one person water rocket powered cart

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diycool
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one person water rocket powered cart

Post by diycool »

Hi there,
Just wanted to share a small movie about a water rocket driven cart I made for my son.
Not very spectacular ( it performs exactly as calculated, but the end speed is limited of course).
It would be nice to learn some tips on how I could improve performance.
I don’t want to increase pressure too much for obvious safety reasons.
If the weather gets better I will redo the movie, with some better angles/close-ups.

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WasderRockets
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Re: one person water rocket powered cart

Post by WasderRockets »

Maybe you should try to use a bigger nozzle so you have a better acceleration. That will be a bit of work because you obviously can't use a hose/tubing that is smaller than the nozzle. With a bigger nozzle you "burn" your "fuel" faster so maybe you should take more water with you and maybe increase the air volume.
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anachronist
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Re: one person water rocket powered cart

Post by anachronist »

Way cool. It actually performs better than I expected before I watched the video. :)

If you used the pressurized water to drive a turbine that turned the wheels, it might be more efficient than using the water as thrust reaction mass.
diycool
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Re: one person water rocket powered cart

Post by diycool »

That is correct, driving a turbine would be much more efficient, but not as spectacular ....
There is indeed a lot of energy stored in the vessel, that is why I put a safety cage around it.
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anachronist
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Re: one person water rocket powered cart

Post by anachronist »

diycool wrote:That is correct, driving a turbine would be much more efficient, but not as spectacular
Well, I was thinking the water could drive a turbine and provide thrust, in a similar fashion as the exhaust in a turbofan jet engine drives the fan as well as providing thrust. After all, the turbine isn't going to extract all the energy from the water.
diycool
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Re: one person water rocket powered cart

Post by diycool »

Ok, now I got it. That is a good idea : same effect but we could reach a higher speed.
Thanx!
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thampson
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Re: one person water rocket powered cart

Post by thampson »

HI, Im a little late to this but save as much weight as you can. Also maybe replace those wheels with 26" bike wheels, much lighter and less rolling resistance. :)

Nice project !!
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