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ABSTRACT

Cryogens are effective thermal storage media which, when used for automotive
purposes, offer significant advantages over current and proposed electrochemical battery
technologies, both in performance and economy. An automotive propulsion concept is
presented which utilizes liquid nitrogen as the working fluid for an open Rankine cycle.
When the only heat input to the engine is supplied by ambient heat exchangers, an
automobile can readily be propelled while satisfying stringent tailpipe emission standards.
Nitrogen propulsive systems can provide automotive ranges of nearly 400 kilometers in
the zero emission mode, with lower operating costs than those of the electric vehicles
currently being considered for mass production. In geographical regions that allow ultra
low emission vehicles, the range and performance of the liquid nitrogen automobile can
be significantly extended by the addition of a small efficient burner. Some of the
advantages of a transportation infrastructure based on liquid nitrogen are that recharging
the energy storage system only requires minutes and there are minimal environmental
hazards associated with the manufacture and utilization of the cryogenic "fuel."

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CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. LIQUID NITROGEN VEHICLE
3. LIQUID NITROGEN MANUFACTURE
4. LIQUID NITROGEN PROPULSION CYCLE......................
4.1 PATRS OF A LIQUID NITROGEN PROPULSION CYCLE
4.1.1 Cryogen Storage Vessel
4.1.2 Pump
4.1.3 Economizer
4.1.4 Expander
4.1.5 Heat Exchanger
5. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION.
6. POWER CYCLE.....
7. EFFICIENCY..
8. ADVANTAGES..
8.1 Compare to Electric Cars
8.2 As compared to Fossil Fuels
9. TECHNICAL ISSUES.
10. CONCLUSION..
11. REFERENCES..

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No.

Title

Page No.

Fig.1

LN2000 Vehicle

Fig.2

P-T Chart showing Nitrogen Liquification

Fig.3

Block Diagram of LN manufacture

Fig.4

LN propulsion cycle

Fig.5

Parts of LNPC

Fig 6

Expander Engine

Fig 7

Heat Exchanger

Fig 8

Graph of Temp vs Entropy

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The importance of cars in the present world is increasing day by day. There are various
factors that influence the choice of the car. These include performance, fuel, pollution etc.
As the prices for fuels are increasing and the availability is decreasing we have to go for
alternative choice. A significant fraction of the lead produced each year is used in leadacid batteries for automobiles and a typical EV requires 20-30 conventional batteries to
have a useful range. The growing public awareness of the health hazards arising from
elevated concentrations of lead in the environment has resulted in a steady decrease in the
amounts of lead used in industry and personal products over the years. In addition, it has
been found that the pollution control practices at the mine heads and ore smelters have
not prevented serious degradation of their surroundings. Thus, it is highly probable that
the environmental impact of the increased mining and refining of lead ore, to meet the
needs of a transportation infrastructure based on lead-acid batteries, could completely
negate the benefits expected from the elimination of tailpipe emissions.
It appears that liquid nitrogen (LN2) can be used in a zero-emission propulsion system
that is as effective and probably more economical to operate than the high performance
battery systems currently under development.
Here an automotive propulsion concept is presented which utilizes liquid nitrogen as the
working fluid for an open Rankine cycle. When the only heat input to the engine is
supplied by ambient heat exchangers, an automobile can readily be propelled while
satisfying stringent tailpipe emission standards. Nitrogen propulsive systems can provide
automotive ranges of nearly 400 kilometres in the zero emission mode , with lower
operating costs than those of the electric vehicles currently being considered for mass
production. In geographical regions that allow ultra-low emission vehicles, the range and
performance of the liquid nitrogen automobile can be significantly extended by the
addition of a small efficient burner. Some of the advantages of a transportation
infrastructure based on liquid nitrogen are that recharging the energy storage system only
requires minutes and there are minimal environmental hazards associated with the
manufacture and utilization of the cryogenic "fuel".

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CHAPTER 2
LIQUID NITROGEN VEHICLE
Researchers at the University of Washington are develop a new zero-emission automobile
propulsion concept that uses liquid nitrogen as the fuel. The principle of operation is like
that of a steam engine, except there is no combustion involved. Instead, liquid nitrogen at
320 F (196 C) is pressurized and then vaporized in a heat exchanger by the ambient
temperature of the surrounding air. This heat exchanger is like the radiator of a car but
instead of using air to cool water, it uses air to heat and boil liquid nitrogen. The resulting
high-pressure nitrogen gas is fed to an engine that operates like a reciprocating steam
engine, converting pressure to mechanical power. The only exhaust is nitrogen, which is
the major constituent of our atmosphere.

