The Effectiveness of Esters in Cooling and Lubricating Transmission Systems in Electric Vehicles-Dielectric Fluids

由于汽车的高能耗需求、燃油经济性和环境问题，节能减排变得越来越重要。混合动力汽车（HEV）技术和全电动汽车（EV）是最有前途的解决方案之一，可提供更低的燃料消耗和相当低的排放。新兴的新型传动系统配置为HEV/EV流体的开发带来了新的挑战。人们设想了许多不同的配置，使用不同的冷却和润滑方法。这些液体不仅是润滑和冷却新型动力系统和变速器的必需品，而且还需要它们来调节车辆电池和电力电子设备的温度。随着混合动力汽车和电动汽车的功能越来越强大，电池续航里程和充电速度也在不断提高，标准液体在稳健性、耐热性和冷却能力方面已经无法跟上。这些条件可以通过基液或先进的添加剂技术来控制。汽车电气化的新技术限制要求开发在高温、氧化、潮湿和颗粒磨损等恶劣操作条件下具有持久介电性能的新流体。该流体还应与电动/混合动力汽车的部件兼容，例如作为电线关键部件的铜。此外，流体需要具有优异的热性能，以冷却电动机中经常超过180℃的高发热量。最后但并非最不重要的是，流体需要满足标准的润滑性能，以减少机械部件的摩擦、磨损、氧化和腐蚀。该项目的总体目标是研究酯类的热性能，以及它们如何用于冷却和润滑混合动力和全电动汽车的齿轮和电动机等区域。它们也有可能用于冷却电子设备等敏感部件，调节温度并提高效率。具体目标是：-通过严格的数值和实验研究来评估复活节的热性能。-研究润滑油在润滑电力传动系统中的摩擦学和摩擦学性能。与Croda的合作关系始于2016年，在过去的几年里一直保持着，目前他们赞助了一个正在进行的CDT项目。拟议的项目可以进一步巩固两者之间正在进行的关系，并且拟议的研究涉及EPSRC研究的几个优先领域，包括最终用途能源需求，表面科学，先进材料工程，21世纪产品和能源应用材料，因此可能会导致新的研究方向。

Energy conservation and emissions reduction have become increasingly significant for automobiles due to high energy demand, fuel economy and environmental concerns. HybridElectric Vehicle (HEV) technology and fully Electric Vehicles (EV) are one of the most promising solutions offering a much lower fuel consumption and considerably low emissions. Emerging new driveline configurations bring new challenges in developments of HEV/EV fluids. Many different configurations have been conceived which use different methods of cooling and lubrication. Not only are these fluids essentials for lubricating and cooling the new types of powertrains and transmissions, but they are also needed to regulate the temperature of the vehicle's battery and power electronics. As hybrids and EVs become increasingly powerful and their battery ranges and charging speeds improve, standard fluids are unable to keep up in terms of robustness, heat resistance and cooling capacity. These conditions could be controlled by base fluid or advanced additive technology.New technical constraints for the electrification of vehicles require the development of newfluids with long lasting dielectric properties in harsh operating conditions such as hightemperatures, oxidation, humidity and particle abrasion. The fluid should also be compatiblewith components of the electric/hybrid vehicles such as copper as key component in electrical wiring. In addition, the fluid needs to have an excellent thermal properties to cool the high heat generation in electric motor often exceeding 180oC. Last but not least, the fluid needs to fulfil the standard lubrication properties to reduce friction, wear, oxidation and corrosion in mechanical parts.The overall aim of the project is to investigate the thermal properties of esters and how theycould be used to both cool and lubricate areas such as gears and electric motors used inhybrid and fully electric vehicles. It is also possible that they could be used to cool sensitivecomponents such as electronics, regulating temperature and allowing better efficiency.The specific objectives are:- To assess thermal properties of Easters by rigorous numerical and experimental studies.- To investigate the tribological and tribochemical performance of Easters in lubricating electric transmission systems.The relationship with Croda has been established since 2016 and maintained over the past few years with one ongoing CDT project sponsored by them at present. The proposed project could further cement the ongoing relationship between the two and the proposed research sits across several EPSRC Research priority areas including End-Use Energy Demand, Surface Science, Advanced materials engineering, 21st Century Products and Materials for Energy Applications and thus could lead to new lines of research.