Benefit Assessment of Skidder Powertrain Hybridization Utilizing a Novel Cascade Optimization Algorithm

Juraj Karlušić, Mihael Cipek, Danijel Pavković, Željko Šitum, Juraj Benić and Marijan Šušnjar
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Juraj Karlušić: Department of Robotics and Production System Automation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Mihael Cipek: Department of Robotics and Production System Automation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Danijel Pavković: Department of Robotics and Production System Automation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Željko Šitum: Department of Robotics and Production System Automation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Juraj Benić: Department of Robotics and Production System Automation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Marijan Šušnjar: Faculty of Forestry, Forest Engineering Institute, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: Over the last decade, off-road vehicles have been increasingly hybridized through powertrain electrification in terms of additional electrical machine-based propulsion and battery energy storage, with the goal of achieving significant gains in fuel economy and reductions in greenhouse gases emissions. Since hybrid powertrains consist of two or more different energy sources and may be arranged in many different configurations, there are many open questions in their design and powertrain energy management control, which may have influence on the hybridized powertrain purchase cost and efficiency. This paper presents simple backward optimization models of conventional and hybrid cable skidder powertrains. These models are then used in the optimization of control variables over one forest path in order to find the minimum possible fuel consumption. The optimization results show that 15% fuel efficiency improvement in winching and skid trail driving can be achieved with the selected hybrid powertrain. With that improvement, main hybrid drive components can be paid off in 13 years.

Keywords: skidder; optimization; hybrid drive; fuel consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10396-:d:460994

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