I absolutely love the compressed air series. the way the way you get to the optimal result and don't half ass it is remarkable and respectable. we all can thank you for your videos.
@@JellyFishMachineyes, well put. exactly what I had in mind. along with a few others he goes into great detail, explaining it perfectly. not everyone can do that and I bet he is proud
I absolutely loathe it. You cannot power anything with this. It is completely impractical. Compressed air systems are very heavy and very inefficient. He's practically cheating by using a pop bottle. Even a small RC race car would need a MUCH, MUCH heavier bottle to carry significantly more air. Air compressors are quite inefficient as are most air tools. This is why they have been almost universally swapped out in auto mechanics, for example. There are still a lot in industrial use though. There are lots of good reasons they are. But energy inefficiency isn't one of them.
@@WillowEpp Fun is a good reason to do anything. I don't oppose having fun. Why the heck else would anyone build an RC car? It might be fun, but it isn't practical.
are you currently working on a new video? i love these and i would love to see more :) [maybe a quick spoiler whats going to be the next one all about?]
tbf there isnt much difference, especially if you are so dedicated to get the best result out of it. Yeah, ONE difference is there, he gets a lower wage BUT more satisfaction wich cant be bought with money.
Yeah, I love it. I mean, the final build is like a top fuel dragster with those fat tires on the back but the whole video just made me think of F1 for some reason. When the turbine spins up, it even sort of sounds like an F1 car. So, so very cool.
Where air isn't being blown through the turbine, the turbine is acting as a fan which is wasting energy. If you block 90% or so of the turbine where there's no compressed air blowing through it, it won't waste as much energy. It's the same as if you block a hoover, it uses less power so it spins up faster.
It also should be a one-way gear mesh that as the turbine slows it decouples from the flywheel, which means that its slowdown does not affect the power. Only energy in, and no added friction after the air pressure is too low.
Front wheels should also be tiny, and the bottle can be heatshrunk or a 2l vessel could be formed to be more aerodynamic. The bottle shape is not good and the front wheels are not helping with the rotational mass. The wheels should therefore be driven via a centrally mounted hub and with two sockets in order to reduce torque steer. To further reduce issues with the turbine, the fins should only be shaped like the water ones to redirect the air 180° and only on the rim say 1/2cm or less, so a cup or two cups per 'fin' a la water turbine blades and smaller. An additional ring made of metal could therefore be attached to the flywheel to balance it and add additional mass. But it definitely needs a central vertical position with a properly straight axle for both itself and the rear wheels to work. This wobbly jank is fine for a first concept but at high rpms there's not much room for error
I suggest using graphite powder as a lubricant for plastic parts. It's dry but can still function pretty well. Also, bearings, bearings, bearings. Lube bearings up with really thin oil when they aren't going to generate lots of heat, if any at all, and thicker oil for parts that generate lots of heat. May have to experiment with different types of oil to find the right ones for each part.
The dry ice around here comes in pellet form that fit right inside soda bottles. I would throw some dry ice in that bottle and a little water and run that car for a while. I did something similar with an air powered toy car back in the 80's.
Just needs a pressure relief valve. I've been near 2L plastic bottles with dry ice in and when they let go, it's like a cannon going off and you can hear the bang rolling across the hills like thunder. Wouldn't want to be right next to it for sure.
You could drill out the end of a mini propane tank a 1 pounder and replace the normal valve head with a regulator that screwed on and not need to worry about it blowing up from dry ice. Soda bottle can hit 100psi+ with out exploding and 1 pound propane tank can get close to if not above 2k psi. Also water is not needed for dry ice to do it's thing it will sublimate just fine with out it
@@nanaki-seto You do not need to drill a 1 lbs propane tank. Just buy the required fitting. They are super simple designs. Pretty sure propane tanks are tested at 600 psi from the factory. Keep in mind that propane when 100F produces 175 or so psi. So they are very strong tanks. Weigh next to nothing and can hold so much air.
These sliding blade turbine design can be found as vacuum pump for the locks in a Audi b5 a4 from the 90.They are made with compressed graphite which reduces the friction. If you can get your hands on one from a scrapyard you may have a turbine that can work pretty efficiently with the limited amount of pressured air
Love you man. I remember watching your first ebike build. You're one of the main reasons I decided to switch from Psychology to Mechanical Engineering. I graduate in two quarterrs.
That motor you mention at about 4:20, it's a nice one, but needs oil added to overcome the shortcomings you also mention as well as needing a constantly generated supply of air to keep working without dropping off in performance. I think you explained well how different kinds of air turbines are handy. Kudos.
Compressed air has to be one of the most inefficient methods of energy storage… That’s what makes all of your projects with it all that more impressive!
Yes, it's true. Pneumatic Cylinders are widely used in the industry. They have some (small) ambitions to replace them with electric actuators. But electric actuators are many times more expensive in the purchase. And Pneumatic is simple and robust in operating and maintaining. That's why they stick with pneumatic. A big part of the losses occur at the compressor in the form of excessive heat within the compressed air. As it cools down it looses energy. Some manufacturers store the excessive heat in paraffin, which heats up the air as it expands, giving some of the energy back to the working gas. So, there is potential ... Maybe Tom find's some clever ways to improve the overall efficiency ;-)
@@notconnected3815 The absolute main reason that pneumatic cylinders are still widely used today in industry is because almost EVERY process in the industrial and most processes in commercial product production require compressed air for one thing or another. Weather its a cooling nozzle, a lubrication atomizer, or a heat resistant switch(only to name a very small pool of options where compressed air is used in place of eclectic). In example of heat where I work(Cement Factory) we need to measure tire slip on our Kiln, the kiln shell is at 300-400°C. So we use a pneumatic switch to activate the electric limit switch with a small copper bellows to measure the difference in speed between the kiln shell and tires. The air getting activated each rotation cools the seals in the pneumatic trigger and bellows activates the NO Switch(My Design). We used to replace whisker switches weekly if not more often in dangerous positions for the electricians, changed the design and there ya go. Same for our Klinker Cooler Redux Valves, exposed to temperatures of above 100°C. Pneumatic cylinders will last 5-12 years and an electric actuator will last approximately 5-7 months in those operating conditions.
Omg no idea what it is that I love about pneumatic motors, but it's clearly something. I honestly don't care about the part when you use a motor to build something, but I can watch you spinning them up, plotting and optimizing endlessly. I l'd love to see more turbine designes and especially multi-staged ones.
