Development and performance evaluation of a prototype electric hybrid powertrain system for automotive applications

Researchers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) have developed a dedicated hybrid power plant based on the parallel configuration using a gasoline engine coupled to a high performance electric motor, specifically targeted for automotive application. The aims are to achieve even lower exhaust emissions, better fuel economy and better performance than the conventional arrangement, demonstrating an alternative solution to the conventional power plant. The engine used is a 1.3 litre spark-ignition, coupled with a 27.5 kW Nexus electric motor. The control strategy developed in conjunction with the program is to use the electric drive motor for initial acceleration and for regeneration braking energy recovery, and for reducing the peak load and transients seen by the engine. A relatively small pack of advanced lead acid batteries is use for energy storage. The design, development and evaluation exercises are fully described giving a comprehensive insight of the prototype and its capabilities

Feasibility study on development of a wind turbine energy generation system for community requirements of Pulau Banggi Sabah

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was invited to participate in the feasibility study of providing localised renewable energy system for Pulau Banggi in Sabah, in July 2008. Subsequently to this offer a four-man task force was formed consisting of lecturers and researchers from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (UTM) to undertake the project and to make recommendations of the possible renewable energy system for the requirements of a local community. Wind has been identified is the would be possible source but other renewable energies can also be considered in tandem, or as alternative to wind. Two site visits were made to Pulau Banggi within a span of six months from the commencement of the project. The visits were to gauge on the site, potential wind energy density, agricultural activities, demographic and other socio-economic development and requirements. Besides the visits, thorough data search and feedbacks from the local authority in Pulau Banggi and the local residents of the island were gathered. Wind data from researchers of UKM and USM were also used in the overall preparation of the proposed solution. Based on the current data the full blown wind farming on the island is not possible as average wind speed hardly hit 4 m/s on average – a critical and viable threshold value for investment on wind farming. The system proposed will be a small hybrid system having a capacity of 150 kW. The system is sufficient to support a maximum 150 households in a chosen site on the island. The hybrid system will consist of one or more of 9 m tall three-bladed horizontal type wind turbine (3 kW), a PV array of 20 kW and a generator set of 120 kW capacity. The estimated cost of the system is RM 700,000.00. This is based on the cost of producing the system alone locally at a unit cost of RM 4500.00 per kW. This is a modest figure which does not cover system integration work, labour, installation and others which can escalate to RM 900,000.00. The exploration on the use of bio-diesel fuels is an ideal proposition for the setting up of an environmental-friendly hybrid power generating system. In view of the agropolitan program for the remote island, where coconut and palm oil plantations are being proposed under the land redevelopment programme, the use of bio-fuel as a diesel extender will suit ideally to the concept of economical and environmentalfriendly power generation system

Cadangan bagi membangunkan sistem pengangkutan ringan halaju rendah jenis "articulating" bagi kegunaan membawa pelawat di UTM

Chassis and suspension system play an important role in the performance of a vehicle when it comes to safety and passenger comfort. The objectives of this project are to develop a “hop-in and hop-out� recreational vehicle with a capacity of eight-passenger, fitted with a dual-fuel system and to analyse the performance of its chassis and suspension system. This showcase vehicle is manufactured by a team of engineers from the Automotive Development Centre (ADC) in UTM. Both the chassis and suspension analyses are rigorously performed using industrial-standard computer software. The safety factor requirement for the vehicle chassis is set for over a factor of 2.0 and its torsional stiffness must in the range from 3000Nm/degree to 9000Nm/degree. The vehicle chassis is analyzed in several conditions, namely static, bumping and braking, while the comfort performance is largely speculated to depend on the demand of user. In this project, the comfortable performance for tramcar which is the performance of its suspension system is benchmarked with that of the performance for Proton Waja 1.6. The level of comfort for the tramcar suspension system is referred to the performance results with particular emphasis on bouncing, pitching and rolling. From the results of the analyses the tramcar has achieved satisfactory performance criteria. The safety factor is over the minimum requirement for a typical utility vehicle and the torsional stiffness is within the allowable range. In addition the suspension system shows the results are comparable to the performance of the Proton Waja 1.6

Performance analysis of turbocharger effect on engine in local cars

The performance of a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines can be increased with the use of a turbocharger. However, the amount of performance increment for a particular engine should be studied so that the advantages and drawbacks of turbocharging will be clarified. This study is mainly concerned on the suitable turbocharger unit selection, engine conversions required and guidelines for testing a Proton 4G92 SOHC 1.6-litre naturally aspirated gasoline engine. The engine is tested under its stock naturally aspirated condition and after been converted to turbocharged condition. The effect of inter cooled turbocharged condition is also been tested. Boost pressure is the main parameter in comparing the performance in different conditions as it influences the engine torque, power, efficiency and exhaust emissions. The use of a turbocharger on this test engine has clearly increased its performance compared to its stock naturally aspirated form. The incorporation of an intercooler to the turbocharger system increases the performance even further. With the worldwide effort towards environmental-friendly engines and fossil fuel shortage, the turbocharger can help to create engines with enhanced performance,minimum exhaust emissions and maximum fuel economy

