Comment by devicetray0
7 years ago
> Where air power equipment may become the real alternative power source is when it is combined with a wind turbine air compressor, which the Amish are beginning to use. During a good steady windy season many Amish may not need to run a regular air compressor for days at a time.
I have not heard about an wind/air turbine used to refill an air compressor (without electricity). Not sure how that would work, but I'm very interested in learning if anyone has background here.
> I have not heard about an wind/air turbine used to refill an air compressor (without electricity). Not sure how that would work
A wind turbine turns rotation into electricity.
A motor turns electricity into rotation.
A compressor uses rotation to compress gas.
You can remove the electricity between stages 1 and 2.
I think the part that isn't intuitive to everyone is how to "accumulate" potential energy if you don't have batteries/capacitors. Like how I can't fill my car tire with my bike pump. There's... there's magic missing. Something that takes a small amount of pressure and overcomes the huge pressure the other way. Check valves or whatnot.
It's easier to perceive when you think about a massive turbine that can grind out a ton of electricity and power a compressor that by default produces a lot of air pressure.
These tools are really neat to me. I love the idea of things like a hand crank radio, pulleys, and long levers.
Presumably you could fill the tire of a transport truck with the bulb from a blood pressure cuff and a lot of time, but it's not intuitive to me what the mechanics are in between those two things.
> Like how I can't fill my car tire with my bike pump.
Um. Yes, you can. It just might take a little while. You can fill 100 psi road bike tires with a hand pump. A 30-40 psi car tire is not a problem.
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> how to "accumulate" potential energy if you don't have batteries/capacitors
That's what the compressed gas is - it's potential energy. It's like a battery.
> Like how I can't fill my car tire with my bike pump.
Why not? Because you can't pump hard enough and it's not strong enough to hold the pressure needed? You can build a stronger pump, and you can use a lever or gears (same thing really) to compensate for your strength if you can't pump any more.
> Presumably you could fill the tire of a transport truck with the bulb from a blood pressure cuff and a lot of time, but it's not intuitive to me what the mechanics are in between those two things.
Again that's just a 'lever' problem - you can't squeeze the bulb hard enough, so add a lever (and you may need to make the bulb stronger.)
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You can also lift a car or truck with your hands... and a jack.
Energy is force times distance. If you can only exert a tiny force, you can compensate with enough distance, providing the losses in the system aren't too great.
> I think the part that isn't intuitive to everyone is how to "accumulate" potential energy if you don't have batteries/capacitors. Like how I can't fill my car tire with my bike pump. There's... there's magic missing.
As others have pointed out, you can! If you're rather patient. They've even got compatible valves!
And you can think of a pneumatic tire as a kind of battery -- potential energy is roughly the volume times the pressure differential.
Flywheels are acceptable replacements for batteries. I'm not sure if the Amish use them for energy storage, but the rest of us do.
Wind turbine rotation turns the compressor. (With the right gearing)
Edit: I must have skipped over your last sentence. I thought you wanted all those electrical steps for some reason!
Have heard of that done here in NZ. A remote workshop had wind turbines turning pumps that filled great big air tanks. Those tanks ran the workshop.
They were not shunning technology it was just a cheaper option than running power out there or batteries.
What do they do about lights and everything else that requires electricity? I’m assuming the air only powers air powered tools or things like the article mentioned that take special air power?
You can buy a lot of tools that run on just pneumatic power. As for lights, some solar panels, some car batteries, and efficient DC-powered LED lights. You could just get by with battery powered headlamps as well. Depending on the weather and where the shop is, skylights and outdoor workbenches would provide you a lot of light for whatever you're doing.