Pollution control by reduction of drag on cars and buses through platooning

Abstract

Platooning is synchronised movement of two or more vehicles, as a unit, travelling at the same speed with relatively small inter-vehicle spacing. It is generally done in order to increase the highway capacity (vehicles/lane/hour). It was recognised early on that close follow up would likely decrease the average vehicle drag. The authors also expected minimisation of drag on cars and buses moving in platoons. Therefore, estimation of drag on a maximum four-vehicle platoon model was carried out inside Jadavpur University Subsonic Low Turbulence Closed Circuit Wind Tunnel test section. Several car models and bus models were used as platoon members in this experiment. The results show significant drag minimisation, which in turn decreases fuel consumption. Less fuel consumption indicates less air pollution, which is the talk of the day in large cities.