Flywheel Energy Storage with Mechanical Input-Output for Regenerative Braking

Abstract

The system presented in this paper allows the direct transfer of kinetic energy of a vehicle’s motion to a flywheel and vice-versa. For braking, a cable winds onto a pulley geared to the vehicle’s propulsion driveshaft as it unwinds from another pulley geared to the flywheel and then operates in reverse for the transfer of energy in the opposite direction. The cable windings are in one plane resulting in an effective pulley radius that increases when the cable is winding onto it and decreases when unwinding from it. Thus, an increasing driven-to-driving pulley velocity ratio is obtained during a period of energy transfer in either direction. A dynamic analysis simulating the process was developed. Its application is illustrated with a numerical solution based on specific assumed values of system parameters.

Share and Cite:

Chicurel-Uziel, R. (2014) Flywheel Energy Storage with Mechanical Input-Output for Regenerative Braking. Modern Mechanical Engineering, 4, 175-182. doi: 10.4236/mme.2014.44017.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Gao, Y., Gay, S.E. and Ehsani, M. (2003) Flywheel Electric Motor/Generator Characterization for Hybrid Vehicles. Proceedings of the IEEE 58th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC 2003-Fall), 6-9 October 2003, Vol. 5.
[2] Williams, K.R. (2010) Flywheel System for Use with Electric Wheels in a Hybrid Vehicle. U.S. Patent No. 7,654,355 B1.
[3] Tsao, P., Senesky, M. and Sanders, S.R. (2003) An Integrated Flywheel Energy Storage System with Homopolar Inductor Motor/Generator and High-Frequency Drive. IEEE Transactions on Energy Applications, 39, 1710-1725.
[4] Versteyhe, M.R.J., Wesolowski, Steven J., Remboski, D.J. and Morscheck, T.J. (2014) Method and Apparatus for Transferring Power between a Flywheel and a Vehicle. U.S. Patent No. 8,622,860 B2.
[5] Bowman, T.J. and Kees, D.A.J. (2013) Flywheel Driveline and Control Arrangement. U.S. Patent No. 8,359,145 B2.
[6] Gramling, J.T. and Martin, J.C. (2011) Kinetic Energy Storage Device. U.S. Patent No. 8,006,794 B2.
[7] Chicurel, R. (1999) A Compromise Solution for Energy Recovery in Vehicle Braking. Energy, 24, 1029-1034.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0360-5442(99)00054-7
[8] http://www.meadinfo.org/2008/11/gear-efficiency-spur-helical-bevel-worm.html
[9] http://www.skf.com/group/products/bearings-units-housings/ball-bearings/principles/friction/estimating-frictional-moment/index.html

Copyright © 2023 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.