On a Flywheel-Based Regenerative Braking System for Regenerative Energy Recovery

This paper presents a unique flywheel-based regenerative energy recovery, storage and release system developed at the author’s laboratory. It can recover and store regenerative energy produced by braking a motion generator with intermittent rotary velocity such as the rotor of a wind turbogenerator subject to intermittent intake wind and the axels of electric and hybrid gas-electric vehicles during frequent coasting and braking. Releasing of the stored regenerative energy in the flywheel is converted to electricity by the attached alternator. A proof-of-concept prototype called the SJSU-RBS was designed, built and tested by author’s students with able assistance of a technical staff in his school.