Lorenzo Berzi

On-field investigation and process modelling of end-of-life vehicles treatment in the context of Italian craft-type authorized treatment facilities.

The present article analyses the current situation of End-of-Life-of-Vehicles (ELVs) management in Europe, with particular attention on Italian condition. Similarly to other European countries, metal recycling is the main activity of the whole system, but such situation is evolving due to the 2000/53/EC Directive, which sets out targets for Reuse, Recycling and Recovery of ELVs. Due to the relevance of the ELVs problem, in 2008 Italian Ministry of Environment subscribed a framework agreement with competent stakeholders as carmakers, dismantlers, shredders. The main result is an industrial plan to promote (amongst other objectives) technological progress for residual waste (Automotive Shredder Residue-ASR) treatment. According with Italian Trial 2006 analysis about ELVs, Reuse and Recycling rate is currently estimated to be about 81%. At the present time, dismantling plants constitute the first collection points for ELVs; for this reason, during 2009 an investigation has been done over a number of ten Authorized Treatment Facilities (ATFs) operating in Italy. The first step of the analysis was aimed to find out major practices and methods through observations of ATFs activities and interviews to operators. Furthermore, the depollution and dismantling treatments of about 70 different ELVs have been observed and timed in detail over a period of three months. The results included the identification of most relevant critical issues in ELVs treatment, such as distortions between scrapping activities and Directives regulation, and the assessment of the time and of the resources needed to perform each operation. In the second step of the survey, a process simulation model has been built on the basis of such data. The model was aimed to include the real variability and all the uncertainties that are typical of dismantling activities; it is intended as a tool for process layout planning and for its management. Some control parameters have been introduced; these are able to dynamically modify process path depending on ELVs queues and priorities. The model can also be used for the economic assessments of single operations or of the whole treatment activity.

End-of-Life in the railway sector: Analysis of recyclability and recoverability for different vehicle case studies

The railway system represents one of the most resource-efficient answer to our ever-growing demand for transport service and the development trends for the following years forecast a substantial increase in this sector. Considering the European Union, rolling stock realizes a significant share of both goods and passengers carriage while it is responsible for a derisory quota of environmental impact and energy consumption involved by transportation. Contrary to the low environmental impact, the amount of End-of-Life (EoL) waste generated by rolling stocks in relation to the number of vehicles is notable, much greater than in the case of road vehicles. As railway vehicles are constituted by many heterogeneous components, the EoL rolling stock is a precious source of materials, whose recycling brings measurable economic benefits and needs to be appropriately debated. The paper presents calculation of recoverability/recyclability rate for different typologies of vehicles representative of railway transport; calculation is performed on the basis of primary data and according to the recyclability and recoverability calculation method issued by UNIFE in the context of Product Category Rules (PCR). The typologies of railway vehicles taken into account are electric metro, diesel commuter train and high-speed electric train. The analysis envisages also to replicate the calculation in case innovative materials and manufacturing technologies are adopted in the construction of car-body structure. Results show that recyclability/recoverability rates are abundantly over the quota of 90% for each one of the three trains, these latter being made in major part of metals that benefit from very efficient recovery processes. The adoption of innovative materials and manufacturing technologies for car-body structure involves a scarce reduction of recyclability and recoverability rates (about 2% and 0.2% respectively) due to the introduction of components and materials characterized by critical dismantlability and low efficiency recovery processes; recoverability results less affected by lightweighting because post-shredding thermal recovery treatments are roughly independent with respect to dismantlability. A sensitivity analysis based on different dismantling scenarios reveals that the effectiveness of dismantling has a moderate influence on recyclability/recoverability rate (the variation does not exceed 3%). The low variability of recyclability/recoverability rate can be explained by the following reasons: predominance of metals in trains material composition, efficiency of metals separation processes close to 100%, post-shredding recycling processes of metals characterized by recovery factors equal to the ones of post-dismantling recycling processes.

A sustainability analysis for Electric Vehicles batteries including ageing phenomena

In order to encourage and develop a more sustainable society, the European Union (EU) set targets to drastically decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. For this reason, it will be necessary a reduction of emissions especially from the transportation sector. Electric vehicles (EVs) are the most promising technology for drastically reducing the environmental burden of road transport, i.e. emissions of CO2, air pollutants and noise of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. In this paper, a proposal methodology for sustainability analysis, in terms of environmental (Life cycle assessment, LCA) and economic issues (Life cycle costing, LCC), was applied to an EV battery, including ageing phenomena. In particular, in order to define a global result the environmental outcomes (expressed in tCO2-eq) are converted into economic terms, considering the CO2 price related to the European market variability.