For pressing bearings: ALWAYS apply the force to the parts that is friction fitted. So if you pressing it on a axle apply the pressing pressure to the inner race and as you might guess if you're pressing the bearing into a bearing holder, apply the pressing pressure to the outer race. Unless you have a bearing designed (trust bearing, conical bearing) for it, they can't take much sideways forces. And it's easy enough to turn/3d print a tool for that.
I've done similar experiments w an air nozzle blowing against blades. I discovered that changing the angle of the nozzle to the blades based on the wheel/blades RPM has benefits. One angle for high torque/ low rpm, then changing the angle as it spins to more of a tangent for higher rpm. Also, I've found that the plastic soda bottles can hold up to 150psi, then regulate down to the usable psi.
My aerospace brain was screaming "pelton wheel" throughout this entire video, essentially the axial turbines you are designing would require a much larger (and more even) air stream to work efficiently whereas a pelton wheel is much better suited for a nozzle setup like the one you are using. Really cool to see you discovering and trying things!
Great video, and very neat concept. This reminds me of the "Turbonique" drag-axles that were a thing in the american drag-racing scene back in the 60s. They were essencially a turbine wheel, driven by a hypergolic fuel, integrated into the rear axle of the car, instead of having a traditional powertrain to drive the rear wheels. Maybe something similar is possible on an RC scale, similar to pyrotechnic starters on early jet engines with a solid rocket motor.
You mentioned having problems with air leaks and friction in the vane motor. In air tools, the oil they use both reduces friction and acts as a seal between the vanes and casing. It might be worth revisiting that design, but adding some oil and seeing if that makes a difference.
Those 'vane' type motors are rather inefficient. They DO work but only because they can rely on an almost limitless supply of compressed gas (which this scenario simply does not have)
one suggestion is to have a a smaller turbine and have 3-4 smaller nozzles, cus right now only one spot on the turbine is producing power, you could half the diameter by doubling the nozzles, won't be a 1-1 unless it's more efficient which it might be
If the nozzles were staged it could dramatically increase efficiency. Have three nozzles. Use one very small nozzle as the low throttle. Don't open the second until the first is fully opened, then start opening the second, and so on. Partially opened valves are very inefficient. Having one valve fully opened with two others shut is a much better way to do 1/3 throttle vs 1 valve 1/3 open.
An axial turbine with multiple nozzles and stages would be the way to go; which looks like it's on the drawing board. See also my comment about incorporating the throttling valve into the nozzle design.
This video gets a smile on my face, like most of your videos 😁. I am an engineer and I guess I should understand all this easily, but my mind isn’t nearly as practical as yours. So nice to see all your ideas come to life
I'd love to see a small dragster competition where the only energy storage for the movement is a pressurised plastic bottle. Bladed turbines, bladeless turbines, piston motors. Driven by wheels, propellers and jet nozzles and hovercraft skirts.
@@cloudpandarism2627 imagine strapping like 4 bottles onto the car, spinning up a flywheel then the car drops all the bottles to lose excess weight and just smokes it
You don't want to exhaust your turbine near the center. You want the opposite, intake near center and exhaust on the outside edge. Then centrifugal force will help speed the air out, allowing you to maximize the power output. No idea if this is better than the other designs, I just know you did that 4 watt turbine backwards, making it work against centrifugal force as it spins up. It may be worth a try.
That is less efficient. Look at how the turbines on turbochargers (and centrifugal jet engines) are designed. The air must be drawn into the middle only when its density (and hence pressure) is diminished to provide proper back pressure. If we were trying to draw air through the turbine (like on the input side of a turbo) your assertion would be correct. Remember that we are trying to get the air to do as much work as possible on the turbine, so trapping it with centrifugal force ensures a bigger pressure difference between input and output. The centrifugal force is effectively acting like the seal stopping the input air from rushing straight out the exit.
Fantastic Engineering Tom! (love the Inertial dynamometer). My old rocket club (Paisley Rocketeers) took to these PET pop-bottles with gusto, as they made a fine water rocket (which we called 'Aquajets'). Some bottles would burst at 150 psi, but some went bang at only 70 psi. We decided that the safest course of action was to remotely pressurise and launch 'em: above 60 psi, don't be nearby!
I think it would be worth it to make a 2 stages turbine ! You could extract much more energy, but keep in mind thattp be optimal rhe second stage should probably have a different pitch/volume to make use of the lower pressure aif coming in
Waiting patiently as Tom gets ever closer to building a rocket engine turbopump :) In all seriousness, always stunned by your clever mechanical design. Super inspiring.
was going through the compressed air engine and now I think I have an idea for improving the efficiency of the engine even further If you use a reed switch and a magnet in the piston and to release pressure in the piston at just the right time the engine Can run at even lower pressures than before and for much longer which can increase the efficiency several folds. By the way I am a student and I love your projects. Thank you for inspiring me.
Looks like a nice impulse turbine. One way to get more power is to use a supersonic nozzle (converging diverging). You can also add more nozzles. Love your videos, so cool!
I love your channel and your spirit for attempting the untried. Have you ever considered a bungee cord powered bicycle? Sort of the same principle of a trebuchet but there's a hand or foot activated mechanism that pulls the bungee cord to the taught position at the end of a long horizontal railing where it's released to push the rear or front wheel of a bicycle forward. Essentially, you keep pulling the cord and releasing until you build up and maintain whatever speed you're trying to achieve. The bottom of the railing would make friction contact with the top of the tire going forward but would lift up when resetting into position for the next cycle. The railing would shoot forward like a sling shot each time. You could make the railing as long as you want as it would be located behind you on the bike. You'd just have to devise a mechanical way of pulling the bungee cord all the way into the start position from the seat. Perhaps utilising pulleys and big gears? I'd try it myself but I don't have a workshop or have your experience with devising mechanical gadgets. Do you think it could work or am I missing something?
2:04 measuring rpm with such a sensor is no problem, as long as you measure the time between the ticks, and not the ticks in a fixed time period. This gives very accurate results, and lets you measure extremely high rpm, more than you could ever need.
