Abstract
Engine-driven reciprocating air compressors are employed on fuel-powered heavy vehicles to actuate a number of auxiliary systems, like brakes and suspensions. Electrically-driven sliding-vane air compressors turn particularly suited for electric heavy vehicles. Unlike in fuel-powered vehicles, the compressor is not heated up in the case of electric mobility, a situation that may lead to potential issues in extreme cold weathers. This paper investigates experimentally the start-up of a sliding-vane air compressor designed specifically for electric heavy vehicles. The compressors, equipped with instruments, is positioned in a climatic chamber. During the tests, the chamber is set to a desired ambient temperature, 0, -10, -20, - 30 °C or 20 °C taken as reference following ISO 1217, and the compressor is started-up when a steady-state initial condition is achieved. The delivery pressure is controlled at 10 bar(g) and all measurements are recorded until a temperature of 80 °C is reached in the air-lube oil separator. No issues are encountered during the tests, such as sudden damage due to improper lubrication. Moreover, the curves of the measured temperature within the air-lube oil separator show similar trends but higher initial plateaus and lower slopes at lower ambient temperatures resulting into lower oil flow rates, higher energy spent for heating up the system as well as higher warm-up times, from 15 minutes at 20 °C up to 69 minutes at -30 °C.
Highlights
Compressed air plays a key role in the heavy transportation sector, both on road and railways, for the actuation of bakes, doors, and suspensions
This paper investigates experimentally the start-up of a sliding-vane air compressor designed for electric heavy vehicles
This paper presents the first stage of an experimental campaign dedicated to the start-up in extreme cold conditions of a sliding-vane air compressor designed for electric heavy vehicles
Summary
Compressed air plays a key role in the heavy transportation sector, both on road and railways, for the actuation of bakes, doors, and suspensions. For the purpose of braking, compressed air systems require an accurate design that takes into account several factors, like volume flow rate, input power, noise, vibration and ambient condition, in order to guarantee a very high reliability [1]. Compressed air is produced by electric-driven rotary compressors, like sliding-vane compressors. In the case of heavy road applications, such as trucks and buses, today compressed air is produced commonly by engine-driven reciprocating compressors because these vehicles are powered commonly by diesel engines. In the scenario of the soon electric mobility, electric-driven sliding-vane air compressors turn to be well suited for those vehicles, as for the trains, thanks to their low rotational speed, compact design, small weight, high efficiency, minimal vibration and modest noise compared to the reciprocating technology
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
