MODELLING AND OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS TO ENHANCE LOCAL AIR QUALITY USING SEGREGATED AND HIGH PRIORITY ROUTES FOR

HYBRID ELECTRIC BUSES A CASE STUDY OF SO PAULO CITY, BRAZIL

Jos M. Marquez, PhD, MIET

Scott Wilson Ltd - UK Transport Technology and Systems Senior Consultant Jose.Marquez@scottwilson.com

Keywords: Air quality, Hybrid Electric Buses, priority routes Abstract A Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) model has been developed to simulate and compare HE Buses (HEB) to conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered buses, according to their performance, emissions and fuel consumption in real traffic drive cycles. Different characteristics of HEB in several scenarios and transport strategies were simulated over several route choices in the UK and in the city of So Paulo, Brazil. A case study as well was carried out in So Paulo, as part of the city Integrated Transport System Project which should comply with the So Paulos Air Quality Management Strategy to improve air quality within the city. 1 Introduction A realistic scenario has been drawn by government authorities and environmental protection agencies towards emissions reduction in urban centres. Despite environmental programmes [8] have been sponsored by governmental funds with the objective to measure and analyse the effects of new fuel properties and vehicle technologies, very few has been done to increase public transport participation as a solution to reduce exhaust emissions within our cities [1]. The vehicle industry, nevertheless, it has to be admitted, has mobilised effort and resources to reach environmental limits fixed by the Kyoto protocol in order to meet emission reduction targets [2]. Local transport authorities, however, have not addressed, so far, the continuing increase of number of cars circulating in our cities and the way suitable public transport should be implemented to improve peoples health conditions. [7] There is strong evidence that emissions are related to health hazards, premature deaths and hospital admissions due to lung and cardiovascular diseases [12]. In the UK, urban pollution has been blamed to claim thousands of premature deaths and also millions of hospital admission due to cardiac and lung diseases [6]. The British Thoracic Institute 2007 report stated that pulmonary diseases were the cause of 27,000 deaths

and more than one million hospital admissions in 2004 [3]. A bigger role, therefore, played by public transport in our cities in order to improve air quality has been the challenge for local transport authorities. 2 Hybrid electric propulsion technologies Electric Vehicles (EV) are energy efficient and produce zero local atmospheric pollution. Their limited range and lack of supporting infrastructure, nevertheless, have been the reason that hinders their public acceptance [11]. On the other hand, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) have the same range as conventional petrol or diesel vehicles with less damaging impact to the environment. HEV for public transport purposes, as well, has lower investment and running costs compared to EV. One of the advantages is the fact that HEV do not need overhead wires as energy supply making them route flexible and autonomous because they produce their own energy [2]. HEV are built with a prime motor unit (PMU), which can be a fuel cell or a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) coupled to an electric generator. This strategy implies the need of a smaller ICE compared to conventional vehicles resulting, however, in fuel consumption savings and emission reductions [14]. The PMU is combined to an energy storage unit (ESU), which can be a battery pack, flywheel or ultracapacitors, providing energy to the electric traction motors on the axle. The ESU energy is mainly used to accelerate the vehicle and to store the brake energy recovery [14]. HEV, nevertheless, is projected to keep the same vehicle performances when compared to conventional petrol and diesel vehicles The most famous HEV for private use, Toyota Prius, has claimed to achieve 60 mpg in the summer and 50 mpg in the winter running on normal drive cycles which is a combination of traffic and highway driving [10]. A conventional Honda petrol car with a 1.3l engine, roughly, the same engine size of a Toyota Prius,

achieves about 49 mpg which is about 20% fuel consumption less efficient than the Prius [5]. 3 Hybrid Electric Vehicle Simulation The HEV power train mitigates the limits of the battery powered EV on mileage range and performance [[14]. Therefore, Series and Parallels HEV have attracted increasing attention with demonstrations of proof of ideas that include several types of PMU, such as, Fuel Cells or conventional ICE. New diesel buses, however, are now substantially cleaner than diesel buses before Emission Standard Legislations were adopted around the world. Diesel buses have also benefited in reduced emission levels because of the use of oxidation catalysts (lower PM), cleaner fuels and improved engine controls [12]. Several manufacturers have developed Hybrid Electric Buses (HEB) beyond the experimental stage using sophisticated diesel engine technologies. Those buses show the significant improvement in fuel consumption savings About 20% for Nova-Allison Hybrid Diesel and 30% for Orion-LMCS Diesel in the USA, and 25% for Eletra in Brazil. Those HEB presented lower emissions compared to conventional diesel buses on a low average speed drive cycle [12,9,4] The HEV transmission model is shown in Figure 1.
HEB Diesel Vehicle

