Comparison of different vehicle power trains (original) (raw)
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Natural resources forum, 2001
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Analysis of fuel cell hybrid locomotives
Journal of Power Sources, 2006
Led by Vehicle Projects LLC, an international industry-government consortium is developing a 109tonne, 1.2-MW road-switcher locomotive for commercial and military railway applications. As part of the feasibility and conceptual-design analysis, we have analyzed the potential benefits of a hybrid powerplant in which fuelcells comprise the prime mover, and a rechargeable auxiliary power device, such as a battery or flywheel, supplements peak power. Potential benefits of a hybrid powerplant are (1) enhancement of transient power and hence tractive effort, (2) regenerative braking, and (3) reduction of capital cost. Generally, tractive effort of a locomotive at low speed is limited by wheel adhesion and not by available power. Enhanced transient power is therefore unlikely to benefit a switcher locomotive but could benefit applications, such as subway trains with all axles powered, requiring high acceleration. In most cases, the benefits of regeneration in locomotives are minimal. For low-speed applications such as switchers, the available kinetic energy and the effectiveness of traction motors as generators are low. For high-speed heavy applications such as freight, the ability of the auxiliary power device to absorb a significant portion of the available kinetic energy is low. Moreover, the hybrid powerplant suffers a double efficiency penalty: Losses occur in both absorbing and then releasing energy from the auxiliary device, which result in a net storage efficiency of no more than 50% for current battery technology. Capital cost in some applications may be reduced. Based on an observed locomotive duty cycle, a cost model utilized in this project shows that a hybrid powerplant for a switcher may indeed reduce capital cost. However, offsetting this potential benefit are increased complexity, weight, and volume of the powerplant and 20-40% increased fuel consumption resulting from lower efficiency. Based on this analysis, the consortium has decided to develop a pure fuelcell road-switcher locomotive, that is, not a hybrid.
Railway Engineering Science
Diesel fuel combustion results in exhaust containing air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Many railway vehicles use diesel fuel as their energy source. Exhaust emissions, as well as concerns about economical, alternative power supply, have driven efforts to move to hydrogen motive power. Hydrogen fuel cell technology applied to railways offers the opportunity to eliminate harmful exhaust emissions and the potential for a low- or zero-emission energy supply chain. Currently, only multiple-unit trains with hydrail technology operate commercially. Development of an Integrated Hybrid Train Simulator for intercity railway is presented. The proposed tool incorporates the effect of powertrain components during the wheel-to-tank process. Compared to its predecessors, the proposed reconfigurable tool provides high fidelity with medium requirements and minimum computation time. Single train simulation and the federal government’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use i...
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 2013
This paper analyses the results of the Royal Automobile Clubhallo's 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge, an annual motoring challenge in which participants seek to consume the least energy possible while driving a 92 km route from Brighton to London in the UK. The results reveal that the vehicle's power train type has the largest impact on energy consumption and emissions. The traction ratio, defined as the fraction of time spent on the accelerator in relation to the driving time, and the amount of regenerative braking have a significant effect on the individual energy consumption of vehicles. In contrast, the average speed does not have a great effect on a vehicles' energy consumption in the range 25-70 km/h.
Energy Procedia, 2015
Synthetic fuels based on electricity, water, and carbon dioxide (CO 2) may be necessary to cover the fuel demand in a sustainable transport sector based on renewable energy sources. The aim of this paper is to compare hydrogen, methane, methanol and diesel produced in this way. The main parameters for the analysis are well to wheel energy efficiency and costs, and the fuels are analysed in a Swedish context. The results indicate that methane and diesel could have the potential to be cost competitive in the near term, at least if common incentives for renewable transportation fuels are applied. Moreover, that hydrogen is the best option in terms of well to wheel energy efficiency, and that it in the longer term also may be cost competitive to the other fuels.
