The world of batteries includes any mechanism for storing energy for future use. Our lead-acid batteries do this superbly well for thousands of customers, although our imagination does not stop there. Today, we turn our minds to the less-trodden topic of compressed air storage, and wonder why we hear so little about this.
Historic Background to Compressed Air Storage
Compressed air storage involves forcing air into a containment, until it is at a point above atmospheric pressure. The driving force behind this nowadays is often surplus electricity. An operator may release it from storage to drive a peaking generator during high utility demand. However, there are also other intriguing uses …
The system was quite popular in France in the closing years of the 19th century. In 1896, a Paris utility used 2.2-megawatts electricity generation to force air under 550 kilopascal pressure, through a 50-kilometer network to power motors for light and heavy industry.
It was not long before the idea arose of powering newfangled automobiles this way. In fact, pneumatic motors have been around for over two centuries. They generally convert air under pressure into mechanical work, through either linear or mechanical motion.
Using Air Under Pressure to Power Vehicles
Various ideas evolved down the years to exploit pneumatic power. After all, if we compressed the air using green energy we could be on to a good thing. We have heard talk of using pistons and cylinders, slotted rotors and vanes, and turbines. However, one blast from the past really caught our fancy.
Homestake Mining was once one of the largest gold mining businesses in the United States. As the tunnels grew deeper, the need increased for carbon-free locomotive transport underground. The company acquired a compressed air storage locomotive from HK Porter Company, that manufactured steam and compressed air models.
The Homestake version used a hybrid-air loco that replaced the coal tender with a skip for transporting gold-bearing ore. The loco in our image ran successfully from 1928 to 1961. It was slumbering on at Homestake Mine in 2017, when the photo was taken.
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Preview Image: Homestake Mine Air Loco