8:00 I think the reason the others performed better, is because the "curve" of the regular turbine's paths actually guide the air to exit in the opposite direction (so the force the air exits with, is additionally imparted to the turbine as a reactive force by Newtons laws. In addition to the energy you would get from completely stalling the air by absorbing 100% of the kinetic energy. So in total the theoretical maximum efficiency instead becomes 200% - and more if you can speed the air up! Minus of course any energy that was in the same axis as the spin-axis, since that direction was not touched), while the bad turbine only guides it to exit in a perpendicular direction (it absorbs all kinetic force in the axis perpendicular to spin-axis, but no more). It is much like how a gravity-powered generator at 100% efficiency has the weight not fall at all, while at 200% the weight start flying up into space! ;)
Also don't forget some and deffinatly the tesla TURBINE can be altered by not only using compressed air but like nitrogen gas with larger molecules to water then d3 water or deuterium water also called to a world's collection of fluids oils emulsifiers phewwwwww don't wanna straight go nitro drag car or all tesla right out the gate smh we'd end up needing brakes on the damn thing if you know of their rpm imploding things same direction of centrifugal force expansion lol I've seen it argued nothing explodes it fails when rpm can't be maintained so much in fact only used tesla turbines fit in one hand performing off a pee stream what today's best outside a pallet when combined with 6 inch inlet flow pipe even then 15 mini tesla TURBINEs or so would far surpass today's most efficent oh and f a brake just use a fraction of input enertia by restriction calves n fk the brake n the heat the cost the wearing of brake parts used 24/7 with alot of applied force l.fao cha ching
On a gasturbine you have a static ring with blades that get the air to „spinn“ and push the blades on the moving wheel. The blades on the moving wheel „straighten“ the airflow. If you have a multistage turbine the next static ring will to the same until there is no pressuredifference left. So maybe instead of blowing at the moving ring with a nozzle using a distibuting chamber and a static ring might help.
Seems like it could use the flywheel and a clutch to keep up the built up torque between applications of air power. The added weight might make that counterproductive though.
I think you should try a hot wire resistor in the air stream as it is going into the air motor. You're carrying the battery anyway, so you might as well use it to put some heat into it.
Maybe put a grader valve on it to inflate easily with a compact battery bike tyre inflater or perhaps put some dry ice pellets in the bottle so they create pressure as they melt
stop for a second and appreciate how like 10 years ago, getting a part made like those turbines with the internal c channels and what not, would have been next to impossible for the average person. but because of 3D printing we can just... make stuff and try ideas pretty consistantly.
Well done Tom. Top work. I tried this for power generation with relative success but I'm interested in the impeller type turbines. Opposite to the one you made that didn't work, where the centrifugal force aids in the exhaust gas. Cheers J
You are currently using an axial flow compressor style, which works great for acceleration of large amounts off air, hence why jet turbines use them, instead I would recommend looking into centrifugal flow compressors these are what are used in anything from large generators to helicopters and turbo prop aircraft, as they are much better for high torque applications. Love the project and can’t wait to see where you will go with it!
7:22 If there is a housing built partially from the point where air pushes the turbine, I think it can make some power as the air is still in contact with turbine....
Dude this is cool. Also, you should look into a little 12V air pump, that you can plug into your vehicle. That way you don't have to do all that pumping!
this could be so good by using a flywheel first. small energy to slowly build up speed and then use a clutch to access that insane power plus the turbine together as boost
A point on the tyres - the amount of grip is relative to the amount of load forcing those tyres into the ground. You got a tiny bit of slip on the launch so it might be worth either adjusting the weight bias or adding a bit of ballast over the rear axle to maximise the amount of force you can generate
7:48 With this one the air would try to fly out again outwards but it's forced inwards, what if you blow the air in from the smaller input and let it blow out the larger cicle.
👍Your detailed coverage of the technology and mechanics behind these incredible machines really brings the thrill to life. Amazing video for anyone fascinated by extreme speed and engineering!
Great work as always - may be worth dialling in optimal tyre width so you can steer /put power down with minimal rolling resistance. The more weight you can have over the rear wheels the thinner they can be before they slip. There's also a gear affect from the tyre profile so take that into account when dialling in your gear ratios. The other thing that might save you some time, the price of battery powered air compressors has come down a lot. Might be worth investing in one to speed up the prototyping:)
You should get some old worn out vacuum gyroscopic aircraft instruments. The gyros are spun up using very similar turbines. Attitude indicators, DGs, and Turn Coordinators/Turn and Bank should have gyros in them - just make sure they’re “vacuum driven.” Also you should probably be using jewel bearings for the turbines.
Something interesting that could be done to improve the efficiency of this design would be to add a hybrid system, maybe with a super capacitor attached, that allows it to start more easily since the turbine seems to be losing lots of air trying to get the car going. It could then recoup some of the energy when breaking. Great video! :)
Print the nozzle with a narrow slot and as wide as the turbine blades. Also the end of the nozzle should be angled to be parallel to the face of the turbine, and sit as close as possible to minimize air blowing out the sides VS going though the blades.
There is phenomenon when you pump the trash bag with air with single breathe when you do it form distance but when directly blowing inside you need to put all the air there. Make the end of the nozzle in way that as air goes trough it would suck the air around and drag it along it to have more air mode mass to push the turbine.
Nice design work. But looking at the acceleration, one of your largest losses would look to be losses as the air blows against the stationary turbine and just deflects off as the rotational inertia prevents it from being efficiently used. I'd look into methods of shrouding the input air to direct it into the turbine with less losses. This is probably less important at higher rotational speeds, but might help low-speed function with less air expenditure.
The vane turbine would need small springs to keep the chambers sealed at low rpms and stopping air forcing past the vanes. More friction but more efficiency. I've seen grout mixer pumps also use rods to keep opposing vanes in place sliding back and forth as they run around the circumference
"Guess the car by the sound" *plays the sounds at the **9:47** test* "Yo sick Hellcat supercharger whine, But it's easy... Also why is it so weird?" "ITS A PRESSURE POWERED TURBINE"
Nice work. Air engines/turbines are very capable. There was a man that developed air engines for vehicles decades ago and it worked quite well. There are some videos on that. His design used multiple carbon fiber air tanks designed to split open in case of failure since they were thousands of PSI and could be extremely dangerous. He designed a van that would get 300km per air fill.
Meester Tom sir guy man, if you want to reduce wheel mass, there is the sponge/foam tyre option. You can make your own light as comfortable wheels and stretch on a foam ring of grippiness. Can texture the circumference of the wheel to reduce any material slippage.
