Experimental performance study of a hybrid compressed air-electric vehicle prototype

In this paper, the prototype of a new hybrid compressed air-electric vehicle is developed, analyzed, built and tested. The system consists of a novel hybrid electric-compressed air system integrated with phase change materials for energy recovery in the heat exchanger. Three different phase change materials (PCMs) of polyethylene glycol, paraffin, and alkane mix are investigated for heat recovery purposes in the prototype where the paraffin option provides better results. The experimentally investigated system is a novel, hybrid-type pneumatic vehicle (compressed air and electric in a hybridized manner) prototype which has been built and tested in the laboratory at the Ontario Tech. University in Oshawa. The experimental tests are performed for the hybrid air system integrated with a PCM heat exchanger and a supplementary battery power of 1.68kW (with an actual turbine work rate of 1.43kW). The total work output by four air and electric motors is 23.12kW which is found to be sufficient for the powertrain of a small-size city vehicle. The energy efficiency for the system is found to be 65.0% while the exergy efficiency is 57.0% for a common driving range of 131km which is considered a kind of acceptable driving range for commercial pneumatic vehicles. Furthermore, this type of prototype is expected to offer a good marketing opportunity with a generated shaft work of 23.12kW, respectively.