Affiliation:
1. Stellantis Group, Brazil
2. Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Abstract
<div>The concern with global warming has led to the creation of legislation aimed at
minimizing this phenomenon. As a result, the development of technologies to
minimize vehicle emissions and reduce fuel consumption has gained market share.
A promising alternative is the use of a belt starter generator (BSG): an
electric machine to replace the vehicle’s alternator. This research analyzes the
effects of introducing a 12 V BSG into a flex-fuel vehicle, specifically
examining its impact on fuel economy and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions when using
both gasoline and ethanol. The utilization of a low-voltage BSG in a flex-fuel
vehicle has not been previously studied. Numerical simulations and experimental
fuel consumption and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions tests were performed for the
normal production flex-fuel baseline configuration and the vehicle with the 12 V
BSG, following the standards ABNT NBR 6601 and ABNT NBR 7024. The use of the BSG
led to a 10.06% reduction in CO<sub>2</sub> emission in the urban cycle for the
vehicle running on gasoline and a 6.28% reduction in energy consumption in the
combined cycle. The results demonstrated that the low-voltage BSG is a promising
solution for reducing fuel consumption and GHG emissions in flex-fuel vehicles.
The electrical machine installation required minimal modifications to the
vehicle and had a low adaptation cost. The BSG can also improve vehicle
performance and drivability.</div>