Haryana engineering students invent oxygen-run bike

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 06 May 2011, 22:51 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Haryana engineering students invent oxygen-run bike
In a bid to promote green energy, some engineering students of Palwal city in Haryana have designed a motorbike that can run on oxygen.The idea originated with the need of alternate fuel, which can reduce the dependency on non-renewable fuels such as petrol and diesel."This bike is set apart from the others because its engine suffers no blast, nor does the temperature rise. The air is compressed and sent to the engine. The piston reciprocates to the air pressure leading to an up-down movement, making the flywheel run, and therefore, making the bike start," said Pratham Pal, one of the inventors.Devised as part of a college project, the bike can travel for about 500-600 kilometres at 100 litres at 300 PSI (pound-per-square-inch) of oxygen at the speed of 10-20 kilometres per hour. The students said they hope to receive financial assistance to innovate their prototype further that would help them to reach a much wider range of customers.Mayank Bhardawaj, another student in the 'eco-friendly inventor' group said the major challenge they faced was to change the basic mechanics of the current engine of the bike to make it run on compressed air."Our future plan is to seek facilities for research and development and financial help from government or private company and then innovate our prototype further to make it a practical and applicable model. We will begin from the scratch, and create an engine of our own which we couldn't do this time," said Bhardawaj. Eco-friendly vehicles are gaining popularity in India with growing pollution, making it a potential endeavour for these students. Source: goiit.com