Engineering Colloquium Home
Schedule including this lecture.
Goddard Space Flight Center Engineering Colloquium
Date:
This presentation reviews the progress made toward the development of a liquid nitrogen (or liquid air) powered vehicle as a means of reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Two groups (The University of North Texas and The University of Washington) have successfully made prototype vehicles that demonstrate the proof of principal, and their investigations into differing thermodynamic cycles for the application to automotive propulsion are presented. The researchers conclude that liquid nitrogen powered vehicles have potential for performance superior to electric vehicles.
Mitty Plummer received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and his Masters of Engineering and PhD in Nuclear Engineering, all from Texas A&M University. He started his career with General Electric Co. at the SEFOR test reactor. After four years with GE, he began work with small consulting firms and then founded his own company, Transitek. The main purpose of these businesses was consulting to the Nuclear Power Industry. Dr. Plummer sold Transitek to Nutech where he worked as Executive Director of Testing for 6 years. Dr. Plummer then consulted to Pacific Gas and Electric for 3 years on matters related to turbine blades at the Geysers Geothermal Power Plants. Next Dr Plummer moved to Sierra Nuclear Corp. where he served as Vice President until 1992. At that time he joined the University of North Texas as an associate professor where he has managed a remote operation at the Comanche Peak Power Station in which the University delivers courses leading to a Bachelors degree in Engineering Technology. In 1996 Dr. Plummer and two other researchers built a liquid nitrogen powered automobile as a proof of principle of the power available from cryogenic sources. His other research interests include development of distance learning technologies. On the personal side, Dr. Plummer has two adult sons and is an avid hunter of birds and deer. He is a member of the ASME, the ASEE, and the ANS.
Colloquium Committee Sponsor: Brent Warner
Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov