Design of Kinetic Energy Recovery System for Bicycle

Abstract

Kinetic Energy Recovery System, commonly abbreviated KERS, is a system to recover the Kinetic energy of a moving vehicle under braking. This system stores the kinetic energy in the form of potential energy and converts it back to kinetic energy when needed. When riding a bicycle it becomes too tiresome to start the bicycle again after braking. If the bicycle is provided with a kinetic energy recovery system then the rider will have two power sources that he can use at his will. When brakes are applied kinetic energy is wasted because the kinetic energy converts into heat energy due to friction at the contact surface and the heat energy dissipates into the atmosphere due to thermal radiation. Vehicles equipped with KERS devices are able to take some of its kinetic energy out slowing down the vehicle. This is a form of braking in which energy is not wasted, instead gets stored in some device. Using a proper mechanism, this energy that is stored in terms of potential energy can be converted back into kinetic energy to give the vehicle an extra boost of power. In the literature review, different types of available KERS systems are compared and a mechanical based KERS system is found to be the best suitable for a bicycle. Mechanical KERS system there are of two types, one is a clutch based and another is a CVT based K.E. recovery system. In this project, a hybrid of the above two type of KERS systems is designed. Instead of CVT a variable sprocket ratio is used to make the power transmission smoother. Finally, the complete manufacturing process of this KERS system is explained elaborately so that any researcher can follow those steps and design a KERS system for his/her bicycle.