IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHIC UL.AR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-26. NO. 2.

MAY 2007 135

Development of a Hybrid Flywheel/Battery Drive System

for Electric Vehicle Applications

Abstract-Today’s electric vehicles are severely limited in multistop

and go drivingrangeandacceleratingcapabilitybytheleadacid r Inductor Motor/Alternator/Flywheel

battery’s inability to handle high power peaks while maintaining maxi-

mum energy storage capability. A hybrid flywheelibattery system can DC Power
Input/Output
be used to isolate the battery from the accelerating power peaks. and
shouldrecoverasubstantialpart of thebrakingenergy.Thispaper
describes the development of a small. high speed, lightweight flywheel!
acsynchronousmotoralternatorsealedenergystoragepackagecou- r-l
DC Fleld
Inverter/Rectifier

pledintothebatteryanddcdrivemotorsystemthroughasimple
Fig. 1. Basic concept of inductor motorlalternatoriflywheel package.
rectifier:inverter power circuit. This system stores just enough energy
in the rotor of the machine for one start-stop cycle. Provision is made
to add a flywheel to store energy for several cycles. or enough energy natorwithits dc fieldcontrol.andthecompositeflywheel
for climbing o r descending long grades. The fields of the two machines which provides additional inertia above the rotational inertia
areelectronicallycontrolled t o achieve optimumperformanceand
effective energy utilization.
oftheinductormotorrotor.The motor/alternator/flywheel
package will becoupledelectricallytotheinverterjrectifier
which will beregenerativeandcaneitherputpowerinto or
INTRODUCTION take power from the dc power source.
The flywheel is an attractive alternative as a storage system
NALYSIS has shown that the range of an electric vehicle
A underurbanmultistopperformancecanbesignificantly
increased by load leveling the battery and by recovering the
forregenerativebrakingenergy.Whereasaflywheelsystem
maybesomewhatheavierthanabatterysystemforthe
same capacity (watthours/pound), it has charge and discharge
bralungenergywhenthevehiclestops [ l ] . Thispaperde- characteristicsthatmakeitdesirable in combinationwith
scribesthedevelopment of anewtypeofenergystorage lead-acid batteries.
packagewhichmayultimatel),beused in ahybridconfg- A motor/generator/flywheel system can provide for positive
urationwithabatterypackand will havetheeffectofre- controlofcurrent flow forvehicleoperation.Shortbursts
ducingpeakpowerloads on thebatteryand.inthisway. of high power taken from a flywheel during acceleration are
increase the effective storage capacity of the battery package. limitedonlybythe design oftheflywheel drive motorand
Thesystemconsistsofahigh-speedcompositeflywheel power conditioner. One important characteristic of a flywheel
combinedwith an integralinductor-typemotor;’alternator. is the large number of charge and discharge cycles that can be
The motorialternatorlflywheel will bea single package.her- designed into it.
metically sealed and will receive its power from a solid state
inverterirectifierunitdesignedtoprovidethenecessaryfre- VEHICLE PROPLLSION SYSTEM CONCEPTS
quency control from a dc power source. UTILIZIKG FLYh’HEEL ENERGY
The energ)’ storage package described in the paper will be
primarily aimed at a small transportation application. specifi- The basic concept of the battery/flywheel propulsion
cally a hybridflywheel/batteryelectricvan.However.the system for a vehicle is shown schematically in Fig. 2 . The main
same technology and basic concept can be scaled up to meet components are thebattery.thetractionmotor/alternator,
storedenergyrequirementsforotherapplicationssuch as theenergystoragepackage(the motor/alternatorlilywheel),
emergency standby power, energy storage from solar or wind and a regenerative control system. The battery will supply the
power.a large hybridpropulsionsystemwithaleadacid mainenergyforpropulsion.Theflywheelsetneeds to store
battery pack. or for large transportation or industrial applica- only enough energy t o accelerate the vehicle. and if desired,
tions.The basic technology to bedemonstrated in thispro- additional rotating energy capability can be added to provide
gram should apply to a number of applications. additionalenergyforhillclimbing. When the vehicle slows.
The basic conceptoftheinductormotor/alternator/fly- thetractionmotoroperates as ageneratorandtransfersa
wheel package operating from a dc power source is shown in portion of the kinetic energy back into the flywheel. System
Fig. 1 . Themaincomponentsaretheinductormotor,/alter- losses will bemadeupbythemainbatterystoragesystem.
The short bursts of high power required for vehicle accelera-
tion will besuppliedbytheflywheelmotorialternator.The
Zlanuscript received December 21. 1976.
The authors are with the General Electric Company. Schenectadl-. batteryneednotsupplythepeakcurrentdemands of the
N Y 11301. system.
136 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, MAY 2007

