The paper presents a concept, a construction, a circuit model and experimental results of the double-rotor induction motor. This type of a motor is to be implemented in the concept of the electromagnetic differential. At the same time it should fulfill the function of differential mechanism and the vehicle drive. One of the motor shafts is coupled to the direction changing mechanical transmission. The windings of the external rotor are powered by slip rings and brushes. The inner rotor has the squirrel-cage windings. The circuit model parameters were calculated based on the 7.5 kW real single-rotor induction motor (2p = 4). Experimental verification of the model was based on comparison between the mentioned single-rotor motor and double-rotor model with the outer rotor blocked. The presented results showed relatively good compliance between the model and real motor.

The article presents the current state of the CNG market used as an alternative fuel for car engines. Attention was paid to European Union directives requirements and the current state of the directives’ fulfillment. The economic aspect of CNG usage was analyzed and the approximate costs of driving 10,000 km on different fuels in the last four years were presented. The PtG process which uses electric energy (hydrogen production) and carbon dioxide captured from the flue gas for the production of synthetic methane were discussed. The scheme of the SNG plant with the indication of its most important components was presented, and attention was paid to the mutual complementation of PtG technologies with carbon dioxide capture technology. The benefits of synthetic methane production are presented and the use of compressed natural gas to power engines in vehicles has been described. First, the focus was on the single-fuel use of CNG in bus and truck engines, paying particular attention to the ecological aspect of the implemented solutions. It has been shown that the use of compressed natural gas will reduce almost 100% of the particulates emission from the combustion process. The advantages and disadvantages of the alternative fuel supply are given. Next, the aspect of dual-fuel use in diesel engines was analyzed on the example of a smaller engine. The degree of reduction of harmful compounds emission from the combustion process is shown. Finally, attention was paid to the possible scale effect, referring to the number of motor vehicles in Poland.

This article presents the results of investigating the influence of tooth contact ratio in helical cylindrical gears on vibroactivity of the gearbox. Based on the measurements carried out on a laboratory test stand, time-domain and frequency-domain start-up characteristics of vibrations and acoustic pressure were determined, and vibroactivity was assessed for a gearbox in which 4 pairs of gears were successively mounted with different face contact ratios equal to, respectively, epsilon beta=1,001; 1,318; 1,574; 2,636.

High-Temperature Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (HT-PEMFCs) are a candidate for electrical energy supply devices in more and more applications. Most notably in the aeronautic industry. Before any use, an HT-PEMFC is preheated and after that supplied with its active gases. Only at this state, the diagnostics can be performed. A method of testing not requiring a complete start-up would be beneficial for many reasons. This article describes an extended version of the charging and discharging diagnostic method of HT-PEMFCs with no active gases. This extended approach is named “Test Without Active Gases” (TWAG). This paper presents original research on the influence of nitrogen temperature and pressure on the HT-PEMFC response to charging and discharging. A lumped-element model of an HT-PEMFC is also presented. A numerical result of using this model to recreate an experimentally obtained curve is also presented.

In this article, the contribution of renewable energy sources (RES) to the worldwide electricity production was analyzed. The scale of development and the importance of RES in the global economy as well as the issues and challenges related to variability of these sources were studied. In addition, the chemical conversion of excess energy to renewable methanol has been presented. The European Union regulations and targets for the years 2020 and 2030 concerning greenhouse gases reduction were taken into consideration. These EU restrictions exact the further development of renewable energy sources, in particular, the improvement of their efficiency which is closely related to economics. Moreover, as a part of this work, energy storage were described as one of the ways to increase the competitiveness of renewable energy sources with respect to conventional energy. A method for the conversion of carbon dioxide separated from high-carbon industries with hydrogen obtained by the over-production of green energy were described. The use of methanol in the chemical industry and global market have been reviewed and thus an increasing demand was observed. Additionally, the application of renewable methanol as fuels, in pure form and after a conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether and fatty acid methyl esters has been discussed. Hence, the necessity of modifying car engines in order to use pure methanol and its combination with petrol also was analyzed.

This paper provides a discussion concerning results of CO2 removal from a gas mixture by the application of aqueous solutions of ethanoloamine (MEA) and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) promoted with piperazine (PZ). The studies were conducted using a process development unit. Research of such a scale provides far more reliable representation of the actual industrial process than modelling and laboratory tests. The studies comprised comparative analyses entailing identical energy supplied to a reboiler as well as tests conducted at similar process efficiencies for both solvents. The results thus obtained imply that using AMP/PZ enables reduction of the solvent heat duty. Moreover, while using AMP/PZ temperature decrease was also observed in the columns.

Amine absorption processes are widely used in the industry to purify refinery gases, process gases or natural gas. Recently, amine absorption has also been considered for CO2 removal from flue gases. It has a number of advantages, but there is one major disadvantage - high energy consumption. This can be reduced by using an appropriate sorbent. From a group of several dozen solutions, three amine sorbents were selected based on primary, tertiary and sterically hindered amines. The solutions were used to test CO2 absorption capacity, absorption kinetics and heat of CO2 absorption. Additional tests were performed on the actual absorber-desorber system to indicate the most appropriate sorbent for capturing CO2 from flue gases.

The article presents selected issues related to the development and testing of the diagnostics systems dedicated for superconducting electromagnets. The systems were constructed to assess the production quality of superconducting electromagnets of the SIS100 synchrotron, a new accelerator being built as part of the Facility of Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR). One of the systems is used for automatic checking of electrical connection parameters and the continuity of electric circuits. The role of the second device is to assess the quality of winding insulation and to estimate circuit parameters of electromagnet coils using the capacitor discharge method. The work presents measurements and analysis of current and voltage waveforms acquired during discharges on a magnet coil simulator and on the SIS100 main dipole electromagnet.

The article discusses the applicability of a novel method to determine horizontal curvature of the railway track axis based on results of mobile satellite measurements. The method is based on inclination angle changes of a moving chord in the Cartesian coordinate system. In the presented case, the variant referred to as the method of two virtual chords is applied. It consists in maneuvering with only one GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver. The assumptions of the novel method are formulated, and an assessment of its application in the performed campaign of mobile satellite measurements is presented. The shape of the measured railway axis is shown in the national spatial reference system PL-2000, and the speed of the measuring trolley during measurement is calculated based on the recorded coordinates. It has been observed that over the test section, the curvature ordinates differ from the expected waveform, which can be caused by disturbances of the measuring trolley trajectory. However, this problem can easily be overcome by filtering the measured track axis ordinates to obtain the correct shape – this refers to all track segments: straight sections, circular arcs and transition curves. The virtual chord method can also constitute the basis for assessing the quality of the recorded satellite signal. The performed analysis has shown high accuracy of the measuring process.