Empirical Study on the Efficiency of an LPG-Supplied Range Extender for Electric Vehicles

Jakub Lasocki, Artur Kopczyński, Paweł Krawczyk and Paweł Roszczyk
Additional contact information
Jakub Lasocki: Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland
Artur Kopczyński: Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland
Paweł Krawczyk: Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland
Paweł Roszczyk: Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-23

Abstract: A range extender is an auxiliary power unit, usually consisting of an internal combustion engine and an electric generator, which is used to charge a battery of an electric vehicle in order to increase its range. This paper considers a range extender supplied with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The aim is to provide detailed data on thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and unit emission of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in a broad spectrum of range extender operating conditions defined by rotational speed and torque. The experimental investigation has been conducted using a laboratory test stand equipped with an energy dissipation system of adjustable resistance. Measurement results, including fuel flow rate, were processed using custom algorithm for generating maps, i.e., two-dimensional dependencies of the considered parameters on the rotational speed and torque. The maps obtained for LPG supply were compared with those for gasoline supply. The results demonstrated feasibility of LPG-supplied range extender. Its BSFC and thermal efficiency were at a comparable level to those obtained for gasoline supply, but with less CO 2 emission. The empirical data collected has been adopted in the simulation of extended-range electric vehicle in a driving cycle, showing the potential of utilizing the results of this study.

Keywords: range extender; extended-range electric vehicle; range extended electric vehicle; thermal efficiency; brake specific fuel consumption; BSFC; carbon dioxide emission; CO 2 emission; LPG (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/18/3528/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/18/3528/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:18:p:3528-:d:267073

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().