Dolphin N2

This support grant was the third significant fund in the development and marketing of the CryoPower engine.

The engine had been developed at the University of Brighton and seen as one of the most significant advances in engine design, with efficiency that has brought comparisons with fuel cells rather than traditional engines. It also produced near-zero emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) – a world first.

It was Innovate UK funding that initially led to a project to develop split cycle engine technology, in effect, creating engines which are more efficient and better for the environment. It was the cleanest, high-efficiency engine that existed in the public domain and showed enormous potential as a clean device using sustainable fuels made from everyday wastes and would lead to far less pollution being emitted by heavy duty vehicles and, perhaps, by other transport modes including diesel trains and ships.

Following the success of the research phase, a consortium including the University of Brighton and global engineering specialists Ricardo joined together to form the company Dolphin N2 to bring the products they had created to market.

The company was later bought by FPT Industrial, a leading manufacturer in industrial vehicles, and is set to make long-haul trucks more efficient and cleaner.

Simon Brewster, CEO of Dolphin N2 said, “The relationships between Startup’s/SME’s and Universities are well known. Many great projects start with the research capabilities of a university & go on to become developed and accepted parts of our daily lives.

"The University of Brighton & Dolphin N2 have been collaborating on the recuperated split-cycle engine since Ricardo Plc first developed the programme alongside the university.

"The project is the latest