The HEV Model has been created for public transport purposes running on a real city centre drive cycle. Control strategy development, energy storage unit optimisations, traction motor and engine selection, fuel consumption and emissions prediction can be undertaken using the model. As shown in Figure 2, the model has been simulated in Matlab using Simulink tools to model the vehicle and its components allowing accurate analyses of the results.
HEV Diesel Vehicle

Figure 2 HEB and Diesel Bus Matlab Model The HEV Model simulation is based on a given drive cycle and vehicle configurations in which the energy and power demands, vehicles performance, driving range, fuel consumption and emissions are calculated. The HEV Model can use data of speed and acceleration and deceleration from a real urban centre route modelled in the computer simulation package VISSIM developed by PTV Karlsruhe where transport and traffic strategies are simulated. The drive cycle data can be modelled in VISSIM which simulates the stochastic features of traffic flow in real-time including vehicle behaviour. The first requirement is to find out the traffic bottleneck or a busy transport corridor in which pollution inflicts concern in the city. 4 Case Study

Electric current demand

Energy Management Control Model

Power demand

PMU Model

Demand current Vehicle Model

% of charge and voltage

Engine speed and Power

ESU Model

Fuel consumption and Emissions of the Hybrid Vehicle

Torque Motor speed Diesel Engine Model Engine speed and power Fuel consumption and Emissions of the Diesel Vehicle

Figure 1 HEV transmission model The model, here called the HEV Model, developed as part of this study simulates vehicle performance and enables analysis and comparison of fuel consumption and emissions between HEV and ICE vehicles.

The So Paulo Transportes (SPTrans), company responsible for the public transport management of the municipality of the city of So Paulo in Brazil, has been conducting a project of segregated corridors for improving public transport within the city centre. The project called Expresso Tiradentes (Tiradentes Express) has capacity for 25,000 passengers per hour per direction and is committed to promoting environmental solutions for So Paulo city.

So Paulo has high levels of pollutants concentration in the air due to transport. Initially, the project involved electric trolleybuses to reduce emissions within the city. SPTrans, however, advised the municipal government that the use of hybrid electric buses on these corridors was a cheaper alternative compared to trolley buses. This alternative was subjected to the Brazilian National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES in Portuguese) which has been funding the So Paulo Integrated Public Transport Plan, because of the strict environmental characteristics of the project. BNDES required an independent study to give evidence that HEB has fewer emissions than diesel buses and could in fact promote fuel consumption savings. The HEV Model, therefore, was used to study two different scenarios for public transport corridors using several HEB strategies. The HEV Model used a Brazilian HEB power train solution manufactured by Eletra Industrial Ltda because of SPTrans requirements and because since 1999 Eletra was transporting passengers on HEB prototypes on a commercial basis in the city of So Bernardo do Campo, which is part of the Greater So Paulo. The HEV Model diagram strategy, shown in Figure 3, demonstrates the energy demands for accelerating the HEB up to the maximum speed within determined distances between stops using the ESU (battery pack) for supplementary energy on acceleration and brake energy recovery on braking.
DC Link converter Source: Eletra Industrial Ltda [9]

Figure 4 Power controller strategy

These changes are listed below Engine idles when the batteries percentage of charge reaches 100%; When the vehicle is braking the engine idles keeping minimum power and speed. This solution counts for emissions and fuel consumption but the current produced by the coupled engine-generator does not charge the batteries. The engine current during braking is diverged to a resistors pack. The resistors pack wastes the current in the form of heat which can be used in the winter for heating the bus; Although the Eletra HEB is equipped with air-conditioning, this alternative has not been simulated due to the fact that the conventional diesel buses do not have this equipment; Motor current is limited to about 100 Amps because of lead-acid batteries charging characteristics. all

primary power source

energy storage unit

converter

SPTrans and Eletra Industrial established characteristics of the HEB as shown in Table 1. HEB weight and capacity HEB unloaded (tonne) Capacity (7 pass/m )
2

converter Drive motor/ generators converter

HEB 12 m 12.3 100 6.5 15 m 15.5 125 8.125 18 m 19.0 170 11.05

Figure 3 Hybrid Electric Vehicle transmission system The power control in the Management Unit Model had to be changed slightly to respond with the same energy control strategy proposed by Eletra as shown in Figure 4.