Battery Power Source

Motor/Alternator/
Flywheel

A
* I. Traction
Motor/
Alternator
b
MotoriAlternatorI
Flywheel
Inverter! Differential o r
Fixed Gear

Field
Choppers
. Control - L)C Motor/
Generator
Fig. 3. Regenerative ac system with flywheel storage.

a Battery
Provides Main Pow,er Supply
a Flywheel Unit ProvidesAcceleration Cnergy Application of this type of energy storage systemis planned
Stores Recovered Braking Energy
Reduces Battery Peak Current for a 3000 lb utility van. A typical velocity time profile for
Hybrid SystemExtendsVehicle Range such a utility vehicle is shown in Fig. 4. This profile requires
Increases Battery Capacity
Extends Battery Life
3 mi/h/saccelerationup to about 50 percentofmaximum
FullRegeneration, Louers Battery speed (Vel,.. = 2 5 mi/h)andaccelerationonthenatural
Drain Rate
constant voltage series motor characteristic up t o full speed.
Fig. 2. Basic concept of battery/flywheel propulsion system.
The mode of flywheel operation and to some extent the
energystoragecapacityrequireddependsuponthetypeof
As a result of evaluation of a number of ac flywheel drive vehicle drive motor used.
motorsandsystems,includingsynchronous,induction,and The separately excited dc motor, whch does not require
inductor, the
solid-rotor synchronous machine (inductor- field reversal fortransitionintothegeneratingmode? is
type)appearstoofferthebestmatchforaflywheel drive capable of reaching the battery voltage level at lower motor
system.Ithasanumberofadvantages over aninduction rpm and vehicle speed than a series excited dc motor because
motor. The inductor machine has a simple solid rotor, whereas oftheindependentfieldcurrentcontrol.Fig. 5 summarizes
the induction motor rotor is constructed of laminations and the operating conditions for the motoring mode of operation
rotor bars. The inductor machine, therefore, has the highest in case of a separately excited dc drive motor. Thus, a constant
rotorspeedcapability,andallowsthedirectcouplingofa power acceleration at higher speed is shown. Fig. 6 shows the
highspeedelectricalmachinewiththeflywheel.Thesolid operation of the system during braking when the battery con-
rotor exhibits a rotor tip velocity capability which is limited tactor is open, the traction motor acts as a generator, and the
onlybythemechanicalpropertiesofthemagneticrotor flywheel motor/alternator operates as a motor. All control of
material.Thus,themachine is idealforhighspeedapplica- decelerationrate is done withflywheelmotor/alternator
tions.Sincetheinductor-type is asynchronousmachine, field control.
power losses in the rotor are due solely to eddy current losses. The rating of the flywheel motor/alternator and the inver-
In general, this results in lower rotor losses as compared to a ter/rectifier depends on both the motoring and braking condi-
wound rotor or squirrel cage machine, either synchronous or tions. The heaviest power requirement during vehicle acceler-
induction.Themachineefficiency is, therefore,somewhat ation occurs at half speed and maximum acceleration. At that
higher. Also, less heat loss in the rotor makes it easier to cool point only about one-third of the flywheel energy has been
an inductor rotor than an induction rotor. Further, the induc- consumed.Thusthealternatorspeed will besignificantly
tormachinehasadcfieldwhichpermitscontrolofoutput aboveminimumspeedand will, therefore,becapableof
voltage. providinghighervoltage levels thanrequired.Therectifier
The inductor/motor/alternator/flywheel concept is shown part of the power converter and the alternator will have t o
inFig. 3. Themaincomponentsaretheinductormotor/ be capable of providing a dc current of 3 10 A for a short time
alternator with its dc field control and the solid state inverter/ andavoltage levelof37.4VL-Av atthealternatoranda
rectifier.The motor/alternator/flywheel package is coupled power level of 20.3 kW.
electrically to the
bidirectional
inverter/rectifier so that The power, the inverter and flywheel machine will have t o
power can flow either in or out of the flywheel package. A be capable of accepting during the braking mode of operation,
secondary storage package of this type has the desired effects dependstoalargedegreeuponthe losses inthe drive train
ofreducingthepeakloadsonthebatteryandrecoveringa and the dc motor. Highlosses reduce the power regenerated
portionofthebrakingenergy,thusincreasingtheeffective but also the energy storage efficiency. The calculations for the
storagecapacityof
thebattery
bank.Additionalenergy plannedapplicationresultinthefollowingvoltagecurrent
storage capacity will be obtained by adding flywheel mass. and power levels:
braking power at top speed 22.4 kW
SIZING THE INDUCTOR MOTORiALTERNATORi output of dc machine 16.2 kW
FLYWHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM ac voltage at alternator 49.1 V L - N
ac current at alternator 152 A/phase.
Ingeneral,the sizing ofthe motor/alternator/flywheel
system is dependentupontherequiredenergytransferrates Becauseofthefactthatthealternator is to commutate the
duringbrakingandaccelerationofthevehicle,andthus is inverter during the vehicle braking mode. the actual rating of
tiedtothespecificvelocity-timeprofileforthevehicle. the ac machine is also influenced by the commutating react-
 137

