Publications / 2016 Proceedings of the 33rd ISARC, Auburn, USA

Optimum Driving Pattern for Minimizing Fuel Consumption of On-road Vehicles

Jacob Klein, Xuesong Shen and Khalegh Barati
Pages 555-562 (2016 Proceedings of the 33rd ISARC, Auburn, USA, ISBN 978-1-5108-2992-3, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

The consumption of fossil fuels by on-road vehicles is the greatest source of air pollution and the second largest source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) globally. The emitted pollutions have caused major problems such as respiratory diseases. Also, as the sources of these types of fuels are diminishing, their price is projected to steadily increase. This necessitates developing strategies and policies to ameliorate the environmental, economic and health impacts of such fuels. This paper aims to present a process to minimize fuel consumption through optimizing driving pattern. Four acceleration, speed, slope and payload parameters were investigated as operational parameters affecting fuel consumption. This paper developed engine load parameter as the surrogate of used power of engine linking operational parameters to fuel consumption. Through conducting ordinary least square and multivariate regression analysis on the field data collected from six on-road vehicles, the relations among operational parameters, engine load and fuel consumption were developed. In the next step, the optimum driving pattern was developed by investigating the effect of operational parameters in the fuel consumption developed model. The result analysis shows for driving a vehicle without payload and zero acceleration in a levelled route, the optimum speed is around 50km/hr for having minimum fuel consumption per kilometre. Also, the investigations on the road slope parameter shows by increasing this factor optimum speed decreases while the minimum used fuel increases.

Keywords: Fuel Consumption, Statistical Modelling, Fuel Efficiency, On-road Vehicle, Instrumentation