Excerpt from Junior Eco Engineering Academy Eco City Project Research - Public Transportationby Adam Zhou | 19-02-2017 19:30 |
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   Implementation of Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems (RESS) in Plug-In Hybrid Trains Across City Networks A. Introduction Efficient methods of transportation systems is imperative to a city?s well being both in terms of an environmental standpoint, but also in terms of economy, society, and personal well being. Research has shown that an average person spends 42 hours a year in congestions, leading to losses amounting 160 billion USD over the same time span due to lost productivity in the workplace, wasting of gas burnt on carbon emissions, and other correlations. Public transportation, with the superlative tackling the aforementioned issues being the rail transit, has already had promising results. The only factor left for further development is energy consumption, which currently comes to 20% less than standard transportation per passenger and kilometer. Enforcing Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems (RESS) such as those used in other hybrid vehicles, can create even higher nuances. B. Details of RESS in Terms of Sustainability Many are already familiar with hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, consisting of an additional electric motor, batteries, and a gearbox incorporating motor output along with an internal-combustion engine. By doing so, kinetic energy that would have gone to waste instead goes to the storage system during braking and comes back in during acceleration, therefore saving fuel. A figure is shown below. With public transportation?s rise in popularity recently in correlation with environmental and economic pressure, such principles are transferred towards trains as well. Many corporations have already taken action. A Japanese private corporation called JR East, for instance, announced its introduction of ten ?diesel-battery hybrid rail-cars? reducing fuel consumption by around 10% while significantly doing the same for noise pollution. German company MTU has also developed a similar structure with a regenerative braking system along with a hybrid engine package simply replacing the motor that carries the same effect while bringing same impacts, bringing 15-25% in fuel reduction. The United States with its major General Electric enterprise is working on a larger scale battery model on longer distance journeys. If this is not enough, further research and along with it prototypes are made for developing this system. Reversing the order of gears to start its main transmission from two large batteries while ignoring diesel can bring up a 40-50% reduction of the aforementioned though with minimal issues which are being worked on. Collaboration on governmental land and transportation agencies are to be made, and many have already been through the process of having such vehicles be present in our everyday public transport systems. Economic factors regarding its components are as shown in the figure below (with USD being the final numbers). One should note that the left hand column would emphasize on the elimination of transmission originating from the input of the splitting of the power system causing it to be a lot bigger. On the other hand, the right hand column showcases the singular, smaller scale system though with related power transmission systems as well as controls. Fuel savings can already directly save approximately 1300 USD over the full life while fewer components needed compared to conventional vehicles are also another advantage. C. Suggested Proposal Surely it is not at all feasible to fully replace current methods of public transportation especially that of trains due to its size and costs. Fortunately, a tear down procedure of a small component situated in the motor system can be easily accessed. Therefore the changing of the environmentally friendly procedure as of the above can be done while at the same time going through the necessary maintenance needed. There is definitely no need or requirement to completely change current systems, wasting both money and time during the process and increasing carbon emissions during manufacture. This system is merely an amendment to an already exemplary program. D. Works Cited German, John. "Hybrid Vehicles Technology Development and Cost Reduction." Hybrid Vehicles: Trends in Technology Development and Cost Reduction (n.d.): n. pag. ICCT. ICCT, July 2015. Web. 6 Feb. 2017. <http://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_TechBriefNo1_Hybrids_July2015.pdf>. "Hybrid Drive System | Complete Coach Works." Complete Coach Works, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://completecoach.com/services/hybrid-propulsion-systems/>. "Hybrid Trains to Take Over the EU! New System Cuts Fuel Use by 25%!" Gas 2. N.p., 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://gas2.org/2013/01/20/eu-to-fit-kers-systems-to-high-speed-hybrid-trains/>. "METRO ADVANTAGES." METRO ADVANTAGES - Hyderabad Metro Rail. Hyderabad, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://hmrl.telangana.gov.in/metro-advantages.html>. Milich/Reuters, Zoran. "Newsweek Europe." Newsweek. Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://europe.newsweek.com/us-commuters-spend-about-42-hours-year-stuck-traffic-jams-332077?rm=eu>. "The Prius Principle." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 27 Dec. 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://www.economist.com/node/17791989>. Washington, DC Traffic. Digital image. WTOP. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://wtop.com/traffic/>. |
