Alternative to conventional fuels? MACET students find out answer

Patna: Everyone is worried about skyrocketing prices of conventional fuels, be it petrol or diesel. So is Mohd. Kamaluddin, final year (B.Tech) student of mechanical engineering at Maulana Azad College of Engineering & Technology (MACET), Patna, and this worry sowed a seed in his mind to find out an alternative to conventional fuels.

Can cars run by air? The question clicked in his mind one day in class when Prof Syed Shahbaz Anjum, HoD, Mechanical Engineering, was talking about how piston moves in a petrol engine.

"In a petrol engine piston moves by gas pressure created by petrol. When Shahbaz Sir was talking about it, I asked in my own mind: Can this pressure be created by air? I discussed it with some of our classmates," said Mohd. Kamaluddin while talking to TwoCircles.net.

Then he discussed it with his teacher and after getting nod, a group of four students began working on the model of an engine that could run by compressed air, in place of petrol or diesel. After hard labor of couple of months under the guidance of their teacher, they came out with a preliminary model of the dream engine.

They ran their compressed air engine before the TCN camera. "Petrol and diesel prices are going up day by day. So people are now thinking about substitute to conventional fuels. They ask, what after petrol and diesel? Our idea was to develop and engine that could run without petrol and diesel," said Kamaluddin.

Their teacher Syed Shahbaz Anjum said there is lot to do on the machine to make it a standard model, which could attract vehicle companies.

Dr. Vakkar Ali, Director, MACET, is happy with the achievement of his students. He said he is trying to create conducive atmosphere for innovative minds at the college.

Besides Kamaluddin, other three members of the gang of four who developed the compressed air engine are: Md. Jawed Ali, Shahid Rahmani and Shabih Shahid. They developed the engine on the concept "Compressed Gas is capable of doing work".

The compressed air vehicle is powered by an air engine, which uses compressed air stored in a cylinder. Instead of burning petrol or diesel for driving the pistons, compressed air engine vehicle works on the expansion of compressed air. The engine has the advantages of being pollution free, cost effective, safe and easy to maintain. The idea if explored and developed further can be successfully implemented in modern day vehicles, says the team.

source: TwoCircles.net