coppertalk

By Bob Weed, Copper Development Association Vice President, OEM

The Copper Development Association (CDA) and its member companies are long-time supporters of hybrid and electric vehicles. The CDA built and tested three vehicles in the 1970s to demonstrate the capabilities of electric vehicles and to help improve  supporting technologies. Bob Weed, Copper Development Association vice president of original equipment manufacturing, says the copper industry is still committed to developing new technologies for electric transportation.

Recently, the CDA provided technical assistance to Cobasys LLC for their NiMH batteries. The project involved helping to determine the optimum copper alloys for use in batteries and then partnering with Edison Welding Institute (EWI) to develop effective joining technologies that could accommodate high-volume, high-speed production.

Copper companies have developed new, high performance alloys for connectors and new magnet wire profiles that result in more efficient motor windings. One of the more exciting developments is the cast copper motor rotor. It’s always been known that a copper rotor is more efficient than a traditional aluminum rotor, because copper is a better conductor of electricity and has lower resistance. Therefore, motors with copper rotors can be smaller and run cooler. The result is an induction motor with the highest power density possible today.

The first transportation application for this technology was the U.S. Army severe-duty trucks. Four 140-hp AC induction motors are used to power the truck, one on each of four axles. The 520-V motors are powered by a 400-hp diesel engine, making a hybrid drive system that can move the 35,000-pound vehicles and run a 335-KW generator to operate field hospitals, command centers or airstrips. Called ProPulse® by Oshkosh Truck Corp., the innovative hybrid electric drive system is said to decrease emissions and increase fuel economy by as much as 40%. Aside from several configurations for the military’s 8×8 HEMTT-A3 (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) series, the drive system is also configured for commercial use with refuse vehicles. Oshkosh says the new drives will lower life-cycle costs as well as lower interior and exterior noise profiles.

I’m also introducing this technology to manufacturers of passenger cars and light trucks. These vehicles require motors that are smaller, more efficient and run cooler. Plus motors using cast copper rotors don’t rely on rare earth elements.  Rare earth elements, used in permanent magnet motors, are expensive and have to be imported to North America.

In addition to propulsion systems, a number of very talented people are working on charging systems and infrastructure for hybrid and pure electric vehicles. The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) organized a conference last fall that brought together electric utilities, auto companies, and charger manufacturers. Some of these presentations are still available on their website and hopefully there will be more conferences like this in the near future.

The CDA and the copper industry have been involved in electric propulsion for decades, but some of the most exciting advancements will take place over the next few years. And I’m looking forward to being involved in them.

By Bob Weed, Copper Development Association Vice President, OEM

Hybrid vehicles use a gasoline or diesel engine to power a motor. When the power of the motor isn’t required to move the vehicle, the engine can shut off, saving energy, or can be used to generate electricity that is stored in batteries, and used later to power the vehicle. Bob Weed, vice president of original equipment manufacturing for the Copper Development Association (CDA), weighs in.

The hot topic right now in the auto industry is alternative forms of propulsion. The internal combustion engine has been around for 100 years and has done a great job, but there is constant talk about doing something to decouple our economy from imported oil. And the government, depending on your point of view, is either encouraging us to go to different propulsion methods or mandating it.

The bottom line is the government is trying to enable us to change from using only petroleum products and internal combustion engines. And the public is interested. You see more hybrids on the roads, even with the relative retreat from the high gas prices we saw two years ago.

We’re going to see some exciting things coming out of the auto industry and that’s good for copper. Anything that involves electricity uses copper as an enabler. The average vehicle produced in North America has 50-55 pounds of copper in it, with more than half of that in the wire harness and electrical components. In a pure electric vehicle, the amount of copper is tripled, from 150-180 pounds. I often joke with people who say they’re looking forward to having an electric car someday. I tell them they are already using electric cars – they just don’t realize that the gasoline engine is actually generating electricity.

Look at a typical vehicle today. It has power seats, doors, locks and windows and more than a simple AM radio. It usually has a CD player that holds multiple discs, and interfaces for iPods, MP3 players and navigation systems. There are all kinds of lights in a vehicle that indicate if there’s a problem. There’s a lot that’s different from the days when I started driving. I had a fuel gauge and one red Check Engine light. All these changes and improvements are the result of new preferences and demands by consumers. And changes will continue to be driven by the consumer.

In a recent presentation at a Center for Automotive Research (CAR) briefing breakfast, Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird, the director of advanced technology vehicle concepts for General Motors, reported that global demographics are changing.  People are more likely to live in urban areas, rather than rural. That means most traffic congestion comes from bottlenecks (40%) and traffic accidents (25%), which wastes a considerable amount of fuel. He also said that in dense urban centers, more than a third of gasoline is consumed looking for parking. Obviously, drivers are going to look for ways to reduce the amount of gasoline they use. And since more than 80% of drivers travel only 50 miles a day or less, electric and hybrid vehicles will become more attractive for consumers.

Liv Haselbach, guest blogger

Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency Now Key to Projects Becoming Certified

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) released an updated version of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for New Construction and Major Renovations in April 2009. The 2009 version replaces the 2.2 version for projects registering after the release date.

This green rating system provides a format within which buildings and their associated sites can be developed in a more sustainable manner. It requires that certain minimum standards be met for a few specific prerequisites such as nonsmoking areas and minimum ventilation requirements, and then allows the developer to choose from a list of green options for credits in several categories, each with associated point values. A certain level of points attained will allow for a project to be LEED certified, and additional points can be attained for higher levels of certification, such as the ‘silver’ level in version 2.2, with a minimum of 33 points.

Although there were not many major changes between the credits in the two recent versions (2.2 and 2009), the point values have changed significantly. The five main categories in both versions are Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. Overall, the relative values of the Sustainable Sites and the Water Efficiency categories from version 2.2 to 2009 have not changed much. However, the relative value of the Energy and Atmosphere category has increased by 41%, while the relative values of the total points available in the Material and Resources and the Indoor Environmental Quality categories have decreased by 32% and 35% respectively.

For specific credits, the relative value of the Energy Efficiency credit has increased by 30% while the relative value of the Increased Ventilation credit has decreased by 35%.

What this means to those designing HVAC systems is that measures that improve energy efficiency have become more important. Therefore the adoption of technologies that improve indoor air quality and simultaneously improve, rather than decrease, energy efficiency will more readily aid in obtaining LEED certification.

For more information: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

Liv Haselbach is an associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Washington State University and specializes in sustainable development.