Design and development of a custom dual fuel (hydrogen and gasoline) power system for an extended range electric vehicle architecture

Abstract

In recent decades there has been a growing global concern with regards to vehicle-generated green house gas (GHG) emissions and the resulting air pollution. Currently, gasoline and diesel are the most widely used automotive fuels and are refined from crude oil which is a nonrenewable resource. When they are combusted in an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) they release significant amounts of air pollutants and Green House Gasses (GHG’s), such as NOx, CO2, SOx, CO, and PM10 into the atmosphere. The results of a feasibility study indicate that intermediary automotive propulsion systems are needed in order to begin a transition from fossil fuels to a clean, renewable transportation system. The Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) has been identified as an ideal intermediate vehicle technology. In this context, the objective of this thesis is to establish the scientific and engineering fundamentals for the design and development of a Dual-Fuel (hydrogen + Gasoline) Power Generation System for the E-REV sustainable mobility architecture. The devised power generation system is comprised of hydrogen and gasoline storage reservoirs, their respective fuelling systems, a Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engine (SI ICE), an electric generator, batteries, as well as supplementary electronic systems. The batteries are used to provide power directly to the electric motors and are recharged with both the on-board electric generator and via plug-in capabilities. The developed prototype vehicle, which used a commercial Dune Buggy as a test bed, combined with the on-board rechargeable LiFePO4 battery pack, can provide the users with a daily commute range of ~ 65 [km] relying solely on the battery’s electric power, whereas for longer duration trips the use of the on-board generator would be necessary. The developed Dual-Fuel E-REV power generation system offers the following benefits when compared to the original gasoline ICE architecture: reduced emissions, improved acceleration (47% ↑), improved range (75% ↑), improved fuel economy (22% ↑) and decreased average fuel cost/km (29% ↓).