ATZ Live, haulage solutions, heavy duty engines & automotive innovations. How are industry leaders empowering the haulage & heavy duty sectors in the global emissions battle?
Written by Katy Mason on behalf of Dolphin N2.
Contributions from Benjamin West – Operations Manager at Dolphin N2.
The haulage & transportation sector is one key area of industry which is under considerable scrutiny in regards to the emissions argument. IVECO, for example, have already rolled out their successful Eurocargo CNG trucks. IVECO states ‘In terms of emissions, natural gas is a “clean” fuel thanks to 10% less CO2, 35% less NOx emissions than their diesel equivalent and 95% less particulate matter.’ (1)
However, questions are still abound regarding longevity of the engines, the fuels & the technologies needed to continue to reduce our global emissions to net zero by 2050.
Benjamin West – Operations Manager at Dolphin N2 attended ATZ Live in Cologne last week. The topic for this event was ‘Heavy-Duty, On- and Off-highway Engines 2018 – Future Challenges’ & was attended by some of the leading industry names.
Delegates were actively intrigued by the technology & all showed an interest in how the Cryogenics could be a remarkable contributor to the global emissions reduction strategies.
Some of the papers delivered at ATZ Live were actively focused on the necessity to continue R&D & it was interesting to discover what other industry leads considerations were. Benjamin West – Operations Manager at Dolphin N2, had the following to say regarding the industry messages from ATZ Live.
“The key message from the OEM’s was that alternative fuels such as Natural gas, Biogas and hydrogen are as important as Hybrid.”
German company Deutz AG identifies as an engine company, but they have spent €100m on purchasing a marine Hybrid company Torqueedo and have also invested in the Hydrogen ICE specialist Keyou. DEUTZ is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of innovative drive systems. Its core competences are the development, production, distribution and servicing of diesel, gas and electric drivetrain’s for professional applications. (2)
“Jenbacher (GE) showed their development of Type 4 which includes running Biogas directly (Methane with up to 70% Co2). This is part of the drive to be able to burn anything that is wasted today- coal mine gas, Landfill gas. Etc.”
“The world of simulation has developed to include the Hybrid simulation (Ricardo) and predictive control using electronic horizon (Ricardo) where the GPS and traffic information is used to change cruise conditions on a truck.”
“Fuel injection system presentations included a twin actuator delivery valve system from Delphi. One valve had 20% flow and the second had 50% flow. By manipulating the opening times and duration’s Delphi were able to get a huge range of injection rate shapes at up to 3000bar injection pressure with DFI7. They also showed a 3000 bar injector that will be launched in early 2019 – DFI21”
“Two of the papers presented at ATZ Live concentrated on Organic rankine cycle and its use to recover heat from the engine Exhaust ( Mahle)(~4kW) and cooling system(ENOGIA) (2.4kW).”
“The closing key talk at ATZ Live, was from German Agricultural Machinery company CLAAS. CLAAS were clear that the Diesel engine was central to their future product range.”
Benjamin West – Operations Manager, Dolphin N2.
One of the other representatives at ATZ Live included Daimler AG. Daimler trucks division encompasses 5 strong brand identities: Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, FUSO, Western Star & BharatBenz. Daimler are consistently developing haulage trucks for global delivery solutions and are perceptively mindful of the needs for continual development in this field.
‘Fuel consumption is a key factor in determining a truck’s overall running costs – making it a decisive purchasing argument for our customers. That’s why we take full advantage of the technological possibilities of further reducing the fuel consumption of our trucks: compared with the previous Actros model, the average consumption has been cut by up to 13 percent since 2011, thanks to the introduction of the new Actros, the Predictive Powertrain Control system and the new engine generation.’ (3)
The Dolphin N2 CryoPower technologies having been met such positive interest at ATZ Live, continue to be at the cutting edge of the progressive haulage & energy power solutions to reduce global emissions to net zero by 2050.
‘CryoPower is an internal combustion engine, with all that implies in terms of low cost and ease of manufacture, that aims to compete with zero-emission drivetrains. It targets long-haul trucks (where zero-emission technology is least easy to apply), 0.5-50MW distributed power generation (an area seeing rapid growth to reinforce electricity grids and balance out intermittent renewables), and mixed-mode rail.
CryoPower and ThermoPower are Recuperated Split Cycle Engines. The revolutionary step is to separate the “cold” and “hot” parts of the traditional internal combustion engine. A first set of cylinders draw in air and compresses it – in the CryoPower version, Liquid Nitrogen is injected to keep this process cool for maximum efficiency; the simpler ThermoPower omits it. Then the compressed air passes through a recuperator, where the engine’s exhaust heats it up – saving fuel which normally has to do this.
The air now passes to the second, hot cylinder set, which are thoroughly insulated – infeasible in a normal ICE where the same cylinder handles hot and cold processes. These cylinders host the combustion and expansion events, which produce power; they are bigger than the compressor cylinders (again impossible in a standard engine) because that is most efficient.
As a final twist, the hot air passing into these combustion cylinders does so at the speed of sound, leading to extraordinary mixing with the fuel, and a unique “cool combustion” regime. The very low level of emissions, especially NOx and Particulates, can be reduced to at least SULEV and potentially lower using known “SCR” (Urea-based) after-treatment.’ (4)
With the discussions at ATZ Live being very much about the engineering of engine solutions for haulage & in particular the correlation to fossil fuel powered engines, a recent visit to MECHANEX explored what developments are being made in the established automotive industries & how garages are dealing with the daily expectations of changing emissions regulations.
With emissions testing regulations being tightened in recent years, cars, LGV’s, HGV’s, etc have all had to ensure their engines are running at optimum & within NCT & DOE emission testing regulations.
All around the show, were examples of DPF cleaning solutions, Carbon cleaning & Diesel treatments. All of the products were heavily advertised with a very ‘green’ & ‘environmentally concerned’ advertising strategy. The saturation of companies represented, really emphasized how the established automotive industry companies are now combating emissions & in particular carbon deposits in every day settings & how using DPF cleaning can optimize engine performance & in doing so, go some way to reducing harmful emissions from carbon clogged engines.
Some of the solutions on offer, in particular the FlexFuel Hy-Carbon system, use Hydrogen to dissipate the carbon cleaned from a vehicle safely into the environment. ‘Hy-Carbon removes carbon deposits from deep inside engines by injecting hydrogen into the intake manifold.
The passage of this hydrogen through the engine ensures the regeneration of all its components. Once regenerated, the engine rediscovers its torque, faults are corrected and pollutants are reduced by more than half.’ (5)
With the emissions conversation continuing to dominate industry, we must be mindful of the global technologies which are using scientific & engineering excellence to drive emissions down & yet, still keep our global delivery services operational & working at optimal levels for human needs. As Daimler AG so rightly says ‘Commercial vehicles – no economy in the world can function without them. Food, clothing, furniture, building materials – these and numerous other items are transported by truck from point A to point B every day.’ (6)
- https://www.iveco.com/en-us/press-room/kit/Pages/New-Eurocargo-Natural-Power.aspx
- https://www.deutz.com/en/about-us/
- https://www.daimler.com/company/business-units/daimler-trucks/
- Simon Brewster, CEO, Dolphin N2 Ltd: [email protected]; +44 (0)7850 200 096 Nick Owen, Technical Director, Dolphin N2 Ltd: [email protected]; +44 (0)7710 052 680
- https://www.flexfuel-company.com/en/hy-carbon
- https://www.daimler.com/company/business-units/daimler-trucks/
Written by Katy Mason on behalf of Dolphin N2.