Maybe a flywheel Design with a clutch could achieve more torque at the beginning, then while the flywheel is still spinning (And connected to the wheels), the throttle is fully opened again... Basically a weird way of Launch control
awesome, i became interested in clutches for such things , and I've noticed most gas scooters are 2 speed which made me suspect that they use two different centrifugal clutches probably because probably the neutral to gear one and then there's probably another centrifugal clutch on the pulley sprocket so it shifts [to gear 2] , such a combo could work for windmills or as a safety to disconnect in high wind ....there's cable clutches too , it's all interesting because for example, if you have a centrifugal clutch at high speed , you could disengage the cable clutch and get power BUT the rpm would then drop below the point to engage the centrifugal clutch (from "work load") and it could even brake and then there's no spin , or it would pause until proper rpm is hit again , ...the startup capacitor on air-conditioners for example could be replaced by mechanical clutch for example maybe ...or you could make an auto hammer as well type deal or hit maximum speed to your flywheel before the dragster starts so it's full power off the line (?) ...hope you're doing great sir i just was searching my subscriptions and caught this newer vid thankyou God bless... EDIT: another cool thing about cable clutch is it can be held levered backwards basically then you could switch drive shafts too....urGh we are interested in the same stuff but i can't share all i know lol EDIT2: another if you used a ten speed bicycle type shifter on the windmill all it needs is to push the gear lever by electric motor for example and you could couple a cheap rpm gauge to contoller for gear shift and get a simple transmission , one of my cars the honda has solenoids to contol hydraulic flow to the gears to shift, they say that transmission is basically a stick shift type but uses solenoids instead of manual lever for example ....
Perhaps two nozzles and turbines in parallel. One with large surface area and one with small. The large generates higher thrust but low speed for the initial phase of acceleration. At a certain speed they switch so you get higher top speed with lower consumption.
That vane motor is just like the pump in a transmission. The thing you are missing is rings on the vanes to keep them in contact with the wall. You cannot reply on centrifugal force to keep them sealed against the walls. If you need me to send you a link to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, just let me know.
I dont how acurate your assumption is that the gradient of rpm over time describes the torque beeing produced at diffrent rpms. The lower gradient at hogher rpms could also be due to counteracting torques caused by bearing friction losses in the transmission and mainly air friction at the flywheel. I dont know how big these are in correlation to the turbine torque but they definitly controbute to the gradient beeing lower at high rpms.
I deperately want to learn OnShape, but I am 62 and not so clever as I used to be. I notice the moisture condensing as soon as you run the turbine. Does that effect your power? Do any of your channel members remember "Junkyard Wars"? Boy did I love that show! I should retire right now and come out to Open Source. Looks like a hoot.
you should add an "air chest" where you have a pressure tight chamber that goes to multiple nozzles like steam chest on steam turbines might help ensure all of the pressure is getting used by the blades and not lost before the energy of the air is wasted.
Nice work! Your turbine might benefit from a Laval nozzle, both in the nozzle and on the wheel. These types of nozzles are used in steam turbines. I might also do experiments with a smaller turbine wheel and higher rpm. A Tesla turbine would also be interesting to try. It's very easy to manufacture because it has no blades.
Something like 20 years ago in EU somewhere there was a guy or company that made tiny compressed air driven cars. If I recall they got something like 20 miles of range or something like that. It could also be filled using standard air compressor or something like that.
Hi Tom a very interesting topic . I like the Tesla turbine due to its very low resistance because it is a molecular pressure of the air that drives it and the speed if not controlled will make it self destruct. The disks within the older 5.5 inch PC hard drives make ideal platters because of the very tight manufacturing tolerances. The central vents can be machined on a small CNC router. If I remember correctly there are some very good videos showing these turbines on You tube. It would be well worth checking it out. Regards MoK
Maybe add a turbine like this, to the shaft of the air engine exhaust to your air plane engine as a compounding turbo. Should make the engine more affixation. You have a great channel!
Hey Tom, very cool. I took my kids to their first drag strip yesterday ironically and they went wild when the first Alcohol cars both ran on the 1/4 mile at 287mph @ 5.2 seconds. They literally shake your bones.
@7:50 having the nozzle on the outer diameter of the turbine with the exhaust in the middle means that escaping air would have to fight centrifugal forces before escaping. i suggest running it backwards it might still work XD
I absolutely love the compressed air series. the way the way you get to the optimal result and don't half ass it is remarkable and respectable. we all can thank you for your videos.
This! He goes all the way to get a proper result, rather than doing the bare minimum and celebrating it.
@@JellyFishMachineyes, well put. exactly what I had in mind. along with a few others he goes into great detail, explaining it perfectly. not everyone can do that and I bet he is proud
I absolutely loathe it. You cannot power anything with this. It is completely impractical. Compressed air systems are very heavy and very inefficient. He's practically cheating by using a pop bottle. Even a small RC race car would need a MUCH, MUCH heavier bottle to carry significantly more air. Air compressors are quite inefficient as are most air tools. This is why they have been almost universally swapped out in auto mechanics, for example. There are still a lot in industrial use though. There are lots of good reasons they are. But energy inefficiency isn't one of them.
@@tarstarkusz It's like you've never had a hobby in your life.
@@WillowEpp Fun is a good reason to do anything. I don't oppose having fun. Why the heck else would anyone build an RC car?
It might be fun, but it isn't practical.
Really cool turbine exploration and execution. I'm honored to have made it into a Tom Stanton video!
are you currently working on a new video? i love these and i would love to see more :)
[maybe a quick spoiler whats going to be the next one all about?]
@@multiarray2320 more coming soon! No spoilers yet sorry :)
"Cool! is that electric?"
"No it's gas powered"
*pure oxygen*
Technically correct, the best KIND of correct!
Alright pal, you're goin downtown 👮👮
@@A.k.-47- actually only about 20% oxygen, assuming it just came from a bike pump
Outside of America calling something gas powered means an actual gas state of matter not a shortening of gasoline
Torque graphs, RPMs, power output calculations, and a pneumatic drill sound? I feel like I'm watching an F1 crew talk about their car.
tbf there isnt much difference, especially if you are so dedicated to get the best result out of it.
Yeah, ONE difference is there, he gets a lower wage BUT more satisfaction wich cant be bought with money.
Yeah, I love it. I mean, the final build is like a top fuel dragster with those fat tires on the back but the whole video just made me think of F1 for some reason. When the turbine spins up, it even sort of sounds like an F1 car. So, so very cool.
Agreed. I love all the math, a lot of youtubers take that out to keep viewers from getting confused and clicking off.
Where air isn't being blown through the turbine, the turbine is acting as a fan which is wasting energy. If you block 90% or so of the turbine where there's no compressed air blowing through it, it won't waste as much energy.
It's the same as if you block a hoover, it uses less power so it spins up faster.
