Super Bus Project Phase I: Energy Audit
Principal Investigator:
David Kittelson, Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Project Summary:
The electrical load for transit buses has increased significantly and continues to grow. This increased electrical demand challenges even the most robust conventional charging systems. Electrically operated accessories and support systems for buses offer greater efficiency than typical belt-driven or hydraulically operated systems. The Super Bus concept would utilize an onboard auxiliary power unit (APU) to supply all electrical power for bus operations except vehicle propulsion, allowing the diesel propulsion engine to shut down at traffic stops and at bus layovers while maintaining all of the passenger comforts and other support systems. This is a much more efficient and flexible way of generating onboard electrical power than current propulsion-engine-driven alternator systems. This Phase 1 project performs an energy audit on a modern urban transit bus to determine all the power demands placed on the engine in normal service. The audit combines and analyzes available information and experimental measurements where necessary. All power demands not related to propulsion are identified and quantified, and the feasibility of providing them electrically is determined. This information can be used to identify an appropriate high-efficiency APU and determine the energy savings possible by using it instead of the propulsion engine to meet these demands.
Sponsors:
Project Details:
- Start date: 07/2007
- Project Status: Completed
- Research Area: Planning and Environment
- Topics: Environment, Transit