Source Of Propulsion Research Articles

Development and Real-Time Performance Evaluation of Energy Management Strategy for a Dynamic Positioning Hybrid Electric Marine Vessel

Hybridisation of energy sources in marine vessels has been recognized as one of the feasible solutions to improve fuel economy and achieve global emission reduction targets in the maritime sector. However, the overall performance of a hybrid vessel system is strongly dependent on the efficiency of the energy management system (EMS) that regulates the power-flow amongst the propulsion sources and the energy storage system (ESS). This study develops a simple but production-feasible and efficient EMS for a dynamic positioning (DP) hybrid electric marine vessel (HEMV) and real-time experimental evaluation within a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation environment. To support the development and evaluation, map-based performance models of HEMVs’ key components are developed. Control logics that underpin the EMS are then designed and verified. Real-time performance evaluation to assess the performance and applicability of the proposed EMS is conducted, showing the improvement over those of the conventional control strategies. The comparison using key performance indicators (KPIs) demonstrates that the proposed EMS could achieve up to 4.8% fuel saving per voyage, while the overall system performance remains unchanged as compared to that of the conventional vessel.

Segmentation of Passenger Electric Cars Market in Poland

Striving to achieve sustainable development goals and taking care of the environment into the policies of car manufacturers forced the search for alternative sources of vehicle propulsion. One way to implement a sustainable policy is to use electric motors in cars. The observable development of the electric car market provides consumers with a wide spectrum of choices for a specific model that would meet their expectations. Currently, there are 53 different electric car models on the primary market in Poland. The aim of the article was to present the performed market segmentation, focused on identifying the similarities in the characteristics of electric car models on the Polish market and proposing their groupings. Based on the classification by the hierarchical cluster analysis algorithm (Ward’s method, squared Euclidean distance), the market division into 2, 3, and 4 groups was proposed. The Polish EV market segmentation took place not only in terms of the size and class of the car but primarily in terms of performance and overall quality of the vehicle. The performed classification did not change when the price was additionally included as a variable. It was also proposed to divide the market into 4 segments named: Premium, City, Small, and Sport. The segmentation carried out in this way helps to better understand the structure of the electric car market.

Application Prospect of Fission-Powered Spacecraft in Solar System Exploration Missions

Fission power is a promising technology, and it has been proposed for several future space uses. It is being considered for high-power missions whose goal is to explore the solar system and even beyond. Space fission power has made great progress when NASA’s 1 kWe Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) prototype completed a full power scale nuclear test in 2018. Its success stimulated a new round of research competition among the major space countries. This article reviews the development of the Kilopower reactor and the KRUSTY system design. It summarizes the current missions that fission reactors are being considered as a power and/or propulsion source. These projects include visiting Jupiter and Saturn systems, Chiron, and Kuiper belt object; Neptune exploration missions; and lunar and Mars surface base missions. These studies suggest that the Fission Electric Propulsion (FEP)/Fission Power System (FPS) is better than the Radioisotope Electric Propulsion (REP)/Radioisotope Power System (RPS) in the aspect of cost for missions with a power level that reaches ~1 kWe, and when the power levels reaches ~8 kWe, it has the advantage of lower mass. For a mission that travels further than ~Saturn, REP with plutonium may not be cost acceptable, leaving FEP the only choice. Surface missions prefer the use of FPS because it satisfies the power level of 10’s kWe, and FPS vastly widens the choice of possible landing location. According to the current situation, we are expecting a flagship-level fission-powered space exploration mission in the next 1-2 decades.

Transient thermal analysis of passive air-cooled battery-pack for various casing material

