Mechanical KERS for Automotive Applications

Abstract Mechanical Kinetic Energy Restoration System captures and stores energy that is otherwise lost during vehicle deceleration events. As the vehicle slows, kinetic energy is recovered through the KERS which is connected to the driveline of the vehicle and stored by accelerating a mechanical flywheel. As the vehicle gathers speed, energy is released from the flywheel, via the KERS CVT, back into the driveline. Using this KERS energy to accelerate the vehicle in place of energy from the engine reduces engine fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Keywords Downsizing, Kinetic energy, Flywheel, Toroidal CVT,

convert this to electricity using an electric motor, transform the electricity from one voltage to another and finally transform electricity to chemical potential energy in a battery. To return energy to the wheels for acceleration each of these processes must be reversed. Each transformation brings its own losses and the overall efficiency is poor compared to mechanical storage. The energy stored in the flywheel can also be calculated by equation 2:-

I. INTRODUCTION Recently, the demand for reducing the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions has increased significantly. Automotive manufacturers are pursuing weight reduction, high power density driving systems and cleaner exhaust. These may be achieved by intelligent driving and engine systems or utilizing the energy that is otherwise wasted. Among such systems, the kinetic energy restoration systems attracts much attention in improving fuel economy and reducing exhaust emissions. A kinetic energy restoration system (hereafter abbreviated as KERS) is a mechanism that harness the kinetic energy of a moving vehicle during deceleration or braking which is otherwise would have wasted in the form of heat, and converts it into another form. It can be used immediately or stored for later use. The kinetic energy can be stored in many forms such as, chemically in batteries, electrically in a group of capacitors called ultra-capacitors, mechanically in a flywheel. II. PRINCIPLE OF KERS A vehicle possesses kinetic energy when it is moving with a velocity v. This kinetic energy during braking, is converted into heat by the friction brakes and dissipated to atmosphere. Thus the kinetic energy is wasted. The approximate kerb weight of an Indian passenger car is 1000 kg. If the vehicle is moving at 40 kmph. When brake is applied the vehicle decelerates and comes to rest. The kinetic energy lost during braking can be calculated by equation 1:-

E=
I- moment of inertia of rotating mass (flywheel) in kg m2 - Angular velocity of flywheel in rad/s The flywheel is connected to the vehicle by a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and control of energy storage or recovery is managed by an electro hydraulic control system. A clutch allows disengagement of the device when not in use. Figure 1 describes the system schematically:-

Fig. 1 Schematic of Mechanical KERS

KE =
m- Mass of vehicle in kg, v- Velocity in m/s. In this case the energy lost is approximately 60 KJ. This can be stored in a flywheel as kinetic energy in a rotating flywheel. This method of storage eliminates the need to transform energy from one type to another. For example, electrical KERS systems must take the vehicle kinetic energy,

III. SYSTEM COMPONENTS 1. FLYWHEEL From equation 2, the energy stored in the flywheel is proportional to single multiple of rotating inertia mass and the square of speed in radians per second. In order to reduce the weight and package size, it is possible to use high speed low inertia flywheels to store much energy as low speed high inertia flywheels.

