Transport Application is Good Bus-iness for Katronic

Katronic Germany have been selected by Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences to work with them on an exciting, innovative project to measure the energy demand of heating systems for city buses

The newly redeveloped University based in both Hamm and Lippstadt is orientated towards prospective market requirements and looking at new technologies. The modern campus has been constructed with state-of-the-art facilities to provide the ideal conditions for the education of future-oriented engineers.

The basis of the project is investigating the effectiveness of future electrical transportation and focusses on the performance of electric buses. The University had identified a requirement based on the fact that the performance and range of electric buses is strongly linked to the consumption of energy used to maintain the cabin at a comfortable temperature. The problem is that in spite of the potential usefulness of this data it is not available from the bus manufacturers leaving potential operators in the dark. The University has therefore taken on the challenge to measure and record the heat consumption of a regular service bus for the first time.

The project is a cooperation between different educational and commercial organisations. It is being run by Prof. Dr. Olaf Goebel and student Verena Dohmwirth from the Energy Technology and Resource Optimisation at the University of Applied Sciences Hamm-Lippstadt (HSHL). The main commercial partners are Stadtwerke Hamm in whose workshops the tests will be carried out and measurement technology manufacturer Katronic.

The focus of the work will be on determining the energy usage of the heating system in order to be able to provide accurate consumption data when an electric bus is purchased. It is hoped that this will be the first step towards the efficient implementation of the electric public transportation networks of the future.

Prior to any work being done on a bus the project went through a primary feasibility stage to define the concept. Colleagues from our German office in the Harz region were initially invited to contribute in an advisory capacity using our knowledge of instrumentation and specifically flow measurement. Following this they were awarded the contract to supply a KATflow 150 flowmeter for permanent installation. They then provided installation and commissioning support during the start up and testing phases of the trials with further participation planned in cooperation with the the other participants.

The KATflow 150 instrument was chosen as its modular design and flexible configuration made it ideal for implementation on the bus system. The meter is a dual-channel energy meter with two flow sensors and four temperature sensors. This allows the device to perform two simultaneous heat quantity measurements with sensors installed both inside and outside of the passenger compartment. The recorded data is collected in the flowmeter and is then sent back to a remote server where the results can be analysed.

We very much look forward to reading about the results of the trials and seeing the impact that our meters can have on the development of future electric vehicles.

Photo – People from left to right: Oliver Höfelsborn (Katronic's Sales Manager), Verena Domwirth, Mr. Tiggemann (Technical Manager of the Public Transportation Services)