My first experience with compressed air aside from filling a tire was to use it as an energy source to feed a turbine engine.  I spent a number of years repairing German autos and one of the dominant traits in the German automotive market is the use of a turbo charger.  From time to time the turbos would fail, sometimes from inadequate oil or coolant supply, and sometimes spare turbos would be around as a result of an engine swap or modification.  Either way, I’d save them for a rainy day.

On one such rainy day I took the turbos to another shop that specialized in custom racing applications.  We fitted them to a crude rolling chassis and fed them compressed air as an energy source.  The air was piped to and blown on the turbine shaft which entrained ambient air and created enough force to sustain the vehicles motion.  Four large tanks of compressed air and huge push were enough to move the “Frankenstein” around the lot, once, before lack of lubrication and cooling took their toll.  There was no sustained reaction to provide a great deal of thrust, but there was a great deal of fun to be had and yet another application using compressed air.  Check out the video below to see how the pros do it.

Considering this is what I do for fun, it’s no wonder I’m an application engineer for compressed air products.  And when it comes to compressed air products, it doesn’t get better than EXAIR.  With dedicated team members and devotion to our work, we can provide solutions for just about any application. 

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
leeevans@exair.com
@EXAIR_LE