That and some shrouding around the nozzle to ensure the air can’t escape/be redirected at the higher speeds.
Also the outer shell rotating is creating a ton of surface drag. Need to switch to a static duct.
It also should be a one-way gear mesh that as the turbine slows it decouples from the flywheel, which means that its slowdown does not affect the power. Only energy in, and no added friction after the air pressure is too low.
Front wheels should also be tiny, and the bottle can be heatshrunk or a 2l vessel could be formed to be more aerodynamic. The bottle shape is not good and the front wheels are not helping with the rotational mass. The wheels should therefore be driven via a centrally mounted hub and with two sockets in order to reduce torque steer. To further reduce issues with the turbine, the fins should only be shaped like the water ones to redirect the air 180° and only on the rim say 1/2cm or less, so a cup or two cups per 'fin' a la water turbine blades and smaller. An additional ring made of metal could therefore be attached to the flywheel to balance it and add additional mass. But it definitely needs a central vertical position with a properly straight axle for both itself and the rear wheels to work. This wobbly jank is fine for a first concept but at high rpms there's not much room for error
Air being sticky and having friction is such an odd thing lol.
I suggest using graphite powder as a lubricant for plastic parts. It's dry but can still function pretty well.
Also, bearings, bearings, bearings. Lube bearings up with really thin oil when they aren't going to generate lots of heat, if any at all, and thicker oil for parts that generate lots of heat. May have to experiment with different types of oil to find the right ones for each part.
The dry ice around here comes in pellet form that fit right inside soda bottles. I would throw some dry ice in that bottle and a little water and run that car for a while. I did something similar with an air powered toy car back in the 80's.
Oh that’s sick, new renewable energy source? Takes the co2 out of the air and puts it right back
Just needs a pressure relief valve. I've been near 2L plastic bottles with dry ice in and when they let go, it's like a cannon going off and you can hear the bang rolling across the hills like thunder. Wouldn't want to be right next to it for sure.
You could drill out the end of a mini propane tank a 1 pounder and replace the normal valve head with a regulator that screwed on and not need to worry about it blowing up from dry ice. Soda bottle can hit 100psi+ with out exploding and 1 pound propane tank can get close to if not above 2k psi. Also water is not needed for dry ice to do it's thing it will sublimate just fine with out it
@@nanaki-seto You do not need to drill a 1 lbs propane tank. Just buy the required fitting. They are super simple designs. Pretty sure propane tanks are tested at 600 psi from the factory. Keep in mind that propane when 100F produces 175 or so psi. So they are very strong tanks. Weigh next to nothing and can hold so much air.
@@Seasal87 At best, it's an energy storage medium. Refrigerating carbon dioxide into solid dry ice isn't free.
These sliding blade turbine design can be found as vacuum pump for the locks in a Audi b5 a4 from the 90.They are made with compressed graphite which reduces the friction. If you can get your hands on one from a scrapyard you may have a turbine that can work pretty efficiently with the limited amount of pressured air
Love you man. I remember watching your first ebike build. You're one of the main reasons I decided to switch from Psychology to Mechanical Engineering. I graduate in two quarterrs.
Congratulations ! That's quite a leap
Bravo, mate. Top stuff.
Good luck bro!
Some might say a half 🙃
0:22 Helicopter: “dies” Propeller: “where we goin?”
thank you for being seemingly the only person on youtube who actually discloses their onshape sponsorship.
That motor you mention at about 4:20, it's a nice one, but needs oil added to overcome the shortcomings you also mention as well as needing a constantly generated supply of air to keep working without dropping off in performance.
I think you explained well how different kinds of air turbines are handy. Kudos.
Compressed air has to be one of the most inefficient methods of energy storage…
That’s what makes all of your projects with it all that more impressive!
Yes, it's true. Pneumatic Cylinders are widely used in the industry. They have some (small) ambitions to replace them with electric actuators.
But electric actuators are many times more expensive in the purchase. And Pneumatic is simple and robust in operating and maintaining. That's why they stick with pneumatic.
A big part of the losses occur at the compressor in the form of excessive heat within the compressed air. As it cools down it looses energy. Some manufacturers store the excessive heat in paraffin, which heats up the air as it expands, giving some of the energy back to the working gas.
So, there is potential ...
Maybe Tom find's some clever ways to improve the overall efficiency ;-)
I mean I just like the concept of pneumatic air compressors and such.
@@notconnected3815 The absolute main reason that pneumatic cylinders are still widely used today in industry is because almost EVERY process in the industrial and most processes in commercial product production require compressed air for one thing or another. Weather its a cooling nozzle, a lubrication atomizer, or a heat resistant switch(only to name a very small pool of options where compressed air is used in place of eclectic).
In example of heat where I work(Cement Factory) we need to measure tire slip on our Kiln, the kiln shell is at 300-400°C. So we use a pneumatic switch to activate the electric limit switch with a small copper bellows to measure the difference in speed between the kiln shell and tires. The air getting activated each rotation cools the seals in the pneumatic trigger and bellows activates the NO Switch(My Design). We used to replace whisker switches weekly if not more often in dangerous positions for the electricians, changed the design and there ya go.
Same for our Klinker Cooler Redux Valves, exposed to temperatures of above 100°C. Pneumatic cylinders will last 5-12 years and an electric actuator will last approximately 5-7 months in those operating conditions.
Omg no idea what it is that I love about pneumatic motors, but it's clearly something. I honestly don't care about the part when you use a motor to build something, but I can watch you spinning them up, plotting and optimizing endlessly. I l'd love to see more turbine designes and especially multi-staged ones.
9:46 I laughed like a giddy child, you have to admit it sounds gorgeous. good work Tom!
For pressing bearings: ALWAYS apply the force to the parts that is friction fitted. So if you pressing it on a axle apply the pressing pressure to the inner race and as you might guess if you're pressing the bearing into a bearing holder, apply the pressing pressure to the outer race.
Unless you have a bearing designed (trust bearing, conical bearing) for it, they can't take much sideways forces. And it's easy enough to turn/3d print a tool for that.
I've done similar experiments w an air nozzle blowing against blades. I discovered that changing the angle of the nozzle to the blades based on the wheel/blades RPM has benefits. One angle for high torque/ low rpm, then changing the angle as it spins to more of a tangent for higher rpm. Also, I've found that the plastic soda bottles can hold up to 150psi, then regulate down to the usable psi.
