's the biggest advancement in thermal energy extraction since the invention of the Otto-cycle in 1860! It effectively uses "wasted heat".

Bi-Energy Breakthrough

Guy Nègre’s brilliant innovation is to add a small fuel burner between the air tank and the motor. The heat from this burner extends the range for the compressed air tank by increasing the pressure of the air even more on it's way to the motor. Properly insulated, this burner could approach 100% conversion efficiency of the burned fuel. Here's the reason...

Small amounts of heat are not enough to turn over a reciprocating motor. But when you add a compressed air tank, it provides a pressure bias great enough to drive the motor on it's own. Now add the burner. Per the gas laws, the pressure increase is proportional to the heat added - it doesn't require a critical temperature of ignition! You could run it tepid or boiling - ANY heat adds power. It's just a matter of how much.

If you double the burn rate, you'll double the added expansion. Since there's no point of ignition, there's no critical temperature before this energy is extracted. ANY heat added by a burner (or other source) will simply add proportional expansion and energy extraction. Theoretically, most of the energy from a gallon of gasoline (or stack of firewood) could be used to drive the motor.

Check the spec sheet above. I assume these are actual measurements. The OneCAT will go 100 Km on air alone, but another 700 Km on only 1.5 liters of fuel! That works out to almost 1,100 MPG!

More Than JUST an Amazing New Car

MDI has a good chance of creating an amazingly efficient little car, and that's cool. But what's REALLY exciting are all the other potential industrial applications.

Considering generation and line losses when producing electricity, it may even now be more efficient to run Bi-Energy motors at the site of the application instead of buying electricity. Or we could boost power from solar heating. Or hot sewer water for that matter! ANY source of heat could be used. It's just a matter of degree and effectiveness. Any of a thousand sources of wasted heat can now be used.

OK. You'll still need electricity to provide the compressed air bias, but the rest of the energy would be more efficiently extracted - the hotter, the better. What about recycling the heat from air conditioners to drive their OWN motors? I'm not talking about perpetual motion here. There's no free ride. It's just that the heat is no longer has to be totally wasted. This approach provides an excellent possibility of dramatically increased efficiency in anything that needs a rotating motor and has wasted heat available. (Note - MDI was WAY ahead of me - I just found this link on their site... Further Applications - WOW!)

These ideas are worth more than just a press release. We need a new college of engineering at every university!

It's a whole new way of thinking about energy!
Reproduced with kind permission from
 http://suddendisruption.blogspot.com/2008/01/amazing-new-air-car-moving-at-heat-of.html 

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