Fig.1 LN2000 Vehicle

The LN2000 is an operating proof-of-concept test vehicle, a converted 1984 GrummanOlson Kubvan mail delivery van. Applying LN2 as a portable thermal storage medium to
propel both commuter and fleet vehicles appears to be an attractive means to meeting the
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ZEV regulations soon to be implemented. Pressurizing the working fluid while it is at
cryogenic temperatures, heating it up with ambient air, and expanding it in reciprocating
engines is a straightforward approach for powering pollution free vehicles. Ambient heat
exchangers that will not suffer extreme icing will have to be developed to enable wide
utility of this propulsion system. Since the expansion engine operates at sub-ambient
temperatures, the potential for attaining quasi-isothermal operation appears promising.
The engine, a radial five-cylinder 15-hp air motor, drives the front wheels through a fivespeed manual Volkswagen transmission. The liquid nitrogen is stored in a thermos-like
stainless steel tank. At present the tank is pressurized with gaseous nitrogen to develop
system pressure but a cryogenic liquid pump will be used for this purpose in the future. A
preheater, called an economizer, uses leftover heat in the engine's exhaust to preheat the
liquid nitrogen before it enters the heat exchanger. The specific energy densities of LN2
are 54 and 87 W-h/kg-LN2 for the adiabatic and isothermal expansion processes
respectively, and the corresponding amounts of cryogen to provide a 300 km driving
range would be 450 kg and 280 kg. Many details of the application of LN2 thermal
storage to ground transportation remain to be investigated; however, to date no
fundamental technological hurdles have yet been discovered that might stand in the way
of fully realizing the potential offered by this concept.

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CHAPTER 3
LIQUID NITROGEN MANUFACTURE

Inter cooler

Dust
Precipitator

Fig.2 P-T Chart showing Nitrogen Liquification

LN2

Nozzle

Fig.3 Block Diagram of LN manufacture

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Liquid Nitrogen is the widely produced and most common cryogen.
It is mass produced in air liquefaction plants
The liquefaction process is very simple.
The cost of the LN2 "fuel" is expected to be reasonable. The primary expense for
producing LN2 is the energy cost for compression of air. Cryogenic separation of
nitrogen from other condensable in air typically requires only a very small fraction of
the total energy.
Normal, atmospheric air is passed through dust precipitator and pre-cooled.
It is then compressed inside large turbo pumps to about 100 atmospheres (10.13 MPa).
Once the air has been cooled to room temperature it is allowed to expand rapidly
through a nozzle into an insulated chamber.
By running several cycles the temperature of the chamber becomes low enough. The
air entering it starts to liquefy.
Liquid nitrogen is removed from the chamber by fractional distillation and is stored
inside well-insulated Dewar flasks or Storage vessel.

CHAPTER 4
LIQUID NITROGEN PROPULSION CYCLE
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Fig.4 LN propulsion cycle

4.1 PARTS OF A LIQUID NITROGEN PROPULSION CYCLE

Fig.5 parts of LNPC

The main parts of a liquid nitrogen propulsion system are:
1. Cryogen Storage Vessel.

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2. Pump.
3. Economizer.
4. Expander Engine.
5. Heat exchanger.
The parts and their functions are discussed in detail below:

4.1.1 Cryogen Storage Vessel:

The primary design constraints for automobile cryogen storage vessels are: resistance to
deceleration forces in the horizontal plane in the event of a traffic accident, low boil-off
rate, minimum size and mass and reasonable cost. Crash-worthy cryogen vessels are
being developed for hydrogen-fueled vehicles that will prevent loss of insulating vacuum
at closing speeds of over 100 km/h.18 Moderately high vacuum (10-4 torr) with super
insulation can provide boil-off rates as low as 1% per day in 200 liter (53 gal) containers.
Using appropriate titanium or aluminum alloys for the inner and outer vessels, a
structurally reinforced Dewar could readily have a seven-day holding period.

4.1.2 Pump:
The pump is used to pump the liquid nitrogen into the engine. The pump which are used
for this purpose have an operating pressure ranging between 500 600 Psi. As the pump,
pumps liquid instead of gas, it is noticed that the efficiency is high.

4.1.3 Economizer:
A preheater, called an economizer, uses leftover heat in the engine's exhaust to preheat the
liquid nitrogen before it enters the heat exchanger. Hence the economizer acts as a heat
exchanger between the incoming liquid nitrogen and the exhaust gas which is left out.
This is similar to the preheating process which is done in compressors. Hence with the
use of the economizer, the efficiency can be improved. The design of this heat exchanger
is such as to prevent frost formation on its outer surfaces.

