Stirling engine-powered hybrid electric vehicles: A simulation approach.

摘要

Nowadays conventional automobiles are reliable and cost effective, but also have low energy efficiency and high emission of pollutants. The increasing demand for fast personal transport makes crucial the development of improved alternative vehicles [1,2]. Hybrid vehicles improve environmental and operational performance by combining two or more energy storage/conversion systems [3]. The Stirling engine is an attractive power source for hybrid vehicles as it has the potential to enhance the performance of the vehicle beyond that of the internal combustion engine powered hybrid [4].; This thesis presents a simulation tool for analysis of Stirling-powered hybrid electric vehicles. The simulation tool is designed for MATLAB's ® Simulink® environment, based on (a) ADVISOR, an advanced vehicle simulator [5], (b) MARWEISS, a Stirling engine simulator [6] and (c) EQUILIBRIUM, a combustion composition simulator [7]. The simulation tool is used to analyse and compare Stirling powered vehicles with other alternatives in terms of operational performance, energy flow, energy storage, and pollutant emissions [8].