Advancements towards sustainable transportation systems: 1.5 PDH´s

As world continues to rely more and more upon vehicular transportation, the looming problems of fuel supply and air pollution become more imminent. The internal combustion engine (ICE) has long been the mechanism that propels our vehicles, and gasoline has been its major source of energy. This fuel supply is dwindling and researchers are looking for new sources of energy. Demands for higher fuel economy, performance, reliability, and reduced emissions push the automotive industry to seek advanced technologies such as electrification of ancillaries and engine augmentations. An immediate solution to this problem is essential, and the most promising answer lies in hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV and PHEV) technologies. The proposed long-term sustainable solution includes (1) integrating the transportation industry with the electric power industry, (2) using electricity as the carrier, and (3) generating electricity from renewable energy sources. In this presentation, different HEV and PHEV configurations will be presented with a focus on engineering fundamentals as well as state-of-the-art research and development in the components and system integration. In addition, it is focused on drive train configurations and presents a review of conversion strategies to hybridize different vehicles.