| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles offer the benefit of reduced petroleum fuel consumption compared with conventional vehicles, while still maintaining extended range operation utilizing liquid fuel. Using an electric motor to partially or completely propel the vehicle, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles allow for unconventional range extending technologies to be investigated. One such technology is the Wankel internal combustion engine coupled with a generator. The Wankel engine has been used with limited success in sporty conventional vehicles, but has not gained mass adoption due to its lower fuel efficiency. However, the lower fuel efficiency of the Wankel compared with conventional reciprocating engines may be overcome by its higher power density, convenient packaging and low noise vibration and harshness. These positive attributes of the Wankel engine lend it for use in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, where it must be packaged in conjunction with a complete electric powertrain. Little data is available regarding the fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions of small Wankel engines, however. This thesis discusses the experimental investigation of a single rotor Wankel engine with a displacement of 530cm 3. At its most efficient operating point the engine produced a brake power output of 16.65kW with a brake specific fuel consumption of 340g/kW-hr, emitting 283g/hr carbon monoxide, 22g/hr hydrocarbon and 164g/hr nitrogen oxides exhaust gasses. This engine was not designed for optimum efficiency, but provides a baseline for future enhancement studies. The experimental testing results were used to build an engine model in vehicle simulation software. This model was implemented as a range extender for an electric vehicle, and found to propel the vehicle with an average fuel consumption of 8.2 L/100km. Although the performance results from the study are not competitive with modern hybrid electric vehicles, they serve as a baseline for the continued study of range extended electric vehicles. This thesis outlines an approach to experimentally record data from a prospective range extender, and use the data to simulate the performance of the range extender when utilized in various vehicle configurations. |
