Flybrid Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS)

 

Flybrid® Flywheel Tech

All Flybrid® products use the same, proven and patented, high-speed flywheel technology. Rotating at up to 60,000 RPM the very small flywheel can store enough energy to make a significant impact on vehicle performance and emissions.

This technology allows a range of features unmatched by the competition:

•    High power capability
•    Light weight and small size
•    Long system life

o    At high depths of discharge

o    Over a wide temperature range
o    On severe stop start duty cycles

•    Rugged and reliable

o    Fully supported bearing design resists processional torque
o    Bearings outside the vacuum can be cooled and lubricated

•    Completely safe

o    Patented containment technology
o    No retained charge in the workshop
o    Safe for emergency service workers after an accident

•    A truly green solution

o    High efficiency storage and recovery
o    Low parasitic losses
o    Low embedded carbon content

For racing applications the technology offers additional benefits over alternative battery based hybrid systems

•    Easy transportation around the world by air
•    No special pit equipment required
•    No special support staff required

The original Flybrid Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS)

The original Flybrid Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) was a small and light device designed to meet the FIA regulations for the 2009 Formula One season.

The key system features were:

• A flywheel made of steel and carbon fibre which rotated at over 60,000 RPM inside an evacuated chamber
• The flywheel casing featured containment to avoid the escape of any debris in the unlikely event of a flywheel failure
• The flywheel was connected to the transmission of the car on the output side of the gearbox via several fixed ratios, a clutch and the CVT
• 60 kW power transmission in either storage or recovery
• 400 kJ of usable storage (after accounting for internal losses)
• A total system weight of 25 kg
• A total packaging volume of 13 litres

The layout of the device was tailored exactly to meet the customer's requirement resulting in a truly bespoke solution that fitted within the tight packaging constraints of a F1 car. 

CFT KERS

The Flybrid® CFT KERS is a new high-speed flywheel based Kinetic Energy Recovery System for racing car and mainstream automotive application. This is the first true 2nd generation KERS to come to market and represents a step change in size, weight and cost for this green technology of the future.

A complete Flybrid CFT KERS for Formula One capable of 60 kW and 400 kJ per lap weighs less than 18 kg and a plan view section fits on an A4 piece of paper.

The CFT KERS is suitable for both racing and road car application and scales down well to small power outputs and small storage quantities such as would be required for a B class car. Most importantly the CFT KERS promises to be very low cost in mass production and could open up a whole new market for small, ultra efficient yet low cost hybrid cars.

FLYWEEL CAPACITOR

This is a high-speed flywheel based energy storage system for electricity that offers the key advantages of mechanical systems together with the flexibility of electrical connection. An electric motor generator is connected to the flywheel allowing a DC voltage to be stored or recovered.

The electrical power is used to spin up the flywheel and when the power is turned off the flywheel continues to spin. To recover the power as electricity the motor generator is used to generate electricity thus slowing down the flywheel.

Flybrid have built and tested a 530 kJ, 60 kW storage system that weighs just 27 kg. This system is designed for vehicle mounted short-term storage applications and has been developed in conjunction with Magneti Marelli Motorsport. 

ROAD CAR SYSTEM 

Flybrid Systems have been working with a number of OEM car makers including Jaguar Cars to develop flywheel hybrid systems for road cars. Based on the original Flybrid Formula One KERS device these systems feature a fully mechanical drive using a CVT but have evolved to better meet road car requirements and now feature:

• A design life of 250,000 kms
• Low cost in volume manufacture
• Optimised CVT design for high efficiency at low power levels
• Bespoke Flybrid developed vacuum, oil and hydraulic pumps to reduce parasitic losses
• Powerful clutches to allow launch of the vehicle from rest under flywheel power alone with the engine turned off
• Fully automatic control systems that react to normal vehicle control pedal movements and require no additional inputs from the driver

These are full hybrid systems capable of kinetic energy recovery but also able to store energy when the vehicle is not braking in order to optimise the engine operating efficiency. Using optimised strategies CO2 and fuel consumption savings of over 20% are possible on the NEDC cycle and more than 30% is possible in real world conditions.

These CVT based systems are the most developed Flybrid products and the closest to realising volume production. Flybrid expect to start supply of these systems in volume during 2013.

- Source flybridsystems