IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE)

e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 16, Issue 3 Ser. II (May. - June. 2019), PP 17-24
www.iosrjournals.org

Development and Fabrication of Airbrake System Using Engine

Exhaust Gas
Shrinivasa D.1, Karthik S T .2, Deepak M.3, Gowtham M.4, Sagar A S.5
1
Asst Prof, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering Mysuru.
2,3,4,5
Students, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vidyavardhaka College of engineering Mysuru.
Corresponding Author: Shrinivasa D.

Abstract: The aim of this project is to develop an air brake system based on exhaust gas is called
“Development and Fabrication of air brake system using engine exhaust gas“. The main aim is to reduce the
workloads of the engine drive to operate the air compressor, because here the compressor is not operated by the
engine drive. Here we are placing a turbine in the path of exhaust from the engine. The turbine is connected to a
dynamo by means of coupling, which is used to generate power. Depending upon the airflow the turbine will
start rotating, and then the dynamo will also starts to rotate. A dynamo is a device which is used to convert the
kinetic energy into electrical energy. The generated power can be stored in the battery and then this electric
power has loaded to the DC compressor. The air compressor compresses the atmospheric air and it stored in
the air tank and the air tank has pressure relief valve to control the pressure in the tank. The air tank supplies
the compressed pneumatic power to the pneumatic actuator through solenoid valve to apply brake. The
pneumatic actuator is a double acting cylinder which coverts pneumatic pressure into linear motion
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Date of Submission: 10-05-2019 Date of acceptance: 27-05-2019
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I. Introduction
Braking System
A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is
used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished
by means of friction. Most brakes commonly use friction between two surfaces pressed together to convert
the kinetic energy of the moving object into heat, though other methods of energy conversion may be employed.
For example, regenerative braking converts much of the energy to electrical energy. Other methods convert
kinetic energy into potential energy in such stored forms as pressurized air or pressurized oil. Eddy current
brakes use magnetic fields to convert kinetic energy into electric current in the brake disc, fin, or rail, which is
converted into heat. Still other braking methods even transform kinetic energy into different forms, for example
by transferring the energy to a rotating flywheel. Brakes are generally applied to rotating axles or wheels, but
may also take other forms such as the surface of a moving fluid (flaps deployed into water or air). Some vehicles
use a combination of braking mechanisms, such as drag racing cars with both wheel brakes and a parachute, or
airplanes with both wheel brakes and drag flaps raised into the air during landing.
Friction brakes on automobiles store braking heat in the drum brake or disc brake while braking then
conduct it to the air gradually. When traveling downhill some vehicles can use their engines to brake. When the
brake pedal of a modern vehicle with hydraulic brakes is pushed against the master cylinder, ultimately
a piston pushes the brake pad against the brake disc which slows the wheel down. On the brake drum it is
similar as the cylinder pushes the brake shoes against the drum which also slows the wheel down.

II. Literature Survey

The various research works attempted in the area of energy conservation and specifically in the area of
air compressor and pneumatic systems have been referred and discussed here.

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

Block diagram showing energy conservation opportunities in air compressors

1. According to John (1995), the opportunities for cost savings in compressed air supply system includes but
not limited to waste heat recovery, compressed air leakage reduction, use of outside air for compressor,
compressor control, air pressure control, compressor selection and usage of IC engine for compressor
driving.
2. The solution for compressed air leaks is to make leak finding and correcting as a part of the normal
maintenance process and repeating leak survey at least once a year (John Holdsworth 1997). Over-
pressurization can also result from short sighted selection of ancillary equipments. Bill Howe and Bill
Scales (1998) report that the opportunities for improved compressed air efficiency where air is used
internally, but uneconomically are less understood.
3. Cost effective efficiency opportunities in production and usage of compressed air are often ignored by the
industries due to various reasons and selection of correct compressor control also plays a major role in the
energy consumption by the air compressors (Robert 1999). Leaks, inappropriate usage of compressed air,
poor selection of compressors and ancillary equipments, pressure problem and poor attempts to solve these
problems are some other common causes of inefficiency in the compressor system