Electricity has become a desirable source of propulsion for automobiles for not leaving behind any pollutants during their running operation. The source of electricity comes from batteries connected together to deliver the rated amount of current in order to propel the vehicle and its auxiliary systems. Internal Combustion vehicles have improved significantly since their inception in the 1800s in terms of mechanical and thermal efficiency. However, only a fraction of the produced mechanical energy is utilized as the driving torque of the vehicle with the rest being lost as a result of mechanical and heat losses. Then comes the problem of harmful pollutants resulting due to the operation of the vehicles like unburnt Hydro Carbons, Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Oxides. Although the levels of these harmful exhaust gases have come down with the passing of emission laws around the world over the years, the zero-emission operation of all-electric vehicles is seen as an attractive option for transportation purposes. Electric vehicles negate the issue of mechanical losses by having the electrical power delivered directly to the wheels (through vehicles that use an in-wheel motor system which directly deliver the power to the wheel hub) or through a differential like in a conventional rear-wheel drive vehicle. The battery pack stores and delivers electric power to the wheels and the auxiliary systems. Like an Internal-Combustion engine, a battery pack delivers peak-discharge current (analogous to peak torque in an IC engine at a certain temperature) at a particular operating temperature of the battery pack. Therefore, it is vital to maintain the operating temperature of the battery pack to sustain the performance and the longevity of the battery pack. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can significantly impact the power delivery and the life-cycle of the battery pack. The battery pack can be cooled by air, liquid or thermo-electric means. This research will be centered around air-cooling as it does not require any special components and it is economical. If the casing of the battery pack has larger surface area for cooling and is made up of materials which have good thermal conductivity, the performance and the longevity of the vehicle can be improved. Our objective is to design a casing and perform thermal and CFD analysis to visualize the thermal performance of the casing while rest (charging/discharging phase) and during motion.

GDI flex fuel engine: Influence of different fuels on the performance

The internal combustion engine has been the main source of automotive propulsion for more than 100 years, but nowadays is facing challenges to significantly increase efficiency and reduce pollutants in the path to a low carbon mobility world. In this scenario, several developments have been implemented in the last years and new researches are being developed aiming high efficient and low emission vehicles. More stringent specifications for the fossil fuels and their blends with biofuels can play an important role to reduce carbon footprint of these new engines. In Brazil, since the 1970’s ethanol is widely used for spark ignited engines, either pure or blended in the gasoline (Brazilian gasoline). Brazilian flex fuel vehicles, which can run on hydrous ethanol, Brazilian gasoline or any mixture of these fuels, were released in 2000’s and represent nowadays over 90% of national light duty vehicles production. More recently, gasoline direct injection (GDI) technology was released at Brazilian flex fuel engines. Regarding fuel market, imported gasoline increased its share in recent years and although the compliance with the Brazilian specification, some properties may have significant differences compared to the ones of the average gasoline produced in Brazil. Results of performance, fuel consumption and combustion parameters of a GDI flex fuel engine running on hydrous ethanol and two different gasolines, one imported and other produced in Brazil, are shown in this paper. It is commented that flexibility to use gasoline and ethanol should be accompanied with more sophisticated engine hardware and control software to better explore the potential of the different fuels, and that different types of gasolines can affect many engine performance parameters, although this can be minimized adopting more tight fuels specifications. It is concluded that flex fuel engine designs and calibrations could be improved to obtain optimized performance with different fuels.

Concept Design and Performance Evaluation of a Fossil-Free Operated Cargo Ship with Unlimited Range

To meet the IMO goals of emissions reduction in shipping, drastic actions must be taken. Wind-assisted propulsion and renewable energy sources are today discussed frequently as realistic alternatives for future ship propulsion and energy production. This study presents a new and innovative concept of a fossil-free operated cargo ship aiming to achieve an unlimited range. The purpose of the study is to present the feasibility but also the limitations of a ship propelled and operated purely on renewable energy harnessed at sea, independent from shore-based energy sources. Aside from Flettner rotors for propulsion, the ship concept incorporates photovoltaic generators, wind turbines, and a dual-mode propeller to produce energy for the auxiliary systems and for the Flettner rotors, as well as batteries to balance the energy production and consumption. The dual-mode propeller can be used for energy generation and propulsion, thus levelling out any speed drops or peaks and thereby ensuring more reliable operation. The whole system is modelled numerically, and full ship voyages are simulated using the ship performance model ShipCLEAN. Results show feasible achieved speeds on a route with realistic weather conditions. However, negative energy balances limit the pure renewable sailing conditions. Further logistic and technical challenges are discussed.

Thermodynamic cycles variability of TJI gas engine with different mixture preparation systems

Gas engines are a viable source of propulsion due to the ecological indicators of gas fuels and the large amount of the needed natural resources. Combustion of lean homogeneous gas mixtures allows achieving higher thermal efficiency values, which is a key factor in current engine development trends. Using the spark-jet ignition system (also called as Turbulent Jet Ignition or Two-stage combustion) significantly improves the efficiency and stability of the combustion process, especially in the part-load operation on lean or very lean mixtures. This paper presents the impact of using two different fuel injection methods: Port Fuel Injection or Mixer on the operation stability of a gas engine designed for LDVs. Comparative studies of two different mixture preparation systems were carried out on a single-cylinder AVL 5804 test engine. By re-cording the cylinder pressure for a significant number of engine cycles, it became possible to determine the repeatability of engine operation and to correlate the results with the mixture formation system and the air-fuel ratio. In the performed research the beneficial effect of the mixer system application on the engine operation stability in the part-load conditions was found.