That sounds easier than adding a gearbox
My aerospace brain was screaming "pelton wheel" throughout this entire video, essentially the axial turbines you are designing would require a much larger (and more even) air stream to work efficiently whereas a pelton wheel is much better suited for a nozzle setup like the one you are using. Really cool to see you discovering and trying things!
This should be made an official competition. Only fixed bottle volume and pressure. Who make a faster dragster wins.
Awesome dyno! Love how simplistic yet functional you managed to make it!🎉
Great video, and very neat concept. This reminds me of the "Turbonique" drag-axles that were a thing in the american drag-racing scene back in the 60s. They were essencially a turbine wheel, driven by a hypergolic fuel, integrated into the rear axle of the car, instead of having a traditional powertrain to drive the rear wheels. Maybe something similar is possible on an RC scale, similar to pyrotechnic starters on early jet engines with a solid rocket motor.
You mentioned having problems with air leaks and friction in the vane motor. In air tools, the oil they use both reduces friction and acts as a seal between the vanes and casing. It might be worth revisiting that design, but adding some oil and seeing if that makes a difference.
Those 'vane' type motors are rather inefficient.
They DO work but only because they can rely on an almost limitless supply of compressed gas (which this scenario simply does not have)
That empty bottle powering a high speed motor sets off my "fake free energy" reflexes, even when I know better. Awesome work!
it's not empty, it's full of air! lol
@@kenanjones3481Clever response indeed
So funny seeing tiny little Hoosier drag slicks.
one suggestion is to have a a smaller turbine and have 3-4 smaller nozzles, cus right now only one spot on the turbine is producing power, you could half the diameter by doubling the nozzles, won't be a 1-1 unless it's more efficient which it might be
Not saying it won't work but.. friction increases.
@@squidcaps4308 the friction moving the turbine would increases too
If the nozzles were staged it could dramatically increase efficiency. Have three nozzles. Use one very small nozzle as the low throttle. Don't open the second until the first is fully opened, then start opening the second, and so on. Partially opened valves are very inefficient. Having one valve fully opened with two others shut is a much better way to do 1/3 throttle vs 1 valve 1/3 open.
An axial turbine with multiple nozzles and stages would be the way to go; which looks like it's on the drawing board.
See also my comment about incorporating the throttling valve into the nozzle design.
This video gets a smile on my face, like most of your videos 😁. I am an engineer and I guess I should understand all this easily, but my mind isn’t nearly as practical as yours. So nice to see all your ideas come to life
I'd love to see a small dragster competition where the only energy storage for the movement is a pressurised plastic bottle.
Bladed turbines, bladeless turbines, piston motors. Driven by wheels, propellers and jet nozzles and hovercraft skirts.
@@cloudpandarism2627 imagine strapping like 4 bottles onto the car, spinning up a flywheel then the car drops all the bottles to lose excess weight and just smokes it
@@yutakawasaki7207 even better.
yes. the air bottle being the only constant
"The Great Egg Race"
Water rockets would take a lot of beating.
The sounds it makes while powering up and then coasting is pure blissful music to my ears
You don't want to exhaust your turbine near the center. You want the opposite, intake near center and exhaust on the outside edge. Then centrifugal force will help speed the air out, allowing you to maximize the power output.
No idea if this is better than the other designs, I just know you did that 4 watt turbine backwards, making it work against centrifugal force as it spins up. It may be worth a try.
That is less efficient. Look at how the turbines on turbochargers (and centrifugal jet engines) are designed. The air must be drawn into the middle only when its density (and hence pressure) is diminished to provide proper back pressure. If we were trying to draw air through the turbine (like on the input side of a turbo) your assertion would be correct. Remember that we are trying to get the air to do as much work as possible on the turbine, so trapping it with centrifugal force ensures a bigger pressure difference between input and output. The centrifugal force is effectively acting like the seal stopping the input air from rushing straight out the exit.
Fantastic Engineering Tom! (love the Inertial dynamometer).
My old rocket club (Paisley Rocketeers) took to these PET pop-bottles with gusto, as they made a fine water rocket (which we called 'Aquajets').
Some bottles would burst at 150 psi, but some went bang at only 70 psi. We decided that the safest course of action was to remotely pressurise and launch 'em: above 60 psi, don't be nearby!
Very cool Tom! I like how you’re doing both turbines and piston engines!
To think I searched stanton two days ago looking for new content and then boom, it was up yesterday. National treasure this man.
Compressed air for the win! best series on youtube
This guy's content is just filled with surprises after surprises of satisfying overengineering.
Just when you don't expect it, it shows up!
I think it would be worth it to make a 2 stages turbine ! You could extract much more energy, but keep in mind thattp be optimal rhe second stage should probably have a different pitch/volume to make use of the lower pressure aif coming in
Waiting patiently as Tom gets ever closer to building a rocket engine turbopump :)
In all seriousness, always stunned by your clever mechanical design. Super inspiring.
The Hoosier tires was a nice touch.
was going through the compressed air engine and now I think I have an idea for improving the efficiency of the engine even further
If you use a reed switch and a magnet in the piston and to release pressure in the piston at just the right time the engine
Can run at even lower pressures than before and for much longer which can increase the efficiency several folds.
By the way I am a student and I love your projects. Thank you for inspiring me.
Finally another Tom Stanton video
yea
Looks like a nice impulse turbine. One way to get more power is to use a supersonic nozzle (converging diverging). You can also add more nozzles. Love your videos, so cool!
I love your channel and your spirit for attempting the untried. Have you ever considered a bungee cord powered bicycle? Sort of the same principle of a trebuchet but there's a hand or foot activated mechanism that pulls the bungee cord to the taught position at the end of a long horizontal railing where it's released to push the rear or front wheel of a bicycle forward. Essentially, you keep pulling the cord and releasing until you build up and maintain whatever speed you're trying to achieve. The bottom of the railing would make friction contact with the top of the tire going forward but would lift up when resetting into position for the next cycle. The railing would shoot forward like a sling shot each time. You could make the railing as long as you want as it would be located behind you on the bike. You'd just have to devise a mechanical way of pulling the bungee cord all the way into the start position from the seat. Perhaps utilising pulleys and big gears?
I'd try it myself but I don't have a workshop or have your experience with devising mechanical gadgets. Do you think it could work or am I missing something?
Can you post the files for your turbine designs?
Your 3D printing of parts is so neat. Looking forward to seeing where this project goes.
TESLA TURBINE!
Simple to make, but usually inefficient short of very viscous fluids.
