Autonomous hybrid power generation platform

• US 10,207,592 B1
• Filed: 11/01/2017
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Warden, Steve A., Chau, Jarvis, Schlottke, Ralph D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Viet
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ortega, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US15/800,591
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 13/00 Electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways; Magnetic suspension or levitation for vehicles tracks for Maglev-type trains E01B25/30; electromagnets per se H01F7/06; linear motors per se H02K41/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/10 using propulsion power supplied by engine-driven generators, e.g. generators driven by combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/35 Means for automatic or assisted adjustment of the relative position of charging devices and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/57 Charging stations without connection to power networks
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/30 for monitoring or controlling fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 7/1823 structurally associated with turbines or similar engines
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

A power generation platform for delivering power to an external load includes an electrical system mounted to an autonomously-controlled chassis. The chassis has a powertrain that is responsive to control signals from a controller. The electrical system includes a fuel cell or other clean power supply for propelling the chassis, a direct current (DC) charging unit, a turbojet, a battery pack, and one or more electric machines. The DC charging unit and the battery pack are selectively connectable to the external load to deliver power to the external load, e.g., a propulsion battery pack of a vehicle or other system. The turbojet has a compressor, combustion chamber, and turbine, and injects low-emissions fuel into and combusts the fuel in the combustion chamber. The electric machine(s) are rotatably coupled to the compressor and/or the turbine to generate and transmit electricity to the battery pack.

Claims

1. An autonomous power generation platform for powering or charging an external load, the platform comprising:

an autonomously-controlled chassis having a controller and a powertrain responsive to control signals from the controller; and

an electrical system mounted to the autonomously-controlled chassis and including;

a power supply configured to output electricity to the powertrain at levels sufficient for propelling the chassis;

a battery pack;

a direct current (DC) charging unit that is connected to the battery pack and selectively connectable to the external load;

a turbojet having a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine, the turbojet being configured to inject a low-emission fuel into and combust the low-emission fuel in the combustion chamber of the turbojet; and

at least one electric machine rotatably coupled to one or both of the compressor and the turbine, the at least one electric machine being configured to generate and transmit electricity to the battery pack.

2. The platform of claim 1, wherein the at least one electric machine includes first and second electric machines connected to and rotatable with the compressor and the turbine, respectively.

3. The platform of claim 1, further comprising:

a power inverter module and a set of induction coils, the set of induction coils being positioned adjacent to the turbojet and electrically connected to the battery pack via the power inverter module, wherein the compressor and the turbine include magnetic blades such that rotation of the magnetic blades induces an electrical current in the induction coils.

4. The platform of claim 3, wherein the magnetic blades include permanent magnets affixed to radial ends of non-ferrous blades of the compressor and the turbine, respectively.

5. The platform of claim 1, wherein the power supply is a fuel cell stack.

6. The platform of claim 1, further comprising:

a heat exchanger in thermal communication with an exhaust port of the turbine, wherein the heat exchanger is electrically connected to the DC charging unit, and is operable for converting heat energy from the exhaust port into electricity and transmitting the electricity to the battery pack.

7. The platform of claim 1, wherein the low-emission fuel is liquid hydrogen.

8. The platform of claim 1, wherein the low-emission fuel is anhydrous ammonia.

9. The platform of claim 1, wherein the chassis includes a telematics unit and the controller is programmed to receive a power request via a remote base station using the telematics unit, the power request being indicative of an amount of power required by the external load.

10. The platform of claim 9, wherein the external load includes multiple external loads each being a respective high-voltage battery pack, the power request including a state of charge of each of the high-voltage battery packs, and wherein the controller is programmed to schedule a charging order of the voltage battery packs based on the state of charge.

11. A method of powering an external load using an autonomous power generation platform, the method comprising:

controlling a state of a powertrain of an autonomously-controlled chassis via a controller, the chassis having an electrical system mounted thereto, the electrical system including a fuel cell stack, a direct current (DC) charging unit connected to an onboard battery pack, and a turbojet having a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine, the turbojet being configured to inject a low-emission fuel into, and combust the low-emission fuel in, the combustion chamber of the turbojet;

using the fuel cell stack to output electricity to the powertrain at levels sufficient for propelling the chassis;

generating electricity via at least one electric machine rotatably coupled to one or both of the compressor and the turbine; and

transmitting the generated electricity to the external load via the onboard battery pack and the DC charging unit in response to receipt of a power request by the controller.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one electric machine includes first and second electric machines connected to and rotatable with the compressor and the turbine, respectively, and generating electricity via at least one electric machine includes generating electricity via both of the first and second electric machines.

13. The method of claim 11, the electrical system further including a power inverter module and a set of induction coils, the set of induction coils being positioned adjacent to the turbojet and electrically connected to the battery pack via the power inverter module, the compressor and the turbine including magnetic blades, the method further comprising:

inducing an electrical current in the induction coils via rotation of the magnetic blades, and transmitting the induced electrical current to the external load via the onboard battery pack and the DC charging unit.

14. The method of claim 11, the electrical system further including a heat exchanger in thermal communication with an exhaust port of the turbine, the heat exchanger being electrically connected to the DC charging unit, the method further comprising:

converting heat energy from the exhaust port into electricity via the heat exchanger, and transmitting the electricity from the heat exchanger to the external load via the battery pack and the DC charging unit.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the low-emission fuel is liquid hydrogen or anhydrous ammonia.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the chassis includes a telematics unit, the method further comprising:

receiving the power request from a remote base station using the telematics unit, the power request being indicative of an amount of power required by the external load.

17. The method of claim 16, including a plurality of the external loads each being a respective high-voltage battery pack, the power request including a state of charge of each of the high-voltage battery packs, the method further comprising:

scheduling a charging order of the high-voltage battery packs via the controller or the base station based on the state of charge.