Propulsion and Rotation of Microrobot Based on a Force on a Magnetic Material in a Time-Varying Magnetic Field Using a Wireless Power Transfer System

In this article, a microrobot capable of creating propulsion force and receiving electrical energy using a wireless power transfer (WPT) system is proposed. As a source of propulsion and rotation for the microrobot, we use the force and torque of magnetic material in a time-variant magnetic field generated by the transmitting coil of the WPT system, with a specifically designed magnetic material which produced even greater force under the same volume. While microrobot propulsion based on the Lorentz force is closely related to the magnitude of the induced current, because the force of the magnetic material in the proposed design is independent of the induced current, it is more practical for miniaturization of the microrobot. Additionally, the proposed model is able to use the LC resonance frequency, and a magnetic material located in the receiving coil introduces a higher coupling coefficient between the transmitting coil and the receiving coil. These characteristics make the proposed microrobot suitable for powering through a WPT system. The feasibility of the proposed model was initially investigated by theoretical analysis and then verified in simulation and an experiment. In the experiment, the fabricated microrobot 4.5 × 2.0 × 2.0 mm 3 in size achieved a power transfer efficiency rate of 4.5% at 103 kHz with a propulsion speed of 7.5 mm/s and rotating motion.

The misleading total replacement of internal combustion engines by electric motors and a study of the Brazilian ethanol importance for the sustainable future of mobility: a review

The sustainable future of mobility should not be viewed as the burial of the internal combustion engine (ICE), nowadays the main source of vehicular propulsion. Even with the increasing electrification of the transport means, the low global percentage of the electric fleet, around 0.2% of the total road vehicles, associated with an annual growth rate of less than 60%, indicates that they will not significantly change the market share in the short- and medium-term periods. This means that fuel demanded by ICEs and pollutant emissions generated by them will be very relevant in the years to come. Thus, the search for significant advances in technology associated with the use of renewable fuels is very important for environmental and economic sustainability. In this regard, the present work intends to demonstrate that the association between Brazilian ethanol and advanced technology in ICEs is a promising alternative for a more sustainable global mobility in the future. For this purpose, some ethanol properties are presented to justify its relevance as an ideal biofuel for highly boosted and efficient engines. Then, environmental, social, ethical and economic impacts arising from electric vehicles are investigated, demystifying the zero-emission vehicle terminology attributed to them and, finally, new technologies for ICEs are presented, proving that they are constantly evolving and improving, which is fundamental to the future of the world automotive fleet.

Assessment Of BLDC Drive For E-Bike Application

This paper describes about the need and the various architecture of Electric Bike (E-bike). Among the various electric propulsion sources available, the performance study of Brushless DC (BLDC) motor for an electrically assisted bicycle (E-Bike) is carried out under certain operating conditions. In order to determine the operating speed and to achieve a suitable gear ratio, the motor is operated at different duty ratios whereby the operating voltage and speed of rotation of the motor is varied. The motor is loaded during the various test speeds considered. Based on the performance of the motor and the norms set by Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) of India, the torque delivered by the motor is computed through experimentation. The characteristics graphs have been plotted against different parameters. Depending on the torque values at the recommended power, the motor operating speed, voltage and currents were identified. Suitable gear ratios have been identified to match the performance of the motor with the e-bike performance requisite leading to better performance of the E-Bike propulsion system.

Considerations upon the performances of the main naval engine and energy efficiency evaluation

Nowadays, the essential source of ship propulsion is the diesel low-speed engine, and the power necessity and rate of propeller rotation especially rely upon the ship’s structure and the propeller geometry. Along these lines, in order to arrive at a solution that is as ideal as could be allowed, some broad information is basic for ship diesel engine parameters that impact the propulsion ship system. The performance of any system on board ship is specifically identified with its reliability. So as to get the best out of marine motors, it is critical to screen their performances and take measures to accomplish productive combustion. The paper points the significance of estimating the performances of the propulsion motor utilizing the NHX program. NHX electronic program estimates the pressure inside engine cylinders by the usage of the beat signal from Top Dead Center (T.D.C.) of the number 1 cylinder. Additionally, analyses the after burning period at the combustion stroke of each cylinder. The E.E.O.I. (Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator) is an observing tool for ship management and fleet efficiency. The estimations of the factors have a diminishing trend amid the usage time periods, achieving at least a 30% decrease of the pollutants in the years 2025 contrasted with the values before the implementation of this index. E.E.D.I. index has been considered as the biggest and most dominant sections of the sea business.

