Development of Micro-turbine Powered Hybrid Vehicle System

This proposal investigates the feasibility of the use of a relatively new power source, the microturbine, as an energy source for a hybrid vehicle. Although the work has been previously carried out in the area of micro-turbine powered hybrid vehicles, the development of control strategies for the power management system has not been investigated from a well founded control theoretic perspective. In this project, a detailed dynamic model will be developed to allow effective power management of micro-turbine, battery and DC drive motor system, to operate a hybrid vehicle most efficiently. This operation may range from a strategy in which the turbine is either on or off, or a load following strategy, in which the power output of the microturbine varies with the load. Further, with this simulation tool, the effect on energy efficiency of the micro-turbine power rating and capacity of the battery storage unit may be investigated with this tool.