Energy recovery characteristics analysis of permanent magnet electrodynamic wheel Maglev vehicle system based on heat-electricity energy conversion strategy under static suspension condition

In this paper, a heat-electricity energy conversion strategy based on thermoelectric theory in permanent magnet electrodynamic wheel (PMEDW) magnetic levitation (Maglev) vehicle system is proposed and tested for the first time. The PMEDW-Maglev vehicle is based on electromagnetic induction interaction principle between PMEDW and conductor plate, to generate levitation force and propulsion force. Hence, the PMEDW-Maglev vehicle is a new concept with levitation-propulsion multifunctional integrated design, to supply the faster, greener, smarter highway transportation mode. But, the temperature rise in conductor plate may cause the levitation failure and reduce the system operation stability. Hence, considering energy effective conservation and utilization, the thermoelectric theory based heat-electricity energy conversion strategy is proposed in this paper, to utilize the heat generated by temperature rise and improve system operation performance. The operation performance of PMEDW-Maglev prototype vehicle with the heat-electricity energy conversion strategy is tested by the experiment. It can be found from the experimental results that, the proposed heat-electricity energy conversion strategy can operate as expected. The levitation force and temperature rise cooling ratio in conductor plate can be improved by more than 47 % and 12 %, respectively, besides, the heat can be converted into electricity energy and stored in battery unit (more than 280 J). The significance of this work is that the proposed heat-electricity energy conversion strategy can offer a performance enhancement and energy self consistency design method for the future PMEDW-Maglev vehicle system.