I I\ C u r r e n t n i t h i.'lyuheelSystem

Elapsed Time-Seconds
Fig. 4 . QT vehicle performance: 3600 Ib, 84 V

Flr, l1c.f.l
1 I'actlon
1 Motor
MOtOr C
c uurr rr ee nn tt
1
2 00 ---

All Current
F r o m F l - n r heel

100
-

Trac!lon Motor

0 0
0 10

Fig 5.Lead acid batteryFpec

outputs
1 r ph
I
20 - 1
30

Fig. 5. ANALYSIS OF LEAD ACID BATTERY

ance of the machine. This requires a higher voltage capability Thekey to successfuloperation.especiallyduringthe
of the ac machine while motoring than indicated above. The brakingcycle.dependsuponthecommutationcapability.
voltage capability for a practical level of commutation react- Thus.alowcommutationreactance is ofprimeimportance.
ance is 63 V. which results in amaximum ac machine capability Since the inductor alternator is much more saturation limited
of 29.7 kVA during vehicle braking. than a wound rotor synchronous machine, the rated voltage
Thedifferentvoltageandcurrent levels foracceleration has been selected as 52.5 V ?close to the peak voltage required
anddecelerationillustratethattheactualratingofthe ac during bralung. The rated current of 127 A is relatively high
machinehastotakethehighestvoltageandhighestcurrent foratractionmachinewhencomparedtothemaximumre-
level of each of the peak power conditions and combine those quiredcurrentof 151 percent.However.thisseems to be
into the actual machine rating. reasonable for rectifieroperationsincecommutation is also
138 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY. MAY 2007

Acceleration (Negative)

Traction lllotor and

200 - LFlyw heel C u r r e n t

I------- --

T r a c t i o n Motor
Voltage

0 10 20 30
Speed, rnph
Fig. 6 . Brakingwithflywheel.

important in thiscase.Thepowerfactordependsuponthe
commutationreactanceand is baseduponpreviousexperi-
ence with this type of solid rotor machine. For this machine, a
power factor of 0.78 lead was selected as practical. Thus, an
ac voltage of 52.5 V, combined with an ac current of 127 A I----LU
at a power factor of 0.78 lead, results in a machine rating of

P, = 20.0 kVA.

Thisanalysisestablishestheratingfortheinductormotor/
alternatorandinverter/rectifierforthepreviouslydescribed
application.