Average total pass. weight (65 kgf/pass) (tonne) HEB loaded (tonne)
Source: Eletra Industrial [9]

18.8

23.6

30.1

Table 1 Load capacity of HEB

4.1

Vehicles characteristics

Eletra and SPTrans provided the HEB and diesel buses characteristics that were used as input of the HEV Model shown in Table 2.
HEB/Eletra 12 metres low floor 60 120 / 3600 240 / 1800 60 / 2.200 3600 / 60 HEB/Eletra 15 metres low floor 60 150 / 3600 300 / 1800 90 / 1800 3600 / 60 HEB/Eletra 18 metres low floor 60 180 / 3600 360 / 1800 120 / 1600 3600 / 60

The HEB weight took into consideration the average between a conventional diesel bus and an equivalent low floor diesel bus equipped with air-conditioned which can weigh between 2 and 4 tonnes more than a conventional diesel bus. 4.2 Road characteristics

Characteristics

Operational maximum speed (km/h) Nominal motor power (kW / rpm) Maximum motor power (kW / rpm) Operational power of diesel engine (kW / rpm) Maximum motor speed (RPM / km/h) Maximum operational diesel engine constant speed (rpm) Minimum operational diesel engine constant speed (rpm) Motor efficiency (%) Maximum energy stored (lead-acid batteries) (Ah) Battery efficiency for brake energy recovery (%) Maximum energy stored (lead-acid batteries) (kWh)

The two transport corridors studied have gradient almost 0% with very few slopes but not more than 200 m length. These particular routes were favourable for the use of HEB which has restrictions for long and accentuated upward slopes. In order to get the balance between the amount of energy stored and the size of the lead-acid battery pack, Eletra has opted to have a more powerful engine supplying power to the electric motor when it is needed on acceleration. The partially elevated and totally segregated transport corridor Parque D. Pedro II Sacom , shown in Figure 5, built specially for HEB is 16.093 km (10 miles) long. This corridor is built over a very busy area of So Paulo city which links the city centre with the southern part of the city.

2200

1800

1600

1000 93 46

1000 93 56

1000 93

D.
69

30

30

30

27

33 Diesel Buses

40

Characteristics

D12 / MBOF 1721 12 204 / 2600 150 / 2600 11.12

D15/ SCANIA L94 15 265 / 2000 200 / 2000 16.00

D18/MBO 400 UPA 18 300 / 1900 225 / 1900 17.50 Source: SPTrans [16]

Length (m) Diesel engine power (hp / rpm) Diesel engine power (kW / rpm) Diesel Bus unloaded (tonne) Diesel Bus loaded (tonne) Average fuel consumption (km per litre)

19.80

24.00

32.00

Figure 5 Corridor D. Pedro II Sacom The other corridor studied, So Joo Pirituba, is 27.694 km (17.2 miles) long, has few slopes, is not segregated and has interference with the traffic relying on bus-lanes and preferential schemes for public transport to keep the bus operational speed around 30 km/h.

2.5

1.9

1.4

Source: Eletra Industrial and SPTrans [9,15]

Table 2 Characteristics of HEB and diesel buses

4.3

Case study results

Apart from the 12 m HEB other simulations were run with different bus characteristics including bus length and engine power in order to give evidence to SPTrans which bus size and engine power is more suitable for both corridors. The simulation results of the 12 m HEB on Corridor Parque D. Pedro II Sacom, were included here due to the fact that this bus length was tested by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, and its results were compared with the HEB Model prediction for validation and to demonstrate how HEB were economic over diesel buses. The power output of the HEB diesel engine has reduced because the batteries achieved 100% recharge capacity and the bus is at the bus stop. The diesel engine idles in this situation for reducing fuel consumption and emissions, as shown in Figure 6. When the bus lives the stop, the engine power increases again up to the maximum, 60 kW, for generating electricity and helps the batteries accelerating the bus.
Diesel standard bus 12 m long (Diesel engine 150 kW) HEB standard bus 12 m long (Diesel engine 60 kW Motor 120 kW) Diesel Bus Hybrid Electric

The HEV Model has also demonstrated to be an useful tool to test different HEB characteristics in order to optimize its components providing balance between performance, fuel consumption and emissions. Tables 3 and 4 show the simulation results for three different types of buses.
HEB length HEB engine power (kW ) 60 12 m 50 40 15 m 90 60 18 m 120 90 Fuel consumption
litres savings (g)

Em issions CO
savings (g)

HC
savings (g)

NOx
savings (g)

PM
savings

7,0 7,2 6,4 9,7 8,2 12,6 11,0

27,4% 25,2% 33,0% 23,8% 35,6%

37,3 21,3 16,9 75,4 32,3

68% 82% 85% 67% 86% 29% 68%

24,7 23,7 22,2 32,0 26,7 41,0 34,9

32% 35% 39% 30% 42% 21% 33%

109,6 110,8 92,9 163,2 133,2 212,3 187,0

30% 30% 41% 19% 34% 8% 19%

3,5 2,7 2,0 7,5 4,4 8,2 6,1

68% 76% 82% 60% 77% 18% 39%

11,2% 172,6 23,0% 78,4

Table 3 Simulation results showing savings between HEB and conventional diesel bus on corridor D. Pedro II Sacom (10 miles)
HEB engine power (kW) 60 12 m 50 40 Fuel consumption
litres savings (g)

