Regenerative Internal Combustion Engine for Hybrid Vehicle application

Nowadays awareness of the importance of the environment and its preservation is continuously increasing. In the last decade, due to the stringent regulations implemented by the European Union on the emission of pollutants and Green House Gases, car manufacturers released numerous Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. These vehicles necessitate an extensive public charging infrastructure to allow them to have appropriate everyday usability since the latter is limited by the battery range. Multiple papers indicate that European countries still lack an adequate charging infrastructure that should adapt to the electrification process. To mitigate this problem, this thesis focuses on the design and analysis of a small displacement Regenerative Internal Combustion Engine (RICE) to continuously recharge the battery even when the vehicle is stationary, thus potentially working for 24 hours 7 days a week. The engine must be highly efficient and produce low emissions to be competitive against a charging station. With the implementation of a Regenerator, the heat of the combustion and the exhaust gasses can be stored and later used to increase the temperature of the fresh charge and then produce work. The RICE works on thermodynamic cycles suggested by Engineer Mario Palazzetti, the inventor of the Total Energy Model (TOTEM). These cycles called PAL-1 and PAL-2, are compared from an efficiency point of view to the other commonly used ICE thermodynamic cycles like the Otto and the Diesel. A mathematical model based on the PAL cycles is designed considering sub-models for the combustion and regeneration processes. The model is analysed by using the Second Law of Thermodynamics, specifically by exploiting the concept of exergy which permits obtaining a more meaningful evaluation of the system and to compute the maximum work obtainable. The results are commented and the influence of parameters regarding the fuel injection strategy and the regenerator geometry is evaluated. Then, it is simulated the installation of the RICE on contemporary Electric Vehicles to evaluated its performance on recharging the battery. In addition, a comparison with a Home Charging Station on CO\textsubscript{2} emission intensity and benefits is carried out. In conclusion, a short cost and feasibility analysis is conducted.