Coordination of forces of mechanical and electric subsystems of power plant with free piston engine and electric generator of reciprocating type

Abstract

Autonomous power supply system of modern mobile special-purpose equipment requires the development of electromechanical energy converters with high energy and minimum weight- and size indicators. In industrialized countries, the system “free piston engine – reciprocating electric generator of transverse type” is considered as a promising power plant. The main feature of this kind of power plant is the lack of crank mechanism in the engine design. This allows: increasing the efficiency of the engine up to 50–60 % and overall power by 2.5–3 times while reducing the specific gravity and metal consumption compared to traditional engines; reducing the specific fuel consumption of the engine up to 30 %; increasing the resource to overhaul by 30–50 thousand hours; implementing a modular structure. The main drawbacks of this kind of power plant are high probability of failure when passing the ignition of the working mixture and instability of work with significant load fluctuations. The noted drawbacks are due to the inconsistency of the forces of the electrical and mechanical subsystems of the power plant throughout the operating cycle. The solution for the problem of matching the forces of the electrical and mechanical subsystems of the power plant in the extreme positions of the piston group of the free piston engine is of particular complexity. In this regard, a method for solving the problem of matching the forces of the mechanical and electrical subsystems of the power plant with a free-piston engine throughout the operating cycle was developed, characterized by the use of an electromechanical reciprocating energy converter with transverse- and longitudinal nonlinear changes in the magnetic flux in the electrical subsystem. Coordination of the forces of mechanical and electrical subsystems of the power plant on the entire operating cycle makes it possible to fulfill the conditions of continuous electromechanical energy conversion at all work cycle and to reduce the specific gravity of the electrical subsystems of the plant while improving efficiency.