Abstract
A Hybrid Pneumatic Power System (HPPS) has been developed for several years with the major aim of reducing the vehicle fuel consumption, environment pollution and enhancing the vehicle performance as well. Comparing with the conventional hybrid system, HPPS replaces the battery’s electrochemical energy with a high-pressure air storage tank and enables the internal combustion engine (ICE) to function at its sweet spot. Besides, The HPPS, which effectively merges both the high-pressure air flow from the storage tank and the recycled exhaust flow from the ICE, thereby increases the thermal efficiency of the ICE and transforms the merged flow energy into mechanical energy using a high efficiency turbine. This paper focuses on the major research process into HPPSs, including overall dynamic simulation and experimental validation. By using the simulation tool ITISim, this research demonstrates an experiment which can be operated precisely according to the requirements of various driving conditions under which a car actually runs on the road in accordance with the regulated running vehicle test mode. HPPS is expected to increase the performance of the entire system from 15% to 39%, and is likely to replace the traditional system in the coming years.
Keywords: Hybrid pneumatic power system; recycling exhaust flow; dynamic simulation; ITI Sim