A technological solution for everywhere energy supply

The hydrogen economy is still at the beginning, but society innovation, and the market push inexorably toward hydrogen, inspiring the idea to build an energy-integrated system that can satisfy, in an independent way, the energy needs of small-sized consumers. The technologies used for the system design are already available in the market and, at least for the standard Solutions, sufficiently mature. The innovation consists of an integration, optimization, and industrialization of this modular system, which is an electric zero-emissions generator giving 3.5 kW(p) as an output power This is the only system able to produce its own fuel, guaranteeing renewable and clean energy., available where and when you want. This system is constituted by a polymer membrane electrolyzer, a metal hydrides tank (which absorbs and desorbs hydrogen), and a polymer fuel cell (PEM). The system modularity can also satisfy higher energy requirements, and the low-pressure hydrogen storage system through metal hydrides guarantees the system safety. (ASME Transactions

The concept of energy traceability: Application to EV electricity charging by Res

The energy sustainability, in the era of sources diversification , can be guaranteed by an energy resources utilization most correct, foreseeing no predominance of one source over the others in any area of the world but a proper energy mix, based on locally available resources and needs. In this scenario, manageable with a smart grid system, a virtuous use of RES must be visible, recognizable and quantifiable, in one word traceable. The innovation of the traceability concept consists in the possibility of having information concerning the exact origin of the electricity used for a specific end use, in this case EV charging . The traceability, in a context of increasingly sustainability and smartness city, is an important develop tool because only in this way it is possible to quantify the real emissions produced by EVs and to ensure the real foresight of grid load. This paper wants investigate the real ways to introduce this kind of real energy accounting, through the traceabilit

Comparing the Sustainability of Different Powertrains for Urban Use

The real environment impacts the fuel and energy consumption of any vehicle: technology, physical and social phenomena, traffic, drivers’ behaviour, and so on; many of them are difficult to quantify. The authors’ methodology was used to test the real impact of vehicles in “standard” urban conditions, and many generations of hybrid powertrains are compared. One of the latest performance indexes is the percentage of time the vehicle runs with zero emissions (ZEV). For example, the hybrid vehicle tested ran up to 80% with no emissions and fuel consumption below 3 L per 100 km. A few energy performance indicators were compared between five vehicles: one battery electric vehicle (BEV), two hybrid gasoline–electric vehicles (HEVs), and two traditional vehicles (one diesel and one gasoline). Their potential to use only renewable energy is unrivalled, but today’s vehicles’ performances favour hybrid power trains. This paper summarises the most sustainable powertrain for urban use by comparing experimental data from on-road testing. It also evaluates the benefits of reducing emissions by forecasting the Italian car fleet of 2025 and three use cases of the evolution of car fleets, with a focus on Rome

energy consumption of a last generation full hybrid vehicle compared with a conventional vehicle in real drive conditions

Abstract Hybrid vehicles are one of the most important choices to improve efficiency and reduce CO2 production of vehicles. Benefits in using hybrid powertrains are generally found in urban environment where lower average speeds, higher accelerations make the internal combustion engine run at lower efficiency points. The originality of the present paper consists in the data elaboration and analysis collected in a measurement campaign on road in real driving conditions, on an ad hoc path planned according to the average national daily mileage in metropolitan urban context, which thus acquires a significance generalizable in that specific context, which led to the consumption quantification and an analysis of the main factors that determine the reduction in consumption of full-hybrid vs conventional vehicles. Another important and original aspect of this paper is the analysis of the operating times in ZEV mode of hybrid vehicles, which shows how this solution leads to a significant reduction of pollutant emissions in urban contest. An on-road experimental campaign has been done by comparing two different versions of the same model (Toyota Yaris Hybrid and a conventional one, Toyota Yaris 1.5 gasoline) and a hybrid vehicle with different characteristics (the hybrid born - Toyota Prius), like size, traction battery capacity, generator/motor electric power. Thirty drivers on a fixed path have done this experimental campaign and in this paper, the results are reported. The results show that a strong influence on consumption is due not only to the type of vehicle, but also to driving style and speed. The comparison between the two versions of Yaris, shows a strong reduction in consumption using hybrid vehicle for low and medium speeds (for 20 km/h about 50%), such benefit decreases with the increasing speed and for values higher than 90 km/h both the vehicles have the same consumption. The reduced consumption of the hybrid vehicle at low speeds is due, on the one hand, to the greater efficiency of the hybrid vehicle engine compared to the conventional one and on the other hand to the high functioning in ZEV mode, with the engine off, (63% of time) thanks to the use of the electric motor. The comparison between the two hybrid vehicles with different characteristics (YarisHy and Prius) shows that the consumption trend vs. speeds is similar but the Prius has lower consumption due above all to the high efficiency of the braking energy recovery system, despite the greatest mass. This lead then to significant consumption reduction, but also lower emissions in places where such parameters have an important role: the urban environment