A comparison of electric vehicles use-case scenarios: Application of a simulation framework to vehicle design optimization and energy consumption assessment

Electric vehicles (EVs) can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions in comparison with equivalent Internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) due to their high overall efficiency and to regenerative braking capabilities. Considering that EVs technology cannot still be defined as mature, different technologies currently coexist on the market such as extended range, hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, each one presenting advantages and disadvantages. The energy storage system, which is a critical component, can be designed in different size and characteristics depending on the configuration of the whole vehicle. The activity here presented aims at proposing a framework for the comparison of various EVs using realistic use scenarios as input. Real world driving cycles developed within the EU FP7 Project ASTERICS are used as source for scenario definition through pseudo random Montecarlo generation. Similarly, any other relevant data for vehicle performance are considered: environmental temperature, trip chaining, charging opportunities; all of them are then used as input for a vehicle simulation model. The method is implemented using energy consumption and related CO2 emissions as typical output, but in case that proper models are available to describe the ageing characteristics of vehicle components, durability analyses can also be performed. A few applications for the proposed approach are presented, using a model of electric vehicle based on a market product as case study. From the baseline model, new alternatives are modeled, differing in terms of powertrain sizing. The activity describes the use phase of the vehicles, simulating a large number of events representing several years of life. Finally, CO2 emissions are used as output for comparative analyses.

A method to assess and model the risk for road accidents using telematics devices

ABSTRACT Road accident risk assessment is a complex topic due to the large number of factors determining it and to the difficulties to collect data. In addition, most exposure factors influencing crash probability, such as environment and driver characteristics, are dependent on each other, so that it is not intuitive to devise a cause–effect scenario. The use of telematics devices, recently spreading among insurance and rental companies, provides new chances to collect exposure data, to define interpretive models of accident risk, and to explain variables relationships. Using global positioning system (GPS) data available through a long term rental company, the authors studied a sample of 900 vehicles. The authors aggregated raw data (e.g., road type covered, time, speed) in exposure metrics and organized them in a relational database. The authors built a number of multivariate logistic regression models, adopting a strategy to progressively refine them. The authors obtained a relatively high model fits (up to pseudo R2 0.301, Hosmer–Lemeshow p value 0.206) acquiring insights about the nonlinear association between explanatory variables and their outcomes. Interactions between variables were also examined. The results are, in general, in accordance with similar studies; regarding certain observed discrepancies, a discussion is provided to explain their origin, starting from the differences in associating predictors, outcome and interaction variables.

A Framework for Electric Vehicle Development: From Modelling to Engineering Through Real-World Data Analysis

The Project ASTERICS, an international EU-STREP Project with 10 partners from 7 countries, follows the target to increase the efficiency of fully electric vehicles (FEV) by means of improved virtual models and intelligent testing and verification methods. Better models in the early design- and development phases allow more realistic and improved concept studies and hence detailed optimization at component level as well as global optimization at system level. Through intelligent testing methods it will be possible to enhance the model quality on one hand and reduce the test time on the other hand. These testing methods shall also allow the assessment of durability and ageing effects for electrical components in the FEV-driveline. The combination of virtual simulation with realistic, for FEV relevant driving cycles leads to a very good possibility for optimization of predictable mileage. In this paper the results of the first phase of the ASTERICS project are presented. It describes the modelling approach and gives a good overview on virtual product development by means of model based system engineering (MBSE). Also described is the methodology to identify design goals based on real life data through assessment and definition of a representative driving cycle for FEV.

Application of induction power recharge to garbage collection service

There is a wide variety of industrial vehicles that are customized to perform different public services in urban environments. Typical mission profiles, associated to these urban services are often ideal to the application of electric vehicles since low speed and frequent accelerations and decelerations are required. The cost of accumulators which are required to assure prescribed vehicle autonomy represents a serious issue for a fast diffusion of this technologies. However, some of the most commonly diffused public services such as collection of garbage involve the execution of fixed route with frequent and prolonged stoppages, a profile mission that suggests the possibility to adopt charging solutions to supply additional energy to the vehicle. In this work, the potential of an inductive recharge network is investigated as a mean to improve vehicle range or — from another point of view — to reduce the size of on board accumulators, making electric vehicles available to perform a prescribed mission profile without any limitation in comparison with conventional ones.

Electric and diesel microbuses driving cycles in Firenze city center

Mobility within the city center of Firenze is not easy for two reasons: first, the city plan dates back to the Renaissance, where there was not an intensive vehicular flux and so any need for large streets, and second the city municipality decided to forbid some areas to the traditional internal combustion engines vehicles. Due for these reasons, the public mobility service provider decided to introduce microbuses, both electrical and Diesel, in order to overcome the two limitations. Main objectives of this paper are to provide a method to measure microbuses driving cycles with a GPS logger and compare the average performance of the different power trains. The definition of a set of tailored driving cycles will help to reduce the deviation from “every day” performance that could arise when standardized driving cycles are used for feasibility analysis. The data set will describe the behavior of these vehicles and possibly used to analyze also other use cases with similar characteristics.