Hybrid Vehicle Abstract

The hybrid vehicle proposed in this abstract utilizes the large amount of heat that is developed in a conventional I.C. engine. The temperature in an I.C. engine reaches temperature up to 1500 degree Celsius. This temperature is largely due to friction acting between metal to metal contact and hydrodynamic stresses in oil films. The friction heat is eventually removed as waste heat by the engine cooling system.

However, this waste heat could be utilized to provide auxiliary power to the vehicle. Heat energy has been ignored as a source to generate power for the car.

IDEA-

The idea is to introduce a gas turbine system along with a conventional I.C. engine of the vehicle. The gas turbine will utilize the heat energy which otherwise is wasted into the atmosphere.
When the engine gets heated up, the coolant is run through the I.C. engine to keep it from very high temperatures. As the coolant cools the engine, it itself becomes very hot as it completes the movement through the engine. The gas turbine system introduced possesses a low boiling point working fluid (butane etc.) which gets vaporized under the influence of the hot coolant.

The high pressure gas is channeled into a pipe and outlet on to a small turbine through a nozzle. Thus, the high pressure gas hitting the turbine blades will rotate it and produce electricity for a D.C. motor. The electricity maybe used for the D.C. motor- which rotates the wheels. Also, it maybe used for storing in a battery.

In cities, when a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle runs, a lot of energy is wasted since the car is slowed and left idle a lot many times due to heavy traffic and other obstructions.

However, an I.C. engine continues to provide power constantly at all times even if that much of energy is not needed. Thus, a lot of the energy is lost to the braking. When we use the brake pedal to slow the vehicle, we are removing the kinetic energy which the car possesses as it moves at a speed. We can captures some of this energy and apply it usefully by a method called “Regenerative braking”.

Regenerative braking- The electric motor is placed in connection with the wheels of the vehicle. When a car is braked, the wheels still rotate due to the momentum. This rotation of the wheels since, attached to a motor can produce electricity in the D.C. motor and subsequently stored in the battery. When the car is again accelerated the stored electric energy from the battery can be utilized for the rotation of the wheels thereby reducing the load on the I.C. engine.
Thus the proposed vehicle utilizes a gas turbine engine to utilize the heat effectively which otherwise is released as waste energy into the atmosphere.

To be more marketable many of the vehicles manufactured today have powerful engines that guzzle fuel but are unremarkable in cities due to congestion. The continuous braking wastes a lot of the power that these engines produce. Regenerative braking makes use of this wasted power due to braking i.e. the loss of kinetic energy. Regenerative braking can produce a minimum of 7500 kg m/sec2 of energy to be stored into electric energy. Assuming the average vehicle weighs 500 kilograms.

Aerodynamic drag is the physical force which resists the motion of the vehicle through air, in turn, making the engine work harder to move forward. This affects the fuel mileage. Therefore, the body should be streamlined.

The side rear-view mirrors could be eliminated from vehicles.
Presently, the tires are manufactured considering comfort, which is for a quiet and smooth ride. However, if the tires are stiffer and inflated it has been practically proved to reduce the drag by half- which is by no means negligible.

Cumulatively, on integrating all the above features we will have the model of a highly efficient hybrid car.