4.1.4 Expander:

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Fig 6 Expander Engine

The maximum work output of the LN2 engine results from an isothermal expansion
stroke. Achieving isothermal expansion will be a challenge, because the amount of heat
addition required during the expansion process is nearly that required to superheat the
pressurized LN2 prior to injection. Thus, engines having expansion chambers with high
surface-to-volume ratios are favored for this application. Rotary expanders such as the
Wankel may also be well suited. A secondary fluid could be circulated through the engine
block to help keep the cylinder walls as warm as possible. Multiple expansions and
reheats can also be used although they require more complicated machinery. Vehicle
power and torque demands would be satisfied by both throttling the mass flow of LN2
and by controlling the cut-off point of N2 injection, which is similar to how classical
reciprocating steam engines are regulated. The maximum power output of the propulsion
engine is limited by the maximum rate at which heat can be absorbed from the
atmosphere. The required control system to accommodate the desired vehicle
performance can be effectively implemented with either manual controls or an on-board
computer.

4.1.5 Heat Exchanger:

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Fig 7 Heat Exchanger

The primary heat exchanger is a critical component of a LN2 automobile. Since ambient
vaporizers are widely utilized in the cryogenics and LNG industries, there exists a
substantial technology base. To ensure cryomobile operation over a wide range of weather
conditions, the vaporizer should be capable of heating the LN2 at its maximum flow rate
to near the ambient temperature on a cold winter day. Since reasonable performance for
personal transportation vehicles can be obtained with a 30 kW motor, the heat exchanger
will be sized accordingly. The heat absorbed from the atmosphere can, in principle, be
converted to useful mechanical power with about 40% efficiency. Thus the heat
exchanger system should be prudently designed to absorb at least 75 kW from the
atmosphere when its temperature is only 0C. To estimate the mass and volume of the
primary heat exchanger, it was modeled as an array of individually fed tube elements that
pass the LN2 at its peak flow rate without excessive pressure drop. Each element is a 10
m long section of aluminum tubing having an outside diameter of 10 mm and a wall
thickness of 1 mm. They are wrapped back and forth to fit within a packaging volume
having 0.5 m x 0.4 m x 0.04 m dimensions and are arrayed in the heat exchanger duct.
Incoming air will pass through a debris deflector and particulate filter before encountering
the elements. An electric fan will draw the air through the duct when the automobile is
operating at low velocities or when above normal power outputs are required. The tube
exterior heat transfer coefficient is based on that for a cylinder in cross flow and the
internal heat transfer is for fully developed turbulent flow. The bulk temperature of the air
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is assumed to decrease across each tube row as determined from energy conservation and
the pressure drop is determined for the whole tube bank. The heat transfer calculations
also account for N2 pressure drop and variations in its thermodynamic properties in the
tube elements. Some of the important phenomena not considered at this stage of analysis
were the effects of transient LN2 flow rates, start up, frost accumulation, tube fins, and
axial thermal conduction. The formation of rime ice is highly probable. The atmospheric
moisture will be removed relatively quickly as the ambient air is chilled over the first few
tube rows, leaving extremely dry air to warm up the coldest parts at the rear of the heat
exchanger where the LN2 enters. Surface coatings such as Teflon can be used to inhibit
ice buildup and active measures for vibrating the tube elements may also be applied. The
LN2 viscous pressure drop would be about 0.05 MPa, which is easily compensated for
with the cryogen pump. The electric fan would require approximately 1.5 kW to
accelerate the air and overcome the 400 Pa pressure drop through the heat exchanger if
the vehicle were standing still. Since each element is 0.76 kg, the total tubing mass would
be 19 kg. If the same mass was added by the manifolds and duct then the net mass of the
heat exchanger would be less than 40 kg. When operating on a typical California day, it is
expected that this over-designed cryogen vaporizer will readily heat the LN2 up to
ambient temperature without any appreciable icing.

CHAPTER 5
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PRINCIPLE OF OPERARTION
LN2 at 320oF (-196oC) is pressurized and then vaporized in a heat exchanger by
ambient temperature of the surrounding air.
This heat exchanger is like the radiator of a car but instead of using air to cool water,
it uses air to heat and boil liquid nitrogen.
Liquid N2 passing through the primary heat exchanger quickly reaches its boiling
point.
The N2 expands to a gas with a pressure of 150 KPa.
The pressurized N2 gas drives the motor.
The only exhaust is nitrogen, which is major constituent of our atmosphere.
Heat Energy + N2(l) N2(g) + Work Done
Hence, there is no pollution produced by running this car.