Energy Conversion and Management, 2025
This comprehensive study provides a detailed Well to Wheels (WTW) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of various Heavy-duty Vehicles (HDVs) including a Long-Haul Truck (LHT), Intercity Bus (ICB), and Refuse Truck (RT) powered by different energy sources and fuels including electricity, hydrogen, methanol, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), and Low Sulphur (LS) diesel for benchmarking. The findings show that Hydrogen from renewable sources offers the lowest WTW CO2, CH4, and NOx emissions, though its production is energy intensive. Methanol and hydrogen from Natural Gas (NG) exhibit the highest emissions due to high fuel consumption and energy intensive production processes. LNG shows lower CO2 and NOx emissions compared to LS diesel but higher CH4 emissions, necessitating improvements in LNG production. Electrically powered HDVs, despite reducing NOx emissions, produce comparable CO2 and higher CH4 emissions due to the current global electricity mix. Amongst the studied HDV types, RTs exhibit the highest WTW CO2 and energy consumption due to frequent stops and idling, while LHTs show the lowest emissions and energy consumption. LNG-fuelled RT and LHT reduce WTW CO2 emissions by 8% and 5.6%, and NOx emissions by around 31% and 33%, respectively, compared to LS diesel. The study underscores the need for tailored solutions based on HDV type, advancements in renewable energy infrastructure, and supportive policies to facilitate the transition to sustainable fuel technologies. Focus on developing infrastructure for production of hydrogen from renewable sources, supporting innovations in energy efficient fuel production technologies, and the need for enhancing energy efficiency of vehicular powertrain to achieve a sustainable HDV sector are also highlighted.
SAE Technical Paper Series, 2006
A fuel-cycle model-called the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model-has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory to evaluate well-to-wheels (WTW) energy and emission impacts of motor vehicle technologies fueled with various transportation fuels. The new GREET version has up-to-date information regarding energy use and emissions for fuel production activities and vehicle operations. In this study, a complete WTW evaluation targeting energy use, greenhouse gases (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O), and typical criteria air pollutants (VOC, NO X and PM 10 ) includes the following fuel options -gasoline, diesel and hydrogen; and the following vehicle technologies -spark-ignition engines with or without hybrid configurations, compression-ignition engines with hybrid configurations, and hydrogen fuel cells with hybrid configurations. Based on the detailed up-to-date data, probability-based distribution functions for key input parameters regarding WTP activities and vehicle operations were built into GREET to address the uncertainties of energy use and emissions. The WTW analysis shows that advanced vehicle/fuel systems achieve reductions in energy use, GHG emissions and criteria pollutant emissions compared to baseline gasoline vehicles by 1) improved vehicle fuel economy, 2) declined tailpipe/evaporative vehicle emissions, and/or 3) differences in fuel production pathways.
Railway Engineering Science
A near-term strategy to reduce emissions from rail vehicles, as a path to full electrification for maximal decarbonisation, is to partially electrify a route, with the remainder of the route requiring an additional self-powered traction option. These rail vehicles are usually powered by a diesel engine when not operating on electrified track and are referred to as bi-mode vehicles. This paper analyses the benefits of discontinuous electrification compared to continuous electrification using the CO2 estimates from a validated high-fidelity bi-mode (diesel-electric) rail vehicle model. This analysis shows that 50% discontinuous electrification provides a maximum of 54% reduction in operational CO2 emissions when compared to the same length of continuously electrified track. The highest emissions savings occurred when leaving train stations where vehicles must accelerate quickly to line speed. These results were used to develop a linear regression model for fast estimation of CO2 emiss...
Journal of Power Sources, 2006
Published data from various sources are used to perform economic and environmental comparisons of four types of vehicles: conventional, hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel cell. The production and utilization stages of the vehicles are taken into consideration. The comparison is based on a mathematical procedure, which includes normalization of economic indicators (prices of vehicles and fuels during the vehicle life and driving range) and environmental indicators (greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions), and evaluation of an optimal relationship between the types of vehicles in the fleet. According to the comparison, hybrid and electric cars exhibit advantages over the other types. The economic efficiency and environmental impact of electric car use depends substantially on the source of the electricity. If the electricity comes from renewable energy sources, the electric car is advantageous compared to the hybrid. If electricity comes from fossil fuels, the electric car remains competitive only if the electricity is generated on board. It is shown that, if electricity is generated with an efficiency of about 50-60% by a gas turbine engine connected to a high-capacity battery and an electric motor, the electric car becomes advantageous. Implementation of fuel cells stacks and ion conductive membranes into gas turbine cycles permits electricity generation to increase to the above-mentioned level and air pollution emissions to decrease. It is concluded that the electric car with on-board electricity generation represents a significant and flexible advance in the development of efficient and ecologically benign vehicles.