Realization of a Novel Free-Piston Engine Generator for Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Applications

Andrew Smallbone*, Mohd Razali Hanipah, Boru Jia, Tim Scott, Jonathan Heslop, Ben Towell, Christopher Lawrence, Sumit Roy, K. V. Shivaprasad, Antony Paul Roskilly

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Free-piston engine generators (FPEGs) have huge potential to be the principal energy conversion device for generating electricity from fuel as part of a hybrid-electric vehicle (EV) powertrain system. The principal advantages lay in the fact that they are theoretically more efficient, more compact, and more lightweight compared to other competing EV hybrid and range-extender solutions (internal combustion engines, rotary engines, fuel cells, etc.). However, this potential has yet to be realized. This article details a novel dual-piston FPEG configuration and presents the full layout of a system and provides technical evidence of a commercial FPEG system's likely size and weight. The work also presents the first results obtained from a project which set-out to realize an operational FPEG system in hardware through the development and testing of a flexible prototype test platform. The work presents the performance and control system characteristics, for a first of a kind system; these show great technical potential with stable and repeatable combustion events achieved with around 700 W per cylinder and 26% indicated efficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12926-12939
Number of pages14
JournalEnergy and Fuels
Volume34
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 2020

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Smallbone, A., Hanipah, M. R., Jia, B., Scott, T., Heslop, J., Towell, B., Lawrence, C., Roy, S., Shivaprasad, K. V., & Roskilly, A. P. (2020). Realization of a Novel Free-Piston Engine Generator for Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Applications. Energy and Fuels, 34(10), 12926-12939. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c01647