@@ericlotze7724 I know, its just fun to talk about Tesla and his zany inventions
@@monstercameronyeah maybe tom should make a gobal wireless power station
@@ericlotze7724 skill issue
That would be so cool
2:04 measuring rpm with such a sensor is no problem, as long as you measure the time between the ticks, and not the ticks in a fixed time period. This gives very accurate results, and lets you measure extremely high rpm, more than you could ever need.
Tom, honestly, your projects are awesome
8:00 I think the reason the others performed better, is because the "curve" of the regular turbine's paths actually guide the air to exit in the opposite direction (so the force the air exits with, is additionally imparted to the turbine as a reactive force by Newtons laws. In addition to the energy you would get from completely stalling the air by absorbing 100% of the kinetic energy. So in total the theoretical maximum efficiency instead becomes 200% - and more if you can speed the air up! Minus of course any energy that was in the same axis as the spin-axis, since that direction was not touched), while the bad turbine only guides it to exit in a perpendicular direction (it absorbs all kinetic force in the axis perpendicular to spin-axis, but no more).
It is much like how a gravity-powered generator at 100% efficiency has the weight not fall at all, while at 200% the weight start flying up into space! ;)
Well I didn't expect to see my local Showcase Cinema in the intro, that's for sure
I'm more impressed at the fact a super cheap mass produced plastic bottle can hold 80 psi of pressure reliably.
Tesla turbine?
No torque
Shhhhhhhhhhh don't help smfh
Also don't forget some and deffinatly the tesla TURBINE can be altered by not only using compressed air but like nitrogen gas with larger molecules to water then d3 water or deuterium water also called to a world's collection of fluids oils emulsifiers phewwwwww don't wanna straight go nitro drag car or all tesla right out the gate smh we'd end up needing brakes on the damn thing if you know of their rpm imploding things same direction of centrifugal force expansion lol I've seen it argued nothing explodes it fails when rpm can't be maintained so much in fact only used tesla turbines fit in one hand performing off a pee stream what today's best outside a pallet when combined with 6 inch inlet flow pipe even then 15 mini tesla TURBINEs or so would far surpass today's most efficent oh and f a brake just use a fraction of input enertia by restriction calves n fk the brake n the heat the cost the wearing of brake parts used 24/7 with alot of applied force l.fao cha ching
I swear tesla turbine has a cult following from people without speck of knowledge of any turbine including tesla turbine
Kinda but a Tesla turbine has no blades
On a gasturbine you have a static ring with blades that get the air to „spinn“ and push the blades on the moving wheel. The blades on the moving wheel „straighten“ the airflow. If you have a multistage turbine the next static ring will to the same until there is no pressuredifference left. So maybe instead of blowing at the moving ring with a nozzle using a distibuting chamber and a static ring might help.
Would a Nicolas tesla turbine work better?
No
Seems like it could use the flywheel and a clutch to keep up the built up torque between applications of air power. The added weight might make that counterproductive though.
Should of made a tesla turbine
I think you should try a hot wire resistor in the air stream as it is going into the air motor. You're carrying the battery anyway, so you might as well use it to put some heat into it.
Tesla Turbine?
This one is not a Tesla turbine, but that would be cool to compare the output of that turbine and a Tesla turbine of the same diameter.
Maybe put a grader valve on it to inflate easily with a compact battery bike tyre inflater or perhaps put some dry ice pellets in the bottle so they create pressure as they melt
stop for a second and appreciate how like 10 years ago, getting a part made like those turbines with the internal c channels and what not, would have been next to impossible for the average person. but because of 3D printing we can just... make stuff and try ideas pretty consistantly.
Well done Tom. Top work. I tried this for power generation with relative success but I'm interested in the impeller type turbines. Opposite to the one you made that didn't work, where the centrifugal force aids in the exhaust gas. Cheers J
You are currently using an axial flow compressor style, which works great for acceleration of large amounts off air, hence why jet turbines use them, instead I would recommend looking into centrifugal flow compressors these are what are used in anything from large generators to helicopters and turbo prop aircraft, as they are much better for high torque applications. Love the project and can’t wait to see where you will go with it!
7:22 If there is a housing built partially from the point where air pushes the turbine, I think it can make some power as the air is still in contact with turbine....
Dude this is cool. Also, you should look into a little 12V air pump, that you can plug into your vehicle. That way you don't have to do all that pumping!
this could be so good by using a flywheel first. small energy to slowly build up speed and then use a clutch to access that insane power plus the turbine together as boost
A point on the tyres - the amount of grip is relative to the amount of load forcing those tyres into the ground. You got a tiny bit of slip on the launch so it might be worth either adjusting the weight bias or adding a bit of ballast over the rear axle to maximise the amount of force you can generate
7:48 With this one the air would try to fly out again outwards but it's forced inwards, what if you blow the air in from the smaller input and let it blow out the larger cicle.
Maybe some CVT mechanism to keep it at peak efficiency all the time (without introducing too much more friction ofcourse)
👍Your detailed coverage of the technology and mechanics behind these incredible machines really brings the thrill to life. Amazing video for anyone fascinated by extreme speed and engineering!
Great work as always - may be worth dialling in optimal tyre width so you can steer /put power down with minimal rolling resistance. The more weight you can have over the rear wheels the thinner they can be before they slip. There's also a gear affect from the tyre profile so take that into account when dialling in your gear ratios.
The other thing that might save you some time, the price of battery powered air compressors has come down a lot. Might be worth investing in one to speed up the prototyping:)
You should get some old worn out vacuum gyroscopic aircraft instruments. The gyros are spun up using very similar turbines. Attitude indicators, DGs, and Turn Coordinators/Turn and Bank should have gyros in them - just make sure they’re “vacuum driven.”
Also you should probably be using jewel bearings for the turbines.
3:42 Loved this bit.
Something interesting that could be done to improve the efficiency of this design would be to add a hybrid system, maybe with a super capacitor attached, that allows it to start more easily since the turbine seems to be losing lots of air trying to get the car going. It could then recoup some of the energy when breaking.
Great video! :)
Print the nozzle with a narrow slot and as wide as the turbine blades. Also the end of the nozzle should be angled to be parallel to the face of the turbine, and sit as close as possible to minimize air blowing out the sides VS going though the blades.
There is phenomenon when you pump the trash bag with air with single breathe when you do it form distance but when directly blowing inside you need to put all the air there.
Make the end of the nozzle in way that as air goes trough it would suck the air around and drag it along it to have more air mode mass to push the turbine.
did you try to remove the reduction gears in the drill motor? Just courious. Maybe try a multi chamber turbin, like the stean turbin in naval ships.