HEB length

Emissions CO
savings (g)

HC
savings (g)

NOx
savings (g)

PM
savings

13,5 14,0 12,5 19,1 15,8 25,2 21,4

29,0% 26,5% 33,9%

71,8 40,4 31,9

71% 84% 87% 71% 88% 35% 71%

48,1 46,4 43,4 63,3 51,7 84,5 62,0

35% 37% 41% 32% 44% 18% 40%

210,8 215,0 181,2 321,0 255,9 420,0 364,2

33% 32% 42% 21% 37% 10% 22%

6,8 5,2 3,4 16,0 8,3 16,5 11,8

76% 81% 88% 58% 78% 51% 65%

% of charge

PM (g)

15 m

90 60

26,1% 144,8 38,8% 61,0

18 m

120 90

12,7% 342,2 26% 151,2

CO (g)

HC (g)

Table 4 Simulation results showing savings between HEB and conventional diesel bus on corridor So Joo Pirituba (17.2 miles) 5 Conclusions

Fuel consumption (g)

NOx (g)

Figure 6 Comparison of fuel consumption and emission between 12 m HEB and conventional diesel bus Improvements were achieved due to the reduction of the HEB diesel engine and for operating at minimum specific fuel consumption. The greater effect on PM and CO emissions has been believed to be a function of operating a smaller engine on HEB near maximum efficiency for long period of time.

Although HEB investment costs can be higher than conventional diesel buses, Eletra showed evidence that HEB running costs are about 30% lower than conventional buses. This could lead to HEB lower present value compared to conventional diesel buses during the life cycle. The HEV Model results gave evidence to SPTrans and So Paulo municipal authorities that HEB are less environmentally damaging than conventional diesel buses and reduce considerable fuel consumption. For SPTrans, which manages 14,000 diesel buses using more than 10 public transport operators in So Paulo city, fuel consumption and emissions have become one of its main concerns. So Paulo is one of the most polluted cities in South America and transport projects which do not apply environmental measures have not been fully accepted and funded by the Brazilian government.

Therefore, SPTrans used the HEV Model results to convince the Brazilian federal bank BNDES of the advantages of investing in Hybrid Electric Technology for public transport. In October 2003, BNDES agreed to finance the second part of the Integrated Transport Plan for So Paulo city SPTrans, therefore, ordered 15 HEB. Since 2007, HEB have been operating on the segregated routes simulated by this project with substantial fuel savings compared to HEB fuel consumption running within the traffic. HEB running within the traffic was consuming 0.98 km/l. After starting the operation on the segregated route HEB has been consuming 1.5 km/l. Therefore, 50% fuel savings. This shows the advantages of running HEB on segregated routes in city centres. Acknowledgements I would like to tank SPTrans and Herjacktech for being supportive throughout the project. References 1. Ackerman, M.C. and Jefferson, C.M. Global Emissions due to Urban Transport and the Potential for their Reduction. Urban Transport IV Urban st Transport and the Environment in the 21 Century, Lisbon, 1998, Wessex Institute of Technology, UK WIT press, Southampton, pp 339-348, 1998. 2. Ackerman, M.C., Davies, T.S., Jefferson, C.M., Marquez, J.M. and Skinner, J.. Transport Needs of the City Tomorrow. Urban Transport V, Urban st Transport and the Environment in the 21 Century, Lisbon, 2000. Wessex Institute of Technology, UK WIT press, Southampton, pp 285-296, 2000. 3. British Thoracic Society, 2007. The Burden of Lung Disease [on line]. Available from http://www.britthoracic.org.uk/Library/BTSPublications/BurdenofLun gDiseaseReports/tabid/164/Default.aspx [Accessed 12 December 2007]. 4. Butler, K.L., Ehsani, M. and Kamath, P. A Matlabbased modelling and simulation package for electric and hybrid electric vehicle design. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 48, N.6, pp 1170-1778, Nov. 1999. 5. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage, and the Arts. Fuel Consumption Guide Database 1986-2003 [on line] http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/cgibin/transport/fuelguide/fuelguide.pl?querytype=simpl equery&manufacturer=Honda&year=2003. [Accessed February 2008] 6. Department of Health. COMEAP statement on banding of air quality [on line]. Available from http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/comeap/state

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