Development of Series Hydraulic Hybrid Drive Train with Regenerative Suspension for Heavy Duty Vehicles

This paper presents the comparison of conventional model of series and parallel hydraulic hybrid vehicle in terms of efficiency and mechanism employed. A concept of a Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicle drive train to improve the fuel efficiency of heavy duty vehicles and urban transit buses is given. The developed series hydraulic hybrid drive train enables to use the energy lost in Breaking and Suspension. The Energy Flow equations for components of the drive train are shown. A break-even analysis of modified hydraulic hybrid vehicle with percentage improvement in mileage and decrease in fuel cost has been shown. The series hydraulic hybrid system exhibits potential for excellent fuel economy. The increase in mileage has been depicted using calculations. The developmental work in the area of high efficiency pump/motor is required for further improvements.