Experimental analysis of the auxiliaries consumption in the energy balance of a pre-series plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle

The purpose of this study is to evaluate on a real urban driving cycle the performance of a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle, which is part of a series of pre-marketing vehicles, taking into account the real driving conditions. For this purpose have been considered the driving style influence, the traffic level, the path slope and the comfort level requested inside the vehicle by the driver. In particular the influence of auxiliary systems consumption on the total consumption of the vehicle has been evaluated. Attention has been paid to assess the effect of auxiliary systems consumption on the autonomy of the vehicle on electric mode. The data were collected under real driving cycles in the city of Rome. The importance and innovation of this work consist of two principal concepts: (i) the auxiliary systems consumption and its influences on total consumption and (ii) the acquisition analysis under real driving cycle. Different drivers were involved during the acquisition campaign along several itineraries characterized by the features of a real urban cycle (length, slope, traffic light posts, etc.). The data acquisition was carried out on-board in real time using a measurement chain which included: OBDII (On - Board Diagnostic systems - second version), hardware, laptops and software. Acquired parameters were: traveled distance, speed, air flow, equivalence ratio, RPM, voltage, SOC (State Of Charge) of the batteries. The calculated variables from acquired data were: fuel consumption, consumption and incidence of auxiliaries on the autonomy in electric drive. © 2013 The Authors

Hydrides for submarine applications: overview and identification of optimal alloys for air independent propulsion maximization

This study identifies possible alternatives in the currently use of hydrides in submarine applications in order to increase the storage capacity and, therefore, the autonomy (Air In- dependent Propulsion) of the boat. The study proposes a plug and play solution which re- quires no changes for what concerning the current propulsion system, nor the auxiliary systems of absorption and desorption of hydrogen, nor the power supply system of fuel cells. Different constraints have been taken into account, as the storage volume density, the operatingconditions (pressureandtemperature),thenumberofchargeanddischarge cycles. Taking into account that it is desirable to maintain the set-up of the actual systems (for what concerning the spaces, the pressure and temperature) the solution obtained in the present study ranges in between the following target values: 120 g/dm3 for the storage capacity involume; 20e50C for the operating temperature, 2e3 bar for the hydrogen desorption pres- sure and 150 charge and discharge cycles that can ensure 5 cycles per year for 30 years. Under these constraints, a significant increase of the autonomy of the boat has been evaluated

Identification of possible alternative membranes for fuel cell applications

Hydrogen is considered one of the most important energy vector of the future and fuel in transport sector .The FuelCells (FC)present some advantages respect to the traditional traction engine, consisting in lower emissions and noise. The more suitable Fuel Cells in automotive applications are those that use Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM).The main obstacles to the commercialization of PEM fuel cells are largely concerning the cost, mechanical weakness and low durability of the membranes with increasing temperature. This latter aspect in particular referring to the fact that water is present in the membranes, thereby limiting the operating temperature of a fuel cell, which on average is about 80 °C. This in turn results in lower performance of the fuel cells due to a slower kinetics of electrodes and essentially no CO tolerance. It can groped to improve the performance of a PEM increasing the temperature above 100 °C, changing the membrane type making it resistant to the natural increase in temperature of the system so as to improve the electrodes kinetics. The present work has the purpose of highlighting the orientation of the current research towards the development of specific types of membrane for the FC performance improvemen

Critical review of fuel cell's membranes and identification of alternative types for automotive applications

Hydrogen is considered one of the most important energy vector of the future and fuel in transport sector. The Fuel Cells (FCs) Traction System present some advantages respect to the traditional traction engine, consisting in lower emissions and noise. The more suitable Fuel Cells in automotive applications are those that use Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM). The main obstacles to the commercialization of PEM fuel cells are largely concerning the cost, mechanical weakness and low durability of the membranes with increasing temperature. This latter aspect in particular referring to the fact that water is present in the membranes, thereby limiting the operating temperature of a fuel cell, which on average is about 80 °C. This in turn results in lower performance of the fuel cells due to a slower kinetics of electrodes and essentially no CO tolerance. It can groped to improve the performance of a PEM increasing the temperature above 100 °C, changing the membrane type making it resistant to the natural increase in temperature of the system so as to improve the electrodes kinetics. The present work has the purpose of highlighting the orientation of the current research towards the development of specific types of membrane for the FC performance improvement