2.1 Literature Review

In recent years the scientific and public awareness on environmental and energy issues has brought in
major interests to the research of advanced technologies particularly in highly efficient internal combustion
engines. Viewing from the socio-economic perspective, as the level of energy consumption is directly
proportional to the economic development and total number of population in a country, the growing rate of
population in the world today indicates that the energy demand is likely to increase. Substantial thermal energy
is available from the exhaust gas in modern automotive engines. Two-thirds of the energy from combustion in a
vehicle is lost as waste heat, of which 40% is in the form of hot exhaust gas. The latest developments and
technologies on waste heat recovery of exhaust gas from internal combustion engines (ICE). These include
thermoelectric generators (TEG), Organic Rankine cycle (ORC), six-stroke cycle IC engine and new
developments on turbocharger technology. Being one of the promising new devices for an automotive waste
heat recovery, thermoelectric generators (TEG) will become one of the most important and outstanding devices
in the future. A thermoelectric power generator is a solid state device that provides direct energy conversion
from thermal energy (heat) due to a temperature gradient into electrical energy based on “Seebeck effect”. The
thermoelectric power cycle, charge carriers (electrons) serving as the working fluid, follows the fundamental
laws of thermodynamics and intimately resembles the power cycle of a conventional heat engine.

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

World Marketed Energy Use by Fuel Type 1980 – 2030

One potential solution is the usage of the exhaust waste heat of combustion engines. This is possible by
the waste heat recovery using thermoelectric generator. A thermoelectric generator converts the temperature
gradient into useful voltage that can used for providing power for auxiliary systems such as air conditioner and
minor car electronics. Even it can reduce the size of the alternator that consumes shaft power. If approximately
6% of exhaust heat could be converted into electrical power, it will save approximately same quantity of driving
energy. It will be possible to reduce fuel consumption around 10% hence AETEG systems can be profitable in
the automobile industry.
The number of vehicles (passenger and commercial vehicles) produced from 2005 to 2010 shows an
overall increasing trend from year to year despite major global economic downturn in the 2008–2010 periods.
Note that China’s energy consumption in transportation sector is the lowest (13.5%) although the country
produced the highest number of vehicles in 2009 to 2010 as compared to the other countries.
A number of irreversible processes in the engine limit its capability to achieve a highly balanced
efficiency.The rapid expansion of gases inside the cylinder produces high temperature differences, turbulent
fluid motions and large heat transfers from the fluid to the piston crown and cylinder walls. These rapid
successions of events happening in the cylinder create expanding exhaust gases with pressures that exceed the
atmospheric level, and they must be released while the gases are still expanding to prepare the cylinder for the
following processes. By doing so, the heated gases produced from the combustion process can be easily
channeled through the exhaust valve and manifold. The large amount of energy from the stream of exhausted
gases could potentially be used for waste heat energy recovery to increase the work output of the engine.
Consequently, higher efficiency, lower fuel consumption by improving fuel economy, producing fewer
emissions from the exhaust, and reducing noise pollutions have been imposed as standards in some countries.
Hatazawa et al., Stabler, Taylor, Yu and Chau and Yang stated that the waste heat produced from thermal
combustion process generated by gasoline engine could get as high as 30–40% which is lost to the environment
through an exhaust pipe.
In internal combustion engines a huge amount of energy is lost in the form of heat through the exhaust
gas.Conklin and Szybist investigated that the percentage of fuel energy converted to useful work only 10.4%
and also found the thermal energy lost through exhaust gas about 27.7%. The second law analysis of fuel has
been shown that fuel energy is converted to the brake power about 9.7% and the exhaust about 8.4%. In another
research the value of exhaust gases mentioned to be 18.6% of total combustion energy. It is also found that by
installing heat exchanger to recover exhaust energy of the engine could be saved up to 34% of fuel saving.

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

III. Methodology

2-D VIEW OF AIR BRAKE SYSTEM USING EXHAUST GAS

The two stroke petrol engine is connected to the wheels in which exhaust gas braking is attached.
Pressure tank is used to store the exhaust gas under required pressure. The braking speed is varied by adjusting
the valve is called flow control valve.
Solenoid valve is used to operate the pneumatic cylinder which actuates the brake lever of the wheels. The flow
chart of the experiment is given in the figure.4.

Fig.2.1. Working flow chart

During the operation of the engine, the exhaust gas is stored in the pressure tank. If the pressure of the
tank exceeds certain limit then pressure relief valve will open. It is used to maintain the required pressure in the
pressure tank. When the brake is applied, control circuit detects the signal and operates the solenoid valve.
Exhaust gas stored in the pressure tank is used to actuate the pneumatic cylinder.
End of the actuator is connected to the brake lever. When pneumatic cylinder is actuated, brake lever is
operated and applies the brake to the wheels. Brake pad is connected to the cam mechanism. Lever turns the
cam, thus opening of brake show is obtained. Brake lever will come to the original position when it is not
required. DCV is used to retract the pneumatic cylinder when not required.