INDUCTOR ALTERNATOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

\
(Field Coil A -C Windings
The basic functionof an inductormachinecanbestbe
Fig. 7 . Cross section of inductor/alternator.
explained by means of Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 shows a dc field
coil between two stacks of stator laminations. A direct current
in the field coil drives a magnetic flux. as indicated, through
onestackoflaminationsintotherotorthroughtherotor
centeraxially,radiallyoutoftherotorthroughthesecond
stack of laminations and the frame to close the loop. Large
magneticslots(Fig. 8) in the rotor interrupt the flux at the
air-gap and cause the flux through the ac winding t o pulsate.
Thisinturngeneratesan ac voltageinthesewindings.The
windings are locatedinslots in thelaminatedstatorstacks
close to the air-gap. In order to make the induced voltage in
bothstatorstacksaddproperly,themagneticrotorslots in
both rotor halves are offset by one-half pole pitch.
A rotor speed of 15 000 r/min was set primarily by bearing
limitations.Thismaximumrotorspeedwasdeterminedby
bothmechanicalandelectricalconsiderations.Tominimize Fig. 8. End view of inductor/alternator.
 139

system size and weight. the rotor speed should be as high as

.Lo = I.lvuhee1 Energy at
practical.Rotorspeed is limitedbythemaximumallowable Maximum Speed
rotorstresswhich is thefatiguelimit of thematerialfora L E = Fl\wheeI Energy which
specified number of cycles. A second restriction on the maxi- Has Been Extracted
mumrotorspeed is thebearing life which is afunctionof
rotorweight(includinganyflywheel).speed.andoperating
temperature.Theselectedpreliminary design specifications
set bearing life at 3000 h.
A next step in the speed consideration was to estimate the
minimumoperatingspeed for theflywheelmachine.The
extractable or useful energy of a flywheelis given as

AE = 112 (nmax2- n m i n 2 )
where
2 useful enzrgy.
I inertia.
rotor
n m a x maximumoperatingspeed.
tzmin minimumoperatingspeed.
Fig. 9 shows this relation as a function of the speed ratio.
At 50 percent of maximum speed. 7 5 percent of the flywheel
energy at maximum speed will be extracted for external use.
Since a specified amount of energy is to be stored in the fly-
wheel, a new function could be established with the required
inertia as a function of the speed ratio. Furthermore. assum-
ing afixedmaximumdiameterfortheflywheelresults
weight versus speed relationship as shown in Fig. 10. For the
50 percentspeedratio.theweightoftheflywheel is 33
percentlargerthanwhatitwouldhaveto be if all ofthe
energy in the flywheel were extracted.
In thesamzgeneraltzrms.theeffectofthespeedratio
upon the sizing of the electrical machine can be established.
I t has been found that based upon experience with high speed
machines built for aircraft application. the following relation-
ship between the electrical machine weight. rated power and
rated speed is valid :
where
W weight.
PR ratedpower (kVA).
rlR ratedspeed (rjmin).
Notethatratedpowerandratedspeedaredefinedatthe
lowestoperatingspeedofthemachine. A plotofweight
ratio as a functionofspeedratio is shown in Fig. 10. Thus.
dependingupontheweightcontributionsfromtheflywheel
and the generator. an optimum speed ratio can be established
for a given ratio of stored energ)' and power rating. For the
case ofequalweightcontribution.theoptimumappearsat
52.5 percent speed ratio. Since the actual weight contribution
dependsuponvariousfactorswhichcanonlybedetermined
through a very detailed design study, a reasonable judgmental
approach has been to initially select a 50 percent speed ratio
for the operation of the flywheel storage system. Based on the
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0. a 1. 0
"min/nmax
Fig. 9 . Flya-heel speed ratio (nmin/fzmax) versus energy ratio.
preliminar). design specification of an upper speed of 1 5 000
r,'min and a 50 percent speed ratio. a minimum speed of 7500
r/rnin results.
Thefrequencyselectedforamachinefora given speed
range depends upon the following considerations:
in a impact on machine size.
0 maximum frequency limitations in the inverter/
rectifier.
0 interface
requirements
for
successful
inverter-motor
operation.
The impact on the machine size is elident in two major areas.
One is the endturn length with all the dependent implications.
The second is the height of the ac yoke (stator). Both follow
the same pattern. For a given machine rating and speed. the
endturn length and the >.eke heightdecreasewithincreasing
frequency. This effect is counterbalanced by the fact that for
higherfrequencies.wherethepolepitchinthemachinebe-
comes very small. the coupling between the armature winding
andthemagneticfield.producedbytheexcitationwinding,
worsens with increasing frequency.
Frompastexperience.ithasbeenestablishedthatcon-
ventionalmachinesareatanoptimum size andweightfor 8
to 12 poles.Inductoralternatortypemachinestendtobe
optimally. designed for a larger number of poles. However. the
gain due to an increasein frequent), is overshadowed by the
two other limitations mentioned and by the iron losses which
tend to increase severely with frequency.
The inverter does not impose a frequency- limitation in this
low voltage case since this type of inverter is operable up to
4 t o 5 kHz.
The most severe limitation is determined by the fact that
the machine has to commutate the inverter. e.g.. the machine
rating reflects this in terms of a leading power factor require-
ment. The commutating reactance of the machine is directly
responsibleforthisadditionalpowerrequirement.Thecom-
mutatingreactance.whichfor all practicalpurposescanbe
140 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY. MAY 2007

