A Fast Filling Station for a Compressed-Air Vehicle used for Zero Emission City Delivery and Personal Transportation Alfred Rufer * , Pierre Villeneuve ** * Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, ** AnthosAirpower, 50 rue Ettore Bugatti, 76800 Saint-Etienne du Rouvray. France DOI: 10.29322/IJSRP.9.12.2019.p9698 http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.9.12.2019.p9698 Abstract- A vehicle powered by compressed air is developed, in the context of zero emissions and short distance delivery in a city. The compressed air powering system is composed of a filling station, a transfer line to the vehicle, the vehicle side reservoir and the compressed air propulsion system. In order to reach a very short filling time of the vehicle, the local filling station is composed of a high-performance isothermal compression system, and a local buffer reservoir. During fast filling, the buffer reservoir is connected to the vehicle, followed by a fast transfer, very similar to the filling of diving bottles. However, the fast transfer results into a heated air in the car reservoir, which is bound with losses while cooling down, and has the consequence of a reduced mass of air in the vehicle reservoir. An innovative air recirculation method is analysed, allowing, after the pressures having equalized, to exchange the heated air by cold one coming from the local buffer reservoir by recirculation. The result is a higher degree of filling of the vehicle reservoir, and also a higher energy efficiency of the system. The paper describes the complete system, its design, together with the properties of the fast filling including the recirculation system. Experimental results from the demonstrator actually under construction are also included Index Terms- Compressed air vehicle; fast filling; buffer reservoir. Energetic properties I. INTRODUCTION The fact that humankind passed the 150% threshold in its use of the planet’s resources available each year has only alerted a limited number of individuals. Environmental impacts as the 2010 event of the Gulf of Mexico, or more recently the alarmistic messages from the IPCC on the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and the related global warming work as triggers of many interrogations. From the scientific community to the political world, there is no doubt that fundamental questions need to be answered, namely that of the unlimited and unconsidered energy consumption per capita [1]. Many sectors of the energy consumption are concerned, but the individual transportation occupies a front place in the list of problematic energy users. After several decades of hesitations following the first oil crisis, the automotive industry finally presented 2010 the first for mass production designed electric car. Significant progress in the energy density of electrochemical accumulators, together with reliable and performant electric propulsion systems using modern semiconductor devices and permanent magnet synchronous motors have contributed to this important development. Another advantage of the EV’s development is their capability to be integrated in the distribution networks as bidirectional sources, able to support the grid’s power demand in critical conditions [2], [3]. Beneath interrogations about the available material resources for a wide expansion and mass production of EVs, one remaining open question is their charging time. Important recent developments have proposed very short charging durations in the range of several tens of minutes. This could be achieved mainly thanks to high performance cooling elements integrated in the battery itself. If these techniques allow to maintain the battery cell’s temperature within acceptable limits, the energy efficiency of the high-power charging process remains a questionable subject, as well as the compatibility of such high-power levels with the grid’s power capability at the point of coupling. In the same category of zero emission vehicles, alternative solutions have been studied like liquid nitrogen [4] or compressed air propulsion systems [5]. This last system has been presented as soon commercially available solution for several years, but its manufacturing company has not yet passed the status of prototypes. Compressed air cars have of course very limited range due to the poor energy content of their pressurised reservoir. But they can be envisaged as a solution for specific application segments like factory areas, airports, mail delivery where known repetitive tracks represent the dominant part of the use. Together with the energy content of the cars, the refill time must be considered, as a result of the possible power density of the storage system. This paper presents the development and design of a fast filling station for a compressed air vehicle dedicated to city delivery and personal transportation on short tracks. A simple design of the air capacity is presented, and the focus is set on the performances of the refill station. An original recirculation concept allows to avoid the energy losses related to the heat-up and cooling of the fast- transferred air. 782 International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 9, Issue 12, December 2019 ISSN 2250-3153 http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.9.12.2019.p9698 www.ijsrp.org