Oerlikon Fairfield introducing off-highway hybrid electric drivetrain technology; up to 30% fuel economy improvement
24 February 2014
Oerlikon Fairfield will unveil its new patent-pending off-highway hybrid electric drivetrain technology at the upcoming ConExpo-Con/Agg trade show from March 4-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The drivetrain technology utilizes a Tier 3 or Tier 4 engine driving a 227kW switch reluctance generator with step-up gearing to produce electrical energy. Alternators and starter motors are eliminated to improve system reliability.
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This technology is a complete series electric driveline system from engine to wheel featuring an innovative energy recovery system.
Major components of the system include:
the engine-driven generator to produce electrical power;
an ultra-capacitor bank that recovers energy during operation;
a custom software control unit;
dual inverters that are integrated into the front and rear axles providing simplified wiring packages; and
four high power density traction motor drives at each wheel end allowing for higher motor speeds and good performance over a wide ground speed range.
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The concept technology is designed for a wheel loader, but consists of modular components that can be configured for a broad range of applications. Click to enlarge. |
Not only will this system provide up to 30 percent fuel economy improvement, but depending on the application, other benefits such as electrically driven auxiliary drives and the ability to add engine start/stop technology may have more beneficial advantages.
—Dan Phebus, Head of the Business Unit – Americas at Oerlikon Fairfield
sd, since this is in your wheelhouse, what say you?
I am not convinced Oerlikon has the juice to do this job. They are a spectacularly good gear company, but I don't think they have credential one in electric motors, power electronics, or system integration. Not to knock the concept (which is not really described in their presser at all) nor their capability in transmissions, but the core challenge in this project is not gear design.
I also don't see how this system is remotely "patentable". From here it looks like the whole bloody thing is extant in prior art. It's also hard to imagine Oerlikon has the technical horsepower to be making significant discoveries at the component level in anything but the mechanical drivetrain.
Posted by: Herman | 24 February 2014 at 11:18 AM
oops... I missed the pdf at the Oerlikon site. A few more details there.
Posted by: Herman | 24 February 2014 at 11:26 AM
ooops... missed the pdf from the Oerlikon site. Has some add'l details.
Posted by: Herman | 24 February 2014 at 11:27 AM
We were given a heads-up and a news release on this about 2 1/2 years ago. At the moment, we use a competitors gear drive with hydrostatic motors but I am planning on going to the ConExpo-Con/Agg trade show and this is something that I will want to see.
I really believe that electric drives are the future but it will take a while to displace hydraulics. Anyway, it is another link to why electric drives are more efficient.
Posted by: sd | 24 February 2014 at 01:20 PM
Thanks, sd -- enjoy Las Vegas.
Posted by: Herman | 24 February 2014 at 08:11 PM
very informative blog i got to know abot new invention of "off-highway hybrid drivetrain technology; up to 30% fuel economy improvemen"its very eco friendly and interesting. Is this device also contain carbon brush and
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Posted by: sowmya | 25 February 2014 at 02:01 AM
sowmya, this machine doesn't use brushes. It has an electronically-commutated motor/generator driven by the engine. The drive motors are also brushless. They all use switched reluctance (SR) technology. Here is a good tutorial on SR:
http://chargedevs.com/features/a-closer-look-at-switched-reluctance-motors/
Posted by: Herman | 25 February 2014 at 12:23 PM
it has electric motor driven by engine.it is excellent idea about the electric motor and it made various part as like Current Collector.
Posted by: Kumar Pankaj | 28 February 2014 at 03:07 AM