It is possible and suitable to use a low inertia flywheels at very high speeds upto 60,000 rpm. At tips the flywheel speed is greater than the speed of sound in air. The action of the flywheel against air will cause friction, and hence efficiency losses, as well as heating the flywheel rim. To optimize efficiency, the flywheel runs in a vacuum and is enclosed within a housing that provides containment in the event of failure. 2. CONTINUOUS VARIABLE TRANSMISSION with FULL TOROIDAL VARIATOR The transfer of vehicle kinetic energy to flywheel kinetic energy can be seen as a momentum exchange. Energy is drawn from the vehicle and supplied to the flywheel. In doing this, the speed of the vehicle reduces, (effectively this is braking), whilst the speed of the flywheel increases. At the start of braking the vehicle has a high speed and the flywheel a low speed, giving a certain gear ratio between them. At the end of braking the vehicle has a low speed, and the flywheel a high speed, so the ratio of speeds has changed. The ratio between vehicle speed and flywheel speed necessarily changes continuously during the energy transfer event. To cope with the continuous change of ratio between Flywheel and road-wheels, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) is used. A higher ratio will tend to cause the flywheel to speed up, and thus the road wheels to slow down, resulting in a transfer of kinetic energy. The same is true in reverse, so forcing a lower ratio will cause the flywheel speed to reduce, road-wheel speed to increase, so an energy transfer takes place which accelerates the vehicle. A full toroidal CVT offers many advantages to achieve those requirements. The full toroidal variator has the widest ratio range of all CVTs. It is torque controlled instead of the conventional ratio control, which has a number of benefits including providing faster response. The operating principle of the full-toroidal traction drive Variator is described in Figure 2. The flywheel is connected to the input discs (1) and power is transmitted via the rollers (2) to the output discs (3). When the rotational velocities of the input and/or output discs change, the rollers automatically alter their inclination in order to adjust to the new operating conditions (4). Power transmission is achieved by traction, i.e. by shearing an extremely thin, elastohydrodynamic fluid film (traction fluid [3]) and not through metal-to-metal friction. Hence the name 'traction drive', which is defined in [4] as: a power transmission device which utilizes hardened, metallic, rolling bodies for transmission of power through an elasto-hydrodynamic fluid film.

Fig. 2 Full toroidal Variator schematic The angle of the roller determines the ratio of the CVT, so any change in the angle of the roller results in a change in the ratio. So, with the roller at a small radius (near the center) on the input disc and at a large radius (near the edge) on the output disc the CVT produces a low ratio. Moving the roller across the discs to a large radius at the input disc and corresponding low radius at the output produces the high ratio, and provides the full ratio sweep in a smooth, continuous manner.

Fig.3 Mechanism of ratio change Although ratio changes are accomplished by tilting the power rollers, it is not done by applying force to them directly. Rather, the rollers are tilted by using force produced by the discs that acts to tilt the rollers when they move vertically from their central axis. Using this force generated by the discs, which are rotating at high speed, allows the rollers to be tilted instantly with minimal movement and force, making it possible to obtain remarkably quick ratio change response. This results in linear acceleration and deceleration in response

IV. COMPARISON OF STORAGE DEVICES Though many forms of storage devices such as batteries, ultra-capacitors are available, the flywheel storage system offers, high transmission efficiency upto 89% on both directions. It also provides great cycle durability, high operating temperature range and quick response. Unlike electrical KERS, flywheel based mechanical KERS eliminates power conversion and transmission losses. This gives a leading edge to the flywheel system. Also its power density is very high, where as in electrical storage systems the weight of the battery becomes high which is a main drawback in application to passenger cars. V. MOTORSPORT APPLICATIONS For the 2009 racing season, the FIA (Federation Internationale LAutomobile) have authorized hybrid drivetrains for Formula 1 racing with the clear objective of using the engineering resources of the Formula 1 community to develop hybrid technology for use not only in motorsport but also mainstream automotive applications. To this end, the specification of the hybrid systems has been kept to a minimum in particular, the type of hybrid system has purposefully not been specified. This open specification has succeeded in its objective and has led to the study and development of various alternatives to the prevalent electrical hybrids. With a focus on safety, the FIA have specified a limit on both the power rating of the hybrid system at 60kW and the quantity of energy transfer per lap at 400kJ. Although at first this appears a relatively small amount of power and energy with respect to the energy available in a vehicle slowing from over 200mph at over 5g, it is entirely appropriate when one considers the weight of the F1 car (~600kg) and the power already available (in excess of 550kW). Regarding the mainstream automotive sector, the 60kW / 400kJ figures readily transfer providing significant benefits when applied to road cars. In addition, the system can only recover, store and reapply vehicle kinetic energy energy that would otherwise have been wasted under braking i.e. the hybrid system cannot be charged by the engine directly. This requirement has led to the designation of KERS or Kinetic Energy Recovery System. Flybrid Systems and Torotrak (Development) Ltd have developed a flywheel based KERS with a carbon filament flywheel of 20cm diameter, which is kept in a vacuum container to reduce the aerodynamic drag. In 2009, mechanical KERS were used by Williams Racing Team. The control of the KERS is given to the driver. The driver can choose when to release energy from the flywheel, to give an acceleration boost to split stream a racer, to gain or hold the position while racing. The energy release from the flywheel lasts long for 6 seconds providing an additional power of 60 KW for acceleration. Though, it is used for solely racing, it did gave 20% fuel economy in formula-1 cars without affecting the performance of the engine. This lead to the