Micro-peat as a potential low-cost adsorbent material for COD and NH3-N removal

Micro-peat (M-P) was demonstrated in the present study as a potential low cost natural adsorbent for the removal of COD and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) from landfill leachate. A series of batch experiments were carried out under fixed conditions and the influence of mixture ratio was investigated. The characteristics of leachate were then determined. Results indicated that leachate is non-biodegradable with high concentration of COD (2739.06 mg/L), NH3-N (1765.34 mg/L) and BOD5/COD ratio (0.09). The optimum ratio for activated carbon (AC) and M-P in the removal of COD and NH3-N obtained were at 2.5:1.5 (87%) and 1.0:3.0 (65%) respectively. The low-cost natural adsorbent used in the present investigation is an attractive alternative to the conventional adsorbent (AC). Thus, M-P can be appropriated for use in leachate treatment that could be cost-effective due its local availability and adsorption property

Design and development of auxiliary components for a new two-stroke, stratified-charge, lean-burn gasoline engine

A unique stepped-piston engine was developed by a group of research engineers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), from 2003 to 2005. The development work undertaken by them engulfs design, prototyping and evaluation over a predetermined period of time which was iterative and challenging in nature. The main objective of the program is to demonstrate local R&D capabilities on small engine work that is able to produce mobile powerhouse of comparable output, having low-fuel consumption and acceptable emission than its crankcase counterpart of similar displacement. A two-stroke engine work was selected as it posses a number of technological challenges, increase in its thermal efficiency, which upon successful undertakings will be useful in assisting the group in future powertrain undertakings in UTM. In its carbureted version, the single-cylinder aircooled engine incorporates a three-port transfer system and a dedicated crankcase breather. These features will enable the prototype to have high induction efficiency and to behave very much a two-stroke engine but equipped with a four-stroke crankcase lubrication system. After a series of analytical work the engine was subjected to a series of laboratory trials. It was also tested on a small watercraft platform with promising indication of its flexibility of use as a prime mover in mobile platform. In an effort to further enhance its technology features, the researchers have also embarked on the development of an add-on auxiliary system. The system comprises of an engine control unit (ECU), a directinjector unit, a dedicated lubricant dispenser unit and an embedded common rail fuel unit. This support system was incorporated onto the engine to demonstrate the finer points of environmental-friendly and fuel economy features. The outcome of this complete package is described in the report, covering the methodology and the final characteristics of the mobile power plant

ROLE OF PERMITTIVITY MATCHING IN DESIGNING OF EFFICIENT LIQUID IONIC ANTENNA

The aim of this paper is to provide an understanding of the use of NaCl based ionic solution in biocompatible antenna structures and to explain some of the previously unfamiliar limitations of such antennas especially when they are operated nearby or inside the human body. In this paper, role of matching the permittivity of wearable loop antenna with body tissues is discussed and the performance of the liquid ionic solution loop antenna is compared with the metallic loop antenna  using FEK

Investigation into the selection of an appropriate piston head geometry for a spark ignition engine equipped direct-fuel injector

Constructors of gasoline engines are faced with higher and higher requirements as regards to ecological issues and an increase in engine efficiency at a simultaneous decrease in fuel consumption. Satisfaction of these requirements is possible by the recognition of the phenomena occurring inside the engine cylinder, the choice of suitable optimal parameters of the fuel injection process, and the determination of the geometrical shapes of the combustion chamber and the piston head. The aim of the study was to simulate flow in Direct-Injection Fuel engine with different geometrical shapes of piston head. The method of design piston head shapes was referring to existing motorcycle Demak single cylinder 200cc piston size using Solidwork and ANSYS softwarse. The parameter was shallow and deep bowl design on piston head. In term of fuel distribution throughout the combustion chamber, second model that having deeper bowl shows a better fuel distribution than first model as it manages to direct flow the fuel injected towards the location of spark plug. Therefore, second model is chosen as the best model among the two models as it can create a richer mixture around the spark plug

Treatment of biodiesel wastewater using ferric chloride and ferric sulfate

The production of biodiesel through the transesterification method produces a large amount of wastewater that contains high level of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and oil and grease. In this study, coagulation was adopted to treat the biodiesel wastewater. Two types of coagulants were examined using standard jar test apparatus, i.e. ferric chloride and ferric sulfate. The effects of pH and coagulant dosage were examined at 150 rpm of rapid mixing and 20 rpm slow mixing and 30 min settling time, higher removal of SS (over 80%), colour (over 80%), COD (over 50%) and Oil and Grease (over 90%) were achieved at pH 6. Ferric Chloride was found to be superior was observed at reasonable lower amount of coagulant i.e. 300 mg/L. The result indicated that coagulation and flocculation process had contributed bigger roles in integrated treatment system

Single-cylinder 125 CC stepped piston engine for mobility and portable power generation applications

Two-stroke engines is far simpler than four-stroke version from its physical perspective. For a given brake output, two-stroke is lighter, easier to work on, and provide higher power-to-weight ratio than the four-stroke, making it suitable for small platform applications. However a conventional two-stroke engine has a reputation for generating smoke and unburned fuel, a situation which does not meet many emissions regulations, now enforced around the world. Thus for many decades two-stroke engines were not favored, giving ways to four-stroke engines to dominate applications, especially for mobile power-generation purposes. In the quest to improve the potential of such an engine, a group of researchers from the Automotive Development Centre (ADC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has come up with a 125 cc, air-cooled stepped-piston engine to demonstrate the higher power-to-weight ratio feature, apart from overcoming emission reduction. The engine is designed to mitigate the problem of mixture short circuiting, which is the major hindrance to combustion efficiency, and for this to happen they have incorporated a three-port stratification strategy onto the engine. This paper provides the overview related to the earlier work done to infuse the necessary features and highlights some of the performance features of this unique engine design