Ricardo's TorqStor technology has been selected to receive the SAE Tech Award, as one of the top five technologies to be on display at the SAE World Congress which will be held from April 8th to 10th at the COBO Center, Detroit.



The Tech Award recipients were announced today by the editors of Automotive Engineering magazine, based on engineering innovation, uniqueness, potential for real-world production application and potential benefit for industry customers and end users.

The TorqStor is an advanced flywheel energy storage system, storing energy that would otherwise be wasted through parasitic losses or braking, and returning that energy to the drivetrain when needed, providing improved fuel economy. Ricardo's unique TorqStor technology combines a modular, high efficiency, carbon-fibre composite construction flywheel with a magnetic coupling and gearing system to provide for a scalable range of energy storage capacities for different equipment applications. Its highly innovative magnetic coupling also enables the unit to operate in a permanently sealed vacuum and permits ease of in-field maintenance for high availability applications.

"I am honoured to accept this award on behalf of Ricardo's TorqStor team," commented Ricardo VP of Innovation David Rollafson. "We believe that the high speed flywheel offers a highly pragmatic and low cost approach to achieving real-world fuel savings in construction equipment operations, and are beginning to investigate possible benefits for other applications."

The pre-production prototype TorqStor units are based on a 200 kJ energy storage capacity with a peak power rating of 101 kW and internal flywheel speed of approximately 44,000 rev/min (subject to a total gear ratio of 22:1).  The unit is compact, with a package volume of only 221 litres, and lightweight, at less than 100 kg excluding the interfacing hydraulic pump/motor. The TorqStor is ideally suited for applications with a repetitive duty cycle, such as a loader or excavator, or with start/stop cycles, such as with a commuter train or city bus.

Delegates wishing to see the TorqStor unit or to discuss their requirements for potential development and equipment integration projects should visit the Ricardo booth at the SAE World Congress #1135.

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For high res image downloads and to view a video describing the demonstration of TorqStor in the HFX high efficiency excavator click here

A full copy of this press release is available from the link at the top right of this page.



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