Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix

Exergy is a thermodynamic concept that ponders the quality of energy. It evaluates the irreversibilities of a machine, demonstrating its capacity to perform work associated with energy conversion. This article focuses on directing public policies and vehicle development toward their most proper usag...

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Main Authors: Henrique Naim Finianos Feliciano, Fernando Fusco Rovai, Carlos Eduardo Keutenedjian Mady
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-08-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6320
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author Henrique Naim Finianos Feliciano
Fernando Fusco Rovai
Carlos Eduardo Keutenedjian Mady
author_facet Henrique Naim Finianos Feliciano
Fernando Fusco Rovai
Carlos Eduardo Keutenedjian Mady
author_sort Henrique Naim Finianos Feliciano
collection DOAJ
description Exergy is a thermodynamic concept that ponders the quality of energy. It evaluates the irreversibilities of a machine, demonstrating its capacity to perform work associated with energy conversion. This article focuses on directing public policies and vehicle development toward their most proper usage worldwide. In the urban mobility scenario, there is an obvious demand to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition, the internal combustion engine (ICE) experiences considerable energy losses through heat exchange through the radiator and exhaust flow gases, which are not considerable in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) since there are no exhaust gases subsequent to combustion, nor combustion itself. This work presents longitudinal dynamics simulations of passenger vehicles to understand the magnitude of exergy destruction in ICEVs and BEVs, considering the Brazilian and European Union electric energy mix. Overall, the method can be applied to any other country. The simulation and model parameters were configured to match production road vehicles commercialized in the Brazilian market based on different versions of the same model. Two vehicle dynamic duty cycles were used, one relating to urban usage and another to highway usage, resulting in an overall exergy efficiency of around 50–51% for BEVs considering the exergy destruction in power plants. In contrast, ICE has an average efficiency of 20% in the urban cycle and around 30% in the highway cycle. By comparing the overall equivalent CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, it is possible to conclude that EVs in the European energy matrix produce more GHG than ICE vehicles running on ethanol in Brazil. Nevertheless, there are increasing uses of coal, natural gas, and oil thermal electric power plants, raising the question of how the transition may occur with a general increase in electrification since there is an increasing electric expenditure in all sectors of society, and the renewable energy plants may not meet all of the demand.
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spelling doaj.art-9b2677232241431da1772a74630e25f22023-11-19T08:06:18ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732023-08-011617632010.3390/en16176320Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy MixHenrique Naim Finianos Feliciano0Fernando Fusco Rovai1Carlos Eduardo Keutenedjian Mady2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Centro Universitário FEI, Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco Avenue, 3972-B Assunção, São Bernardo do Campo 09850-901, BrazilSchool of Mechanical Engineering, University of Campinas, Mendeleyev St., 200 Cidade Universitária, Campinas 13083-970, BrazilInstitute of Energy and Environment of the University of São Paulo, Prof. Luciano Gualberto Avenue 1289, São Paulo 05508-900, BrazilExergy is a thermodynamic concept that ponders the quality of energy. It evaluates the irreversibilities of a machine, demonstrating its capacity to perform work associated with energy conversion. This article focuses on directing public policies and vehicle development toward their most proper usage worldwide. In the urban mobility scenario, there is an obvious demand to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition, the internal combustion engine (ICE) experiences considerable energy losses through heat exchange through the radiator and exhaust flow gases, which are not considerable in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) since there are no exhaust gases subsequent to combustion, nor combustion itself. This work presents longitudinal dynamics simulations of passenger vehicles to understand the magnitude of exergy destruction in ICEVs and BEVs, considering the Brazilian and European Union electric energy mix. Overall, the method can be applied to any other country. The simulation and model parameters were configured to match production road vehicles commercialized in the Brazilian market based on different versions of the same model. Two vehicle dynamic duty cycles were used, one relating to urban usage and another to highway usage, resulting in an overall exergy efficiency of around 50–51% for BEVs considering the exergy destruction in power plants. In contrast, ICE has an average efficiency of 20% in the urban cycle and around 30% in the highway cycle. By comparing the overall equivalent CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, it is possible to conclude that EVs in the European energy matrix produce more GHG than ICE vehicles running on ethanol in Brazil. Nevertheless, there are increasing uses of coal, natural gas, and oil thermal electric power plants, raising the question of how the transition may occur with a general increase in electrification since there is an increasing electric expenditure in all sectors of society, and the renewable energy plants may not meet all of the demand.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6320exergyinternal combustion enginebattery electric vehicleefficiency
spellingShingle Henrique Naim Finianos Feliciano
Fernando Fusco Rovai
Carlos Eduardo Keutenedjian Mady
Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix
Energies
exergy
internal combustion engine
battery electric vehicle
efficiency
title Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix
title_full Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix
title_fullStr Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix
title_full_unstemmed Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix
title_short Energy, Exergy, and Emissions Analyses of Internal Combustion Engines and Battery Electric Vehicles for the Brazilian Energy Mix
title_sort energy exergy and emissions analyses of internal combustion engines and battery electric vehicles for the brazilian energy mix
topic exergy
internal combustion engine
battery electric vehicle
efficiency
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6320
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