development of the mechanical KERS for mainstream and commercial automotive applications. VI. AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS 1. FUEL ECONOMY When the car accelerates suddenly from rest, it uses rich fuel mixture which emits more amount of carbon monoxide CO, due to the deficiency of oxygen in rich mixture. Also the engine consumes more fuel than it usually requires to give the same power output. This also occurs also during progressive acceleration of the vehicle in a small extent. Using the kinetic energy stored in the flywheel to accelerate the vehicle will give more power to the vehicle to accelerate. As the vehicle getting more power from the KERS, it only needed to produce less power to provide the vehicle a normal acceleration, thus consumes less fuel. When flywheel energy is re-applied to the car in order to accelerate it, it can be either used in place of engine power, or combined with it. Thus the proportion of flywheel power used to accelerate the vehicle can vary from zero (hybrid switched off) through 50% (half hybrid, half main vehicle engine) to 100% (vehicle engine is switched off). The maximum energy can be stored in the flywheel is usually 400 MJ. This energy is approximately 20-25% of the energy required to accelerate the vehicle from rest to a speed of 40 kmph. This 25% additional power means 25% less power needed from engine. This saves nearly 25% of fuel consumption during acceleration. In India, where frequent stop and start happens while driving, 25% savings in the fuel consumption during starting from rest, means a lot to the drivers. Passenger cars require a compact KERS, whereas trucks and heavy vehicles require larger and more powerful KERS. It can work more efficiently in trucks, because of its kinetic energy. 2. DOWNSIZING OF ENGINE Downsizing of internal combustion engines means reducing the displacement, speed, size, and weight, without affecting its power and performance characteristics. Application of KERS in passenger cars, provides additional power of about 10 to 15 KW. Thus the engine is needed to produce less power. In congested traffic driving conditions, the kinetic energy storage and release happens frequently. And also the vehicle could not reach higher speeds in cities and highly traffic areas. For this conditions the high power engines are not necessary. The KERS provide the additional necessary power to accelerate the vehicle. So, it is possible to use a downsized and low power output engine for passenger cars and hybrid vehicles. The engines may be provided with a turbocharger. The turbocharger increases the power output of a stock engine

with a minimal increase in weight, approximately 0.5-1 kg. By providing turbochargers and KERS the engine can be downsized. For example, a 1.6 litre engine provided with a turbocharger and KERS, can produce power and torque equal to a 2.4 litre engine without a turbocharger and KERS. This downsizing substantially reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. It also increases the efficiency of the engine and drive trains. VII. CONCLUSION The key advantages of mechanical flywheel hybrid systems are; low weight, high power, high efficiency, but in spite of these key advantages the most attractive quality for road car applications is cost. The kinetic energy stored during a braking action, must be recovered in the next accelerating period. If the vehicle comes to a complete halt the energy stored in the flywheel becomes unusable. Also at the time of staring the vehicle, there would be no energy stored in the flywheel. So, initially the vehicle depends upon the power provided by the engine only. Though these are the drawbacks of this system, compared with the performance and savings provided during normal driving cycles, the final and initial energy losses can be neglected. Table 1 Fuel economy of a compact car with and without KERS Configuration 1.6 TDI Diesel 1.6 TDI Diesel+KERS 1.2 TDI Diesel 1.2 TDI Diesel+KERS Fuel consumption 3.81 3.16 3.66 3.04 CO2 [g/km] 99.2 82.4 95.4 79.2

From Table 1, it is clear that there is increase in fuel economy and reduced exhaust emissions. When compared to other kinetic energy restoration systems, the flywheel based systems provide a wide range of applications, low cost, less weight, and high transmission efficiency. The mechanical KERS can be used for commercial passenger cars and trucks for improving fuel economy and reducing the exhaust emissions. VIII. REFERENCES [1] A. Boretti., Turbocharged and Downsized Ice and Kers Boost, World Journal of Modelling and Simulation (2013). [2] Iain James Dynamic Performance Analysis of a Full Toroidal IVT,