Go-karting is not just a sport! It’s the only way for those who are obsessed with speed, to put their wildest dreams right onto the tracks and enjoy the experience akin to that of participating in a Grand Prix! Driving little, mean go-karts in closed circuits surely requires you to be a master of wits to be able to control the flow of your adrenaline. But if your strong sense of preservation overrules the passion of speed, then you need to consider the greener option over those gas guzzling meanies. Heard about air-powered go-kart? Just recently it has been officially unveiled at Kartbahn Racing in Bayer’s Lake Business Park. Five Dalhousie mechanical engineering students, David Alderson, Scott Allan, David Langille, Michael Roy and Dave Spencer, were inspired by air-powered car concepts in Europe and decided to develop a compressed air engine of their own. To learn more about their innovative green project, roll over…
The students modified a 40-year-old snowmobile engine and ran compressed air through the engine to produce power similar to a gas engine. They attached the engine to a refurbished go-kart using two scuba tanks to house the air. The air is released through a standard scuba fitting with a high-flow regulator. The released air travels through tubing to a ball-valve connected to the foot pedal and throttle. This air-powered vehicle performed comparatively to the electric-powered carts in use. They could manage three laps just under two minutes going full out at 43 km/h with two tanks. However the only downside is that the air-powered engine is that it runs out of air quickly. But then the zero local emissions make it attractive for indoor operations and the tanks are easy to refill. Via Crave