3.1 Working Principle

Diagram showing the methodology of the project

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

Air from exhaust gas is forced in to a turbine which acts as a dynamo, the turbine fan is made of light
material which will rotate for even minimum force of air. The turbine thus produces millivolts of charge which
is shown using a LED. A diode is connected to the circuit of the dynamo which is connected to a battery to have
a one way flow of current. Thus charge stored in a battery is used to run a 12v dc compressor which actuates
flow of air through solenoid valve. The solenoid valve acts as switch for braking mechanism. Hence braking
facility is obtained by using pneumatic cylinder to a drum brake. Air brakes are very efficient as only solenoid
valve has to be actuated for braking which requires only a small amount of force compared to any other braking
systems.

3.2 Components and Functions

The generations of electricity using the flow or velocity of vehicle exhaust gas of the following
components to full fill the requirements of complete operation of the machine.
1. Dynamo
2. Turbine
3. Battery
4. Engine

3.2.1 TURBINE
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and
converts itinto rotary motion. It has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine primarily
because of its greater thermal efficiency and higher power-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine generates rotary
motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator. About 90% of all electricity
generation in the United States is by use of steam turbines. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that
derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the
expansion of the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible process.

3.2.2 Dynamo
Dynamo is an electrical generator. This dynamo produces direct current with the use of a commutator.
Dynamo was the first generator capable of generating power in the industries. The dynamo uses rotating coils of
wire and magnetic fields to convert mechanical rotation into a pulsing direct electric current. A dynamo machine
consists of a stationary structure, called the stator, which provides a constant magnetic field, and a set of rotating
windings called the armature which turn within that field. On small machines the constant magnetic field may
be provided by one or more permanent magnets, larger machines have the constant magnetic field provided by
one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field coils.
The commutator was needed to produce direct current. When a loop of wire rotates in a magnetic field,
the potential induced in it reverses with each half turn, generating an alternating current. However, in the early
days of electric experimentation, alternating current generally had no known use. The few uses for electricity,
such as electroplating, used direct current provided by messy liquid batteries. Dynamos were invented as a
replacement for batteries. The commutator is a set of contacts mounted on the machine's shaft, which reverses
the connection of the windings to the external circuit when the potential reverses, so instead of alternating
current, a pulsing direct current is produced.

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

3.2.3 Battery
In our project we are using secondary type battery. It is rechargeable type. A battery is one or more
electro chemical cells, which store chemical energy and make it available as electric current. There are two
types of batteries, primary (disposable) and secondary (rechargeable), both of which convert chemical energy to
electrical energy.

3.2.4 Engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat
engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines (such as steam engines) burn a
fuel to create heat, which then creates motion. The term internal combustion engine usually refers to an engine
in which combustion is intermittent, such as the more familiar four-stroke and two-stroke piston engines.

IV. Fabrication

Turbine Coupled With Dynamo Air Tank

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

Pneumatic Cylinder Air Compressor

Solenoid Valve

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 Development And Fabrication Of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas

Final Model

V. Future Scope
As we could not afford the engine of heavy vehicle we have used a two wheeler engine. By
implementing this project on heavy vehicles which have powerful engines we will be able to produce more
power from the engine exhaust gases. Low cost dynamo, battery and the turbine had to be purchased due to the
low budget. By using high voltage battery, high voltage producing dynamo and by using proper turbine we can
considerably increase the power production required for the air braking system.

References
[1]. Development of a model for an air brake system without leaks Srivatsan Ramarathnam (est.al)-2003
[2]. Pressure control scheme for air brakes in commercial vehicles- C.L. Bowlin (est.al) Apr 2006
[3]. A new advanced power-generation system using chemical-looping combustion- Masaru Ishida Diesel engine exhaust gas
Recirculation-Ming Zheng (est.al)-2011
[4]. Power generation with gas turbine systems and combined heat and powerP.A Pilavachi-2004
[5]. Power generation using coir pith and wood derived producer gas in diesel engines-A.S. Ramadhas (est.al)
[6]. A Diagnostic System for Air Brakes in Commercial Vehicles -Swaroop Darbha-2009

Shrinivasa D. “Development and Fabrication of Airbrake System Using Engine Exhaust Gas.”
IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) , vol. 16, no. 3, 2019, pp.
17-24

DOI: 10.9790/1684-1603021724 www.iosrjournals.org 24 | Page