-
W
WO

W = Weight @I5000 rpm

for Rotating Machine
W o = Weight of Flywheel
for Hequired Energy
Extraction
2

1 I I I I
0 0.2 0.4 0. 6 0. e 1.0 nminhnax
Fig. I O . Flywheel speed ratio (nmin/nmax) versus weight ratio.

equated with the negative sequence reactance of the machine, Thus. weighing all thesefactors, size impact,ironlosses,
can be expressed as follows [ 2 ] : inverter requirements and commutating reactance. the number
of poles in the machine has been fixed as eightpoleswhich,
x, = x s + +ClXad (3) incombinationwiththe 7500 to 15 000 r/minspeedrange.
results in a frequency range of 500 t o 1000 Hz.
where Speedrange.numberofpoles.andpowerrating having
beenestablished,theremainingtask is to selecttheproper
X, commutating reactance,
fluxandampere-turncombinationwhich will determinethe
X,, synchronous reactance in direct axis.
actual
machine dimensions.
Again,the
consideration
of
X, slotleakagereactance.
commutation reactance plays a significant role. The important
X, endturnleakagereactance.
point for an inductor alternator in contrast to a conventional
Thefactor C , accountsfortheinfluence of thedifferent wound rotor synchronous machine is that the inductor alter-
quadrature axis reactance, of the field leakage reactance, and natorhasasignificantlyhighersubtransientreactance(and
oftheamortisseurleakagereactance. For simplicity,it is negativesequencereactance)becausethedampingeffectof
assumed independent of the frequency. It can be shown that the solid rotor surface is lower, especially at high frequencies,
X,, is inversely proportional to
the
frequency-provided thanawell-designedamortisseurcircuit.Sincethereactance
rotor diameter and velocity are kept constant. The slot leakage level is a function of the number of turns per phase squared
reactance is directly proportional to the frequency. Thus, we and grows only linearly with the air-gap area? a low reactance
obtain a relationship for X, versus frequency as follows: level is generally achieved by decreasing the number of turns
and increasing the total air-gap area. The total magnetic flux
= cSf +cE/f -k c Q d / f , (4) in an inductor machine has to be carried axially through the
centeroftherotor.Thus,thenecessaryrotorcrosssection
Depending upon the values of the various constants C, there is area of thecenterportion is directlydeterminedbythe
apointbeyondwhich X c is directlyproportional to the air-gapfluxandthemaximummaterialfluxdensity.The
frequency. In general. th2 commutation process becomes more diameterofthecenterportion also determinestherotor
difficult with increasing frequency. diameterbecause of theminimumsaliencyrequirementsfor
 141

Shaft S C RMotoringGenerating Starting

Position SCR‘s SCR’s SCR’s
Sensor
Firing +

A
Inductor

I\ ,\ I>
Starting
Capacitor

\ ‘
I f -
To P r o p u l s i o n
Motor and Battery

0
Fig.11.
Fig. Electrical
11.VEHICLE vehicleMODEL
SIMULINK model

thistypeofmachine.Initial design calculations have estab- fier.aseparatefieldcurrentcontroller is required t o adjust

