#Hydraulic hybrid vehicles plus
This allows continuous electrical generation, plus heat for the 'rejuvenator'.
When the IC engine is off the turbo-gen can run as a small gas-turbine (bypassing the ICE) with an independent combustor. A delivery vehicle is an excellent application for hybrid technology since its service cycles involve numerous braking events. I envisage for this hybrid design the turbo-gen comes fitted with a disengageable compressor stage (which the pure electric generation unit doesn't require). This effectively replaces a standard belt-driven alternator for a normal engine. The hydraulic hybrid utilizes a high pressure accumulator for energy storage which has superior power density than conventional battery technology. Regarding overcoming the problem of electrical drain (lights, radio, etc) in a hybrid mode where IC engine is switched off, I was reminded of the turbocharger-generator idea - this uses the IC engine exhaust gas to spin a high-speed generator. Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicle page 2 Because there is a large demand for better fuel economy on vehicles, researching different hybrid methods is necessary.
The pump action transfers hydraulic fluid from a low. During regeneration the vehicle’s kinetic energy that is normally lost during braking is captured and used to drive the pump/motor as a pump.
I'm right in thinking there will be more than enough heat from a IC engine to reheat the expanding air during normal operation, am I not? I don't have the figures, but it would stand to reason, no? It was mentioned that some French guys are using petrol to heat the air - assuming this is for a straight air engine & they are paying duty there must be cheaper fuels - like natural gas. Our patented Hydraulic Launch Assist or HLA® hydraulic hybrid system has two main parts: regeneration and acceleration.