Study of flywheel energy storage. Volume 3. System mechanization. Final technical report

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

OSTI ID:6558954

Lawson, L J; Smith, A K; Davis, G D

In 1976, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration established the present program--Study of Flywheel Energy Storage--to determine the practicality and viability of flywheel propulsion systems for urban mass transit vehicles. The study began with a review of the U.S. transit properties requirements, which showed that the most suitable vehicle for deployment of flywheel propulsion is the full-size transit bus. Several propulsion concepts were hypothesized and subjected to comparative analysis with present diesel buses, trolley coaches, and battery buses in regard to performance and life-cycle economics. This screening resulted in the establishment of the following basic concepts that can provide various types of high quality transit service: Pure flywheel propelled bus; flywheel/diesel engine hybrid bus; flywheel-augmented trolley coach; and flywheel/battery hybrid bus. The design studies that were conducted for the four propulsion configurations then showed a high degree of commonality of components among the four concepts. Final life-cycle cost analyses showed all four concepts to be in a competitive range with present transit vehicles. Plans were then made for a Phase II development program that will result in the design, fabrication, and testing of all four propulsion configurations in full-size buses within 36 months. Volume 3 of this Phase I study describes the results of the system mechanization for the four flywheel propulsion configurations that scored highest in the screening: Pure flywheel drive; flywheel/battery hybrid drive; flywheel/diesel engine hybrid drive; and flywheel-augmented trolley coach drive.

• Research Organization: AiResearch Mfg. Co., Torrance, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6558954
• Report Number(s): PB-282654
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
250500 -- Energy Storage-- Flywheels
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300400 -- Thermionic Converters
300500* -- Fuel Cells
BUSES
ELECTRIC-POWERED VEHICLES
ENERGY STORAGE
FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE
FLYWHEELS
HYBRID ELECTRIC-POWERED VEHICLES
MASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS
MECHANICAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
STORAGE
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
VEHICLES