| THE KAMIKAZE REGULATOR RP 220
KAMIKAZE, the American mountain bike manufacturer who pioneered the idea
of bicycle speed record s down speed ski runs with their original 160.001
record at Les Arcs in March 1994, has moved away from the steep slopes
to the flat to achieve higher speeds and new records. Leaving behind their
gravity powered speed record attempts with the KL08, KAMIKAZE has developed
a new high tech bicycle capable of speeds of 250km/h on the flat.
Always looking to push the limits out further in search of speed, BERNIE
SCHREIBER, former World Motorcycle Trials Champion and creator of the
KAMIKAZE bicycle brand, has teamed up with his Swiss distributor CLAUDE
JAN of CILO SA and Geneva based engineer ARNOLD NERACHER of THERMO EXOTIC
ENGINEERING to replace gravity with rocket power. The KAMIKAZE REGULATOR
RP 220 has a high tech rocket engine that produces 550 horse power at
220km/h attached just under the saddle. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE H2O2 is the
potent fuel used to power the compact engine that potentially can propel
the bicycle and its pilot to speeds of 250km/h in just 6 seconds,
if he can hang on.
ROCKET POWER
KAMIKAZE has commissioned Swiss chemical engineer Arnold Neracher of Thermo
Exotic Engineering to develop rocket propulsion power for the mountain
bike.
He has designed a small rocket engine that is capable of producing up
to 550 horse power using hydrogen peroxide fuel that will propel the bicycle
and its rider to speeds in excess of 200 km/h.
The Geneva based engineer already has his name in the Guiness Book of
Records for the development of Water Thunder, a water vapour powered rocket
car that develops 15 000 horse power and a World Speed Record of 343.52
km/h in only 200 meters and can accelerate to 460 km/h in 2.12 seconds!
WHY HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ?
Hydrogen peroxide H2O2 contains a tremendous amount of available energy,
yet is stable when stored in clean, compatible containers. However, when
contact is made with a catalyser, it decomposes and produces, by
exothermic reaction, huge quantities of superheated oxygen gas and steam.
Hydrogen peroxide is a monopropellant fuel, meaning that it only requires
one element to induce decomposition, such as copper, silver or a ceramic.
Using it as fuel for rocket engines is as simple as feeding the hydrogen
peroxide through the right catalyst bed under pressure, the decomposition
creates losts of gas which, as it escapes through the
proper nozzle shape, produces thrust.
Hydrogen peroxide was first used as a propellant for submarine torpedoes
and during WW II the Messeschmitt ME-163 German fighter plane was prooduced.
In 1961 the X-15 hydrogen peroxide rocket aircraft reached a speed of
4000 mph and the potent fuel was used in the James Bond film "Thunderball"
when 007 escaped from the bad guys using a hydrog=ABn peroxide rocket
belt which had been developed by Bell Aircraft. Since then several dragster
rocket cars have used hydrogen peroxide power
units, but the KAMIKAZE REGULATOR RP 220 is the first bicycle to have
such an engine.
REGULATOR RP 220 POWER UNIT
The rocket engine on the REGULATOR RP 220 is made up of a fuel tank attached
along the top tube, with a smaller tank containing pressurised nitrogen
underneath the top tube. The nitrogen is used to pass the hydrogen peroxide
under pressure into the combustion chamber which is a
long nozzle behind the saddle. The amounts of fuel that passes into the
nozzle can be regulated by the adjusting the pressure of the nitrogen-the
gauges and hydrogen peroxide enters the nozzle it passes through a ceramic
or silver grill which causes the reaction to produce
the thrust gases. The seat tube would normally pass through the engine,
so a special mounting had to be made so that the saddle could be fitted
to the top of power unit.
The engine is turned on and off using a button switch next to the right
hand grip on the handlebar. When the button is pressed the hydrogen peroxide
is passed into the rocket nozzle and when it is released the fuel is cut
off immediately. To obtain stability before engaging the rocket engine
the pilot will pedal the REGULATOR RP 220 to 30km/h.
ROCKET ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS
Fuel: Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 85% Monopropellant
Catalyser: Ceramic or Silver grill
Monopropellant Consumption: 100g/sec to 1kg/sec
Thrust: adjustable from 100 N to 1000 N (550 hp)
Fuel Reservoir: 6 litres
Duration of propulsion: 6 seconds at maximum boost pressure
Pressurisation: Nitrogen at 40 bars
Ignition: by button on handlebar
Adjustable Mountings: fixed points on top tube, by the headset and saddle
Weight: 12.4kg rocket engine with fuel tank
2/0kg rocket engine only
Weight of fuel: max 8kg
Speed of ejection of gas: 3600km/h
Temperature of gas: 780=A1C |