The History of Creation

The experts and scientists of Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University (KhNAHU) and Kharkiv Physical and Technical Institute of Low Temperatures (KhPTILT) of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine designed an experimental model of cryogenic car (cryomobile) which run on liquid nitrogen. In 1997 a group of scientists from KhPTILT headed by professor S.I. Bondarenko got a patent on a cryogenic power system for a vehicle. At the same time the universities of North Texas and Washington (USA) began to develop the models of the cryogenic car.

However, the idea of creating a model sample of Ukrainian cryomobile was implemented in cooperation with the scientists and experts of KhNAHU. The main aim of creating an experimental sample was to evaluate the possibility of converting liquefied gas energy into mechanical energy by the heat and air exchange.

As the result of the work performed by the engineers of KhPTILT              A.Ya. Levin, N.M. Levchenko and B.N. Murintson-Markevich an experimental cryogenic power system was designed, which contained a cryogenic tank-gasifier, an air heat exchanger and a pneumatic engine.

Cryogenic tank gasifier is a metal cryostat designed for operating pressure of nitrogen vapour up to 1.2 MPa, combined with a ring heat exchanger. The specialists selected a gasifier with the following parameters: height – 900 mm; diameter - 500 mm; weight - 50 kg; the total mass with liquid nitrogen – 72 kg; the output temperature of nitrogen gas – 173 K (-100°C) under pressure of 1.2 MPa. This gasifier was equipped with the devices to increase the pressure of the nitrogen vapour above the liquid nitrogen surface up to 1.2 MPa by the controlled heat and air exchange and to provide a vapour-liquid mixture at a rate of up to 20 grams of nitrogen per second into the main heat exchanger of the car.

The production of environmentally friendly vehicle chassis was completed by the specialists of the Laboratory of Racing Cars in KhNAHU.

The carrying system was a monocoque made of composite materials and similar to those applied in the planes of ultralight aviation, reinforced by a tubular steel subframe with the transmission borrowed from the motorized carriage «SMZ»; the braking system was dual-profile with a hydraulic drive of drum brake mechanisms.

At various times the project was carried out by the head of the laboratory I.V.  Lukashev, the engineer I.N. Kanischev, the assistant S. Kornaukh, the students  D. Eksperiandov  and  A. Chernyshev, the test pilot was the student  A. Clunnyi.

The cryomobile pre-tests were carried out applying compressed gas.      A standard tank of compressed nitrogen with 50 l and pressure of 15 MPa was used as an accumulator of operating gas. The input pressure in the pneumatic engine was limited up to 1.2 MPa by the reduction unit. During the pre-tests some races on cryomobile were performed, they showed that the existing power plant could provide running at a speed of 10 km / h.