CHAPTER 6
POWER CYCLE (Rankine Cycle)
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Fig 8 Graph of Temp vs Entropy

There are many thermodynamic cycles available for utilizing the thermal potential of
liquid nitrogen. These range from the Brayton cycle, to using two- and even three-fluid
topping cycles, to employing a hydrocarbon-fueled boiler for superheating beyond
atmospheric temperatures. The easiest to implement, however, and the one chosen for this
study, is shown above. This system uses an open Rankine cycle.
Process 1-2: The working fluid is pumped from low to high pressure. As the fluid is a
liquid at this stage, the pump requires little input energy.
Process 2-3: The high pressure liquid enters a boiler where it is heated at constant
pressure by an external heat source to become a dry saturated vapour.
Process 3-4: The dry saturated vapour expands through a turbine, generating power. This
decreases the temperature and pressure of the vapour, and some condensation may occur.
Process 4-1: The wet vapour then enters a condenser where it is condensed at a constant
pressure to become a saturated liquid.

CHAPTER 7
EFFICIENCY
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The first LN2 car could travel 79 miles (127.58 km) on a full 24 gallon (90 liter) tank
of liquid nitrogen going 32 Kmph.
Its maximum speed was over 56 Kmph.
After further researches, the efficiency has improved as follows
Power : 78KW or 104.5bhp @ 97Kmph
400 Liters (106 gallon) gives a mileage of 560Km and weighs 280Kg
Operating Cost is around 2.4cents per Km( Re 1 per Km)

CHAPTER 8
ADVANTAGES
8.1 Compare to Electric Cars:
Studies indicate that liquid nitrogen automobiles will have significant performance and
environmental advantages over electric vehicles. A liquid nitrogen car with a 60-gallon
tank will have a potential range of up to 200 miles, or more than twice that of a typical
electric car. Furthermore, a liquid nitrogen car will be much lighter and refilling its tank
will take only 10-15 minutes, rather than the several hours required by most electric car
concepts. Motorists will fuel up at filling stations very similar to today's gasoline stations.
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A cryogenic car could have three times the range of an electric car of the same weight and
no battery disposal concerns. When liquid nitrogen is manufactured in large quantities,
the operating cost per mile of a liquid nitrogen car will not only be less than that of an
electric car but will actually be competitive with that of a gasoline car.

8.2 As Compared to Fossil Fuels:

The process to manufacture liquid nitrogen in large quantities can be environmentally
very friendly, even if fossil fuels are used to generate the electric power required. The
exhaust gases produced by burning fossil fuels in a power plant contain not only carbon
dioxide and gaseous pollutants, but also all the nitrogen from the air used in the
combustion. By feeding these exhaust gases to the nitrogen liquefaction plant, the carbon
dioxide and other undesirable products of combustion can be condensed and separated in
the process of chilling the nitrogen, and thus no pollutants need be released to the
atmosphere by the power plant. Consequently, the implementation of a large fleet of
liquid nitrogen vehicles could have much greater environmental benefits than just
reducing urban air pollution as desired by current zero-emission vehicle mandates.

CHAPTER 9
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The N2 passing through the tubes of the heat exchanger is so cold that the moisture in
the surrounding air would condense on the outside of the tubes, obstructing the air
flow.
There's the safety issue. Should a nitrogen car be kept in a poorly ventilated space
and, if the Nitrogen leaks off, it could prove fatal.
Turning N2 gas into a liquid requires a lot of energy. So while cryogenic cars have
zero emissions, they rely on energy produced at emission generating power plants.

PROBABLE SOLUTIONS
A tube within a tube design.
N2 passes back and forth inside a set of three nested tubes.
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By the time it reaches the outermost tubes, the N2 is warm enough that the exterior
wall of the tube remains above the freezing point of water.
Route the exhaust from the fossil fuel power plants through cryogenic plants, so that
the pollutants and the greenhouse gases could be condensed for later disposal

CHAPTER 10
CONCLUSION
The potential for utilizing the available energy of liquid nitrogen for automotive
propulsion looks very promising. Time to recharge (refuel), infrastructure investment, and
environmental impact are among the issues to consider, in addition to range and
performance, when comparing the relative merits of different ZEV technologies. The
convenience of pumping a fluid into the storage tank is very attractive when compared
with the typical recharge times associated with lead-acid batteries. Manufacturing LN2
from ambient air inherently removes small quantities of atmospheric pollutants and the
installation of large-scale liquefaction equipment at existing fossil-fuel power stations
could make flue gas condensation processes economical and even eliminate the emissions
of CO2.

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CHAPTER 11
REFERENCES
[1] LN2000, University of Washington Research Team, Sept. 18, 2007
[2] Liquid Nitrogen, Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia.
[3] Proceeding of 18th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference (Edited by K.G
Narayankhedhar, Narosa Publishing House)
[4] AICTE-ISTE Short term Programme on contribution to technology development from
Space Research.
[5] Cryogenic Chilling and Freezing, BOC Gases.
[6] Cryogenic Paint Removal, Sig Attilio Bernasconi
[7] Processes and Materials of Manufacture , R.A. LINDBERG
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