I thought I recognised that car park and the bridge! Didn't know you lived round my neck of the woods.
Use buckets after the nozzle that basically reverse the flow back into the turbine. Simple 1 stage turbines often have a couple of these.
Nice design work. But looking at the acceleration, one of your largest losses would look to be losses as the air blows against the stationary turbine and just deflects off as the rotational inertia prevents it from being efficiently used. I'd look into methods of shrouding the input air to direct it into the turbine with less losses. This is probably less important at higher rotational speeds, but might help low-speed function with less air expenditure.
The vane turbine would need small springs to keep the chambers sealed at low rpms and stopping air forcing past the vanes. More friction but more efficiency. I've seen grout mixer pumps also use rods to keep opposing vanes in place sliding back and forth as they run around the circumference
"Guess the car by the sound" *plays the sounds at the **9:47** test*
"Yo sick Hellcat supercharger whine, But it's easy... Also why is it so weird?"
"ITS A PRESSURE POWERED TURBINE"
Nice work. Air engines/turbines are very capable. There was a man that developed air engines for vehicles decades ago and it worked quite well. There are some videos on that. His design used multiple carbon fiber air tanks designed to split open in case of failure since they were thousands of PSI and could be extremely dangerous. He designed a van that would get 300km per air fill.
Meester Tom sir guy man, if you want to reduce wheel mass, there is the sponge/foam tyre option.
You can make your own light as comfortable wheels and stretch on a foam ring of grippiness. Can texture the circumference of the wheel to reduce any material slippage.
Dragster dwpends on momentum , if you can ad a clutch to it and control the launch rpm. I could be a beast
Maybe a flywheel Design with a clutch could achieve more torque at the beginning, then while the flywheel is still spinning (And connected to the wheels), the throttle is fully opened again...
Basically a weird way of Launch control
awesome, i became interested in clutches for such things , and I've noticed most gas scooters are 2 speed which made me suspect that they use two different centrifugal clutches probably because probably the neutral to gear one and then there's probably another centrifugal clutch on the pulley sprocket so it shifts [to gear 2] , such a combo could work for windmills or as a safety to disconnect in high wind ....there's cable clutches too , it's all interesting because for example, if you have a centrifugal clutch at high speed , you could disengage the cable clutch and get power BUT the rpm would then drop below the point to engage the centrifugal clutch (from "work load") and it could even brake and then there's no spin , or it would pause until proper rpm is hit again , ...the startup capacitor on air-conditioners for example could be replaced by mechanical clutch for example maybe ...or you could make an auto hammer as well type deal or hit maximum speed to your flywheel before the dragster starts so it's full power off the line (?) ...hope you're doing great sir i just was searching my subscriptions and caught this newer vid thankyou God bless...
EDIT: another cool thing about cable clutch is it can be held levered backwards basically then you could switch drive shafts too....urGh we are interested in the same stuff but i can't share all i know lol
EDIT2: another if you used a ten speed bicycle type shifter on the windmill all it needs is to push the gear lever by electric motor for example and you could couple a cheap rpm gauge to contoller for gear shift and get a simple transmission , one of my cars the honda has solenoids to contol hydraulic flow to the gears to shift, they say that transmission is basically a stick shift type but uses solenoids instead of manual lever for example ....
Perhaps two nozzles and turbines in parallel. One with large surface area and one with small. The large generates higher thrust but low speed for the initial phase of acceleration. At a certain speed they switch so you get higher top speed with lower consumption.
That vane motor is just like the pump in a transmission. The thing you are missing is rings on the vanes to keep them in contact with the wall. You cannot reply on centrifugal force to keep them sealed against the walls. If you need me to send you a link to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, just let me know.
I dont how acurate your assumption is that the gradient of rpm over time describes the torque beeing produced at diffrent rpms. The lower gradient at hogher rpms could also be due to counteracting torques caused by bearing friction losses in the transmission and mainly air friction at the flywheel. I dont know how big these are in correlation to the turbine torque but they definitly controbute to the gradient beeing lower at high rpms.
Cool!!!! Use a higher gear ratio, it will allow the turbine to spool up easier and multiply torque to the wheels
I deperately want to learn OnShape, but I am 62 and not so clever as I used to be. I notice the moisture condensing as soon as you run the turbine. Does that effect your power? Do any of your channel members remember "Junkyard Wars"? Boy did I love that show! I should retire right now and come out to Open Source. Looks like a hoot.
you should add an "air chest" where you have a pressure tight chamber that goes to multiple nozzles like steam chest on steam turbines might help ensure all of the pressure is getting used by the blades and not lost before the energy of the air is wasted.
some kinda clutch for the motor to spin up then release for a better launch maybe, will definitely kill the distange though
Nice work! Your turbine might benefit from a Laval nozzle, both in the nozzle and on the wheel. These types of nozzles are used in steam turbines. I might also do experiments with a smaller turbine wheel and higher rpm. A Tesla turbine would also be interesting to try. It's very easy to manufacture because it has no blades.
Works by design looks like a combination of you and the backyard scientist (with all respect)
Something like 20 years ago in EU somewhere there was a guy or company that made tiny compressed air driven cars. If I recall they got something like 20 miles of range or something like that. It could also be filled using standard air compressor or something like that.
Note that type of air powered drill has a reduction gear - to get a fair comparison you should break it down to drive direct from the vane motor
Hi Tom a very interesting topic . I like the Tesla turbine due to its very low resistance because it is a molecular pressure of the air that drives it and the speed if not controlled will make it self destruct. The disks within the older 5.5 inch PC hard drives make ideal platters because of the very tight manufacturing tolerances. The central vents can be machined on a small CNC router. If I remember correctly there are some very good videos showing these turbines on You tube. It would be well worth checking it out. Regards MoK
Maybe add a turbine like this, to the shaft of the air engine exhaust to your air plane engine as a compounding turbo. Should make the engine more affixation. You have a great channel!
Hey Tom, very cool. I took my kids to their first drag strip yesterday ironically and they went wild when the first Alcohol cars both ran on the 1/4 mile at 287mph @ 5.2 seconds. They literally shake your bones.
Have a look at plastic blow moulding. You can 3d print your own moulds and thus make your own structural air bottles.
@7:50 having the nozzle on the outer diameter of the turbine with the exhaust in the middle means that escaping air would have to fight centrifugal forces before escaping. i suggest running it backwards it might still work XD