Comparison of Three Electrochemical Energy Buffers Applied to a Hybrid Bus Powertrain with Simultaneous Optimal Sizing and Energy Management

Journal article, 2014

This paper comparatively examines three different electrochemical energy storage systems (ESSs), i.e., Li-ion battery, supercapacitor, and dual buffer, for a hybrid bus powertrain operated in Gothenburg, Sweden. Existing studies focus on comparing these ESSs in terms of either general attributes (e.g., energy density and power density) or their implications to the fuel economy of hybrid vehicle with a heuristic/non-optimal ESS size and power management strategy. This paper adds four original contributions to the related literature. First, the three ESSs are compared in a framework of simultaneous optimal ESS sizing and energy management, where the ESSs can serve the powertrain in a most cost-effective manner. Second, convex optimization is used to implement the framework, which allows the hybrid powertrain designers/integrators to rapidly and optimally perform integrated ESS selection, sizing, and power management. Third, both hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) scenarios for the powertrain are considered, in order to systematically examine how different the ESS requirements are for HEV and PHEV applications. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate how price variations of the on-board energy carriers affect the results and conclusions.