Fault Diagnosis for UAV Blades Using Artificial Neural Network

In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been used in several fields including, for example, archaeology, cargo transport, conservation, healthcare, filmmaking, hobbies and recreational use. UAVs are aircraft characterized by the absence of a human pilot on board. The extensive use of these devices has highlighted maintenance problems with regard to the propellers, which represent the source of propulsion of the aircraft. A defect in the propellers of a drone can cause the aircraft to fall to the ground and its consequent destruction, and it also constitutes a safety problem for objects and people that are in the range of action of the aircraft. In this study, the measurements of the noise emitted by a UAV were used to build a classification model to detect unbalanced blades in a UAV propeller. To simulate the fault condition, two strips of paper tape were applied to the upper surface of a blade. The paper tape created a substantial modification of the aerodynamics of the blade, and this modification characterized the noise produced by the blade in its rotation. Then, a model based on artificial neural network algorithms was built to detect unbalanced blades in a UAV propeller. This model showed high accuracy (0.9763), indicating a high number of correct detections and suggests the adoption of this tool to verify the operating conditions of a UAV. The test must be performed indoors; from the measurements of the noise produced by the UAV it is possible to identify an imbalance in the propeller blade.

Multifunctional and biodegradable self-propelled protein motors

A diversity of self-propelled chemical motors, based on Marangoni propulsive forces, has been developed in recent years. However, most motors are non-functional due to poor performance, a lack of control, and the use of toxic materials. To overcome these limitations, we have developed multifunctional and biodegradable self-propelled motors from squid-derived proteins and an anesthetic metabolite. The protein motors surpass previous reports in performance output and efficiency by several orders of magnitude, and they offer control of their propulsion modes, speed, mobility lifetime, and directionality by regulating the protein nanostructure via local and external stimuli, resulting in programmable and complex locomotion. We demonstrate diverse functionalities of these motors in environmental remediation, microrobot powering, and cargo delivery applications. These versatile and degradable protein motors enable design, control, and actuation strategies in microrobotics as modular propulsion sources for autonomous minimally invasive medical operations in biological environments with air-liquid interfaces.

Study of Airflow Around Ship with Rigid Sail Array and Potential Array Propulsive Power

An array of rigid sails installed on a large powered ship could provide a viable means to reduce fuel oil consumption (FOC) and emissions by using the power of the wind as a source of supplementary propulsion. This paper describes the study of airflow around a concept ship design fitted with 14 segment rigid sails (SRS) using a virtual wind tunnel software application and also investigates the propulsive force that a fixed sail array could provide using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.

Argon ionization improvement in a plasma thruster induced by few percent of xenon

In spite of its high cost, xenon gas is known as both the most efficient and commonly used propellant for plasma thrusters in space technologies. Argon, a gas by far less costly, is widely used in other technologies, but a much lower efficiency of ionization, as obtained for example in closed electron drift thrusters, prevents its use in R&D programs and development of space thrusters. This paper shows that a drastic increase in argon ionization can be obtained in a low power thruster when only a few percent of xenon are added in the argon flow. Besides the increase in the ion beam current in the plume generated by the thruster, a net increase in the ion kinetic energy is observed. These two features are of interest in terms of thrust efficiency. These results, obtained for a small size closed electron drift thruster, could be even more spectacular for higher power devices, suggesting further investigations for space propulsion and/or ion source applications.

Energy comparative analysis of power units for use in light aircraft

In reference to the research conducted on environmentally friendly sources of propulsion for aircrafts, there was carried out an energetic comparative analysis for power units using various power sources. For this analysis, the AOS-71 glider airframe was used. The calculations were done for different variants: a combustion engine, an electrical engine, a hybrid combustion engine and a hybrid engine with a hydrogen cell. The research was based on the assumption of the same aircraft take-off weight of 660 kg. The energy accumulated on board was determined, and then the duration and range for each type of propulsion for two flight trajectories. The results were present-ed in diagrams and discussed in the conclusions.

Modern Rotor Rail Technology Helps Ships Save Fuel and Reduce Emissions - Performance and Experiences from Recent Installations

With an increasing need to reduce the emissions related to global shipping, means of emission free propulsion are required. Use of auxiliary wind propulsion is a natural choice as wind is free, globally available, and it is provided “on-site” instead of having to be transported with the ship from the port. Norsepower has modernised the Flettner rotor concept to obtain a highly efficient and robust solution to utilize the propulsive potential of the wind. Norsepower Rotor Sails harness the wind to provide a clean source of propulsion for various ship types. This paper addresses the need and means to provide the shipping market with verified information on the obtained savings with Rotor Sails. The paper also reviews the experiences of recent installations and finally provides an outlook of the global wind propulsion potential with respect to the busiest shipping routes.

Electric vehicles in the last mile of urban freight transportation: A sustainability assessment of postal deliveries in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil

The growth of urban population and the rise of e-commerce activities increase the complexity of the last-mile of parcel deliveries and its impacts to the environment and quality of life. Despite the relevance, emerging countries have difficult to establish and implement alternatives to the conventional scope of fossil-based operations. This paper proposes a method to assess alternative strategies for the last-mile of parcel deliveries, in terms of social, environmental, and economic impacts and presents an application to assess the distribution strategy of a postal company located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Moreover, we developed a systematic literature review to develop realistic alternatives to the baseline scenario, which operates with diesel propelled light duty vehicles. Literature points to the reduction of the dimensions of vehicles, as well as to the migration of the propulsion source to electric energy, as sustainable alternatives for last mile deliveries in urban areas. For that reason, we opted to evaluate the use of electric vehicles of smaller dimensions, tricycle and LDV, in the last mile of parcel deliveries, assessing two alternative scenarios: one with the use of electric LDV type BEV; and the other with electric tricycles. Results indicated that the use electric tricycle is a more feasible alternative regarding the economic, environmental and social aspects, demanding no public incentives.

Metal-based direct hydrogen generation as unconventional high density energy

Metals are unconventional hydrogen production materials which are of high energy densities. This paper comprehensively reviewed and digested the latest researches of the metal-based direct hydrogen generation and the unconventional energy utilization ways thus enabled. According to the metal activities, the reaction conditions of metals were generalized into three categories. The first ones refer to those which would violently react with water at ambient temperature. The second ones start to react with water after certain pretreatments. The third ones can only react with steam under somewhat harsh conditions. To interpret the metal-water reaction mechanisms at the molecular scale, the molecule dynamics simulation and computational quantum chemistry were introduced as representative theoretical analytical tools. Besides, the state-of-the-art of the metal-water reaction was presented with several ordinary metals as illustration examples, including the material treatment technologies and the evaluations of hydrogen evolution performances. Moreover, the energy capacities of various metals were summarized, and the application potentials of the metal-based direct hydrogen production approach were explored. Furthermore, the challenges lying behind this unconventional hydrogen generation method and energy strategy were raised, which outlined promising directions worth of further endeavors. Overall, active metals like Na and K are appropriate for rapid hydrogen production occasions. Of these metals discussed, Al, Mg and their alloys offer the most promising hydrogen generation route for clean and efficient propulsion and real-time power source. In the long run, there exists plenty of space for developing future energy technology along this direction.

Selected issues related to diagnostic testing of hybrid vehicles

The increasing emphasis on ecology by the governments of particular countries makes vehicle manufacturers to look for alternative sources of propulsion to meet increasingly stringent exhaust gas emission standards. One of such solutions is the use of a hybrid system in the form of a combination of a combustion engine and an electric motor. Such a combination, together with the possibility of recovering the kinetic energy during braking, makes the vehicle, comparing to the conventional drive, much more friendly to the environment. This technology poses the new challenges in the terms of operation, testing and diagnostic measurements of the hybrid vehicles. Because of the electrical system operating under a high voltage, many service and repair facilities are still afraid of repairing the above vehicles. In this article are discussed the basic safety and diagnostic procedures during vehicle tests on the example of the Toyota Prius of the second and third generation. The following procedures have been discussed: analysis of the operation of the high voltage battery with a diagnostic tester, the recommendations during measurements by means of an oscilloscope for low voltage sensors and the procedure related to disconnecting the power supply of the hybrid system in case of an accident. In addition, more and more specialised measuring devices, dedicated to laboratory units and services, appear in the market every year. Therefore, this article reviews the devices dedicated to repairs of vehicles with the hybrid and electric drive.