Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T19810/01
Title:	HYSTOR: Controlling a High Density Energy Storage System for Hybrid Vehicles
Principal Investigator:	Childs, Professor P
Other Investigators:	Long, Dr C Yang, Dr TC Morrell, Dr P Neller, Mr P Stobart, Professor RK
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Menard Engineering Ltd Spirax sarco
Department:	Sch of Engineering and Design
Organisation:	University of Sussex
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 May 2005	Ends:	31 October 2008	Value (£):	466,134
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Control Engineering Energy Storage
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Transport Systems and Vehicles
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Hybrid vehicles are considered as the solution to the requirement to enhance the efficiency of the road vehicle fleet. Hybrid vehicles have begun to appear in a commercial form, but progress to a widely acceptable technical solution is painfully slow. The hybrid vehicle is dogged by the need for a heavy, expensive and underperforming battery pack. Mechanical storage has proved difficult to engineer. While batteries and regenerative fuel cell stacks remain a long term objective, there is a need for radical solutions which are more accessible.Thermal storage of energy using water has the advantage of cleanliness and efficiency, but while the approach looks feasible there is no significant science base to support its development. Initial investigations show that the store is compact and outperforms batteries comfortably. The control of steam flow and the design requirements of a small steam engine are not understood and require new engineering principles to be established. The overall control of the vehicle's thermal processes are a further area of research since the inclusion of such a system in a vehicle will force changes in other systems.The proposed programme includes an investigation of system aspects of thermal storage and the control requirements for storage and recovery of energy. The design and operation of the steam engine itself forms a large part of the investigations. The final step is a practical demonstration.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website:	http://www.sussex.ac.uk