lishedthatarotordiameterof7.45inandanactivestack
length of 3.5 in result in a machine which exhibits a reasonable
commutating reactance level.
Theanalysisoftherotorindicatesthataslottedrotor
(which is the natural way) has an inertia of Z, = 0.4 lb in s2.
The useful energy which can be stored in this rotor by a speed
increase from 7500 r/min to 15 000 r/min is ilE = 11.6 Wh
which is about one-half of the energy storage required for one
start-stop cycle for a 3000 lb vehicle. If the slots in the two
rotor halves are filled with nonmagnetic material via brazing
or welding, the inertia increases t o 1, = 0.814 lb in s 2 . The
energystored in thisrotorforthesamespeed range then
amounts to AE = 23.6 Wh. This is approximately the stored
energy needed for one start for a 3000 lb vehicle. It emphasises
the point that what generally is considered a disadvantage of
an inductor alternator-namely. that it is for the same speed
and power rating. twice as large as a conventional ac machine-
turns out to be an advantage for this type of application. The
rotor inertia can easily be used to be sufficient for providing
therequiredenergystoragecapability.Thus no separatefly-
wheel is required.Furthermore,thestatoroftheinductor
alternator has sufficient thickness to act as a safe containment
should the flywheel fail.
SOLID STATE INVERTERIRECTIFIER
In ordertointerfacewiththeinductormotor/alternator
andbatteryipropulsionmotor.thesolidstatepowercondi-
tioner must be capable of extracting energy from the flywheel/
alternatorduringonemodeofoperation(generating)and
supplyingenergytotheflywheel/motorduringthesecond
mode of operation (motoringj. The inverter/rectifier must also
be capable of starting the flywheel/motor from rest and stop-
ping the flywheel during the final coast-down to a standstill.
The control electronics are designed to monitor the status of
the system to ensure that the change in modes. i.e.. motoring
togenerating,forcedcommutationtomotorcommutation,
etc..areaccomplishedatthecorrecttime so as t o minimize
disturbancestothesystem. In addition to the inverter/recti-
the level offieldcurrentintheexcitationwindingofthe
inductor motor/alternator.
A study of power conditioners suitable for reversible ac t o
dc conversionidentifiedtheloadcommutatedinverter/recti-
fier (LCI). The power circuit is shown in Fig. 1 1 .
In thesystemshowninFig. 11. thepolarityofthedc
terminalscannot reverse duetothepresenceofthebattery
and the desire not to reverse the field current in the separately
excitedpropulsionmotor.Therefore,inorderto reverse the
direction of powerflow,thedirectionofthedirectcurrent
must be reversed. When operating as anac todcsystem
(generating),thesix SCR’s (shown in Fig. 11 as generating
SCR’s) are phased to full advance. The field of the inductor/
generator operating in conjunction with the field excitation of
the propulsion motor controls the dc link current and hence
the developed torque of the propulsion motor. Operation of
the SCR’s at full phase advance (similar t o diodes) maximizes
thepowerfactoroftherectifiersystemandimprovesthe
powertransferfromthe ac t o dcsystems. As theflywheel
slows down. the generator frequency will also drop; however,
theSCRgate signals will besynchronizedwiththevariable
frequency terminal voltage.
During the motoring mode, the six SCRs (shown in Fig. 11
as motoring SCR’s) will beoperatingandgated on at maxi-
mum retard angle in the inverting mode. In this case. the SCR
turn-offtime is reducedtoaminimumconsistentwiththe
SCRselection.Thecommutatingreactanceofthemachine
requires that the retard angle be a function of dc link current.
It is in this mode that the SCR’s rely on the inductor motor to
providethecommutation(leadingpowerfactor)forthe
SCR’s.Therefore,thissystemwouldnotoperatewithan
induction motor (lagging powerfactor),andtheelimination
of the commutation circuit is one of the favorable trade-offs
in using a synchronous motor.
In additiontoprovidingcommutation,the use ofan
electricallyexcitedfield on theinductormotorallowsthe
control of the machine voltage magnitude. This allows direct
currrent and torque control to be provided without the need
for phase angle controlled gating circuits and operation of the
142 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, MAY 2007

TABLE I
SUMMARY O F DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS FOR
INVERTER~RECTIFIER
-
Input power: 84 V dc (battery pack)
Output power: 52.5 V, three-phase ac variable frequency-500
t o 1000 Hz
Calculated power conditioning efficiency: 94 percent
SCR average current: 77 A
RMS average current: 134 A
Peak current: 232 A
Peak voltage: 128.6 V
Maximum retard angle: 172"
Leakage reactance per phase: 5 5 wh
Commutating capacitor: 40 /.IF
SCR turn-off time: 22 SI.!
Power factor: 0.78 lead

Fig. 1 2 . Main SCR and auxiliary SCR voltage and load current during
forced commutation: i load = 20A/div, e mainSCR = 50 V/div,
e aux SCR = 50 V/div. time = 0.5 msidiv.

400

0 50 I00 200 250 300

3C CLrrer' i Arrps)
Fig. 13. DC voltage veIsus dc current for constant field current with rectifieI load
LUSTENADER e t al. : FLYWHEEL/BXTTERY DRIVE SYSTESI 143

Theoperationofthemainandauxiliary SCR’s during

Fig. 14. Line current and line-to-line voltage: i = 20 A/div. v = 50
Vidiv. generator speed = 15 000 r/min, field current ::4 A .
phase-controlled inverter/rectifier at reduced power factor and
with increased harmonic current content. The reactor in series
with the dc supply will filter the ac components of the voltage
developed by the inverter/rectiiier.
The inductor motor cannot provide commutation at stand-
still and very low speeds. Therefore, a source of forced com-
mutation must be provided for initial starting. One approach
is to use power switches with turn-off capability. i.e.: transis-
tors.However.thevoltage.current.andpower level require
relativelyexpensivetransistors to meet the electrical require-
ments.Inordertoprovideforsystemexpansiontoheavier
vehicles.powerthyristors have beenselected as thepower
switching elements. In order to provide commutation. the two
auxiliary SCR‘s and single capacitor are provided. The use of
auxiliary SCR‘s allows the forced commutation circuit to be
renderedinoperativewhenthemotorspeed is sufficientby
removingthegate signals fromtheauxiliary S C R s . This
results in a higher efficiency during the major modes of opera-
tion of the system from half speed to full speed on the fly-
wheel machine.
RECTIFIER/INVERTER SPECIFICATIONS
Thesystemspecificationsandrequirementsfor sizing the
system have been previously described. These can be related t o
the requirements for the power semiconductors for the load
commutated inverter. Table I summarizes the electrical require-
ments.
forced commutation operation is shown in Fig. 12. The opera-
tionoftheauxiliarySCRatthreetimesthefundamental
motor frequency is shown.
Test data for the inductor machine operating with a recti-
fier type dc load is presented in Fig. 13. Data on open circuit,
short circuit, and with a finite load resistance is shown for a
fixed speed and fixed dc field current. The data for maximum
speed (15 000 r/min) and field current from 2 to 10 A is pre-
sented. The load points were limited by the power capability
ofthedc drive motorsupplyingmechanicalpowertothe
inductormachine.Anadditionaltest
performed on the
machine is the effect of rectifier commutation on the machine
voltagesanditsreduction in thepowercapability of the
machine.Themachineterminalline-to-linevoltageandline
current is shown in Fig. 14 for full speed and 7500 W output.
This figure clearly shows the long commutation times together
with the reverse recovery of the rectifiers.
Additional system test data during dynamic operation with
an energyinterchangebetweentheflywheelandthepropul-
sion motor are planned.
CONCLUSIONS
Sufficient progress has been made in the program to draw
the following conclusions.
1)Anenergystorageandrecoverysystemshould signif-
icantlyincreasethe rangeof amultistopandgobattery
powered electric vehicle.
2) A flywheel system augmenting a battery powered vehicle
should make a viable hybrid combination.
3)A highspeed ac drivenflywheelsystem will provide
decreasedmachineweight.increasedefficiency.andmore
optimum shape of the flywheel.
4) The load commutated interter/rectifier provides a high
efficiency. reversible power flow and a flexible link between
the inductor machine and the dc battery and propulsion motor.
REFERENCES

RECTIFIERiINVERTER TEST DATA R. H. Guess and E. L. Lustenader, “Development of a High Per-

formance and
LightweightHybridFlywheel/Battery Powered
Preliminary data has been obtained on the inverter/rectifier ElectricVehicleDrive,”presentedattheFourthInternational
Electric Vehicle Symposium, Dusseldorf. Germany. August 1976.
power conditioner in two main areas: 1) operating as a forced
E.Richter. “New DevelopmentsinVery High SpeedElectrical
commutated inverter with a static load and 2 ) operating from Alternator.” 1971 IntersocietyEnergyConversionEngineering
the inductor machine in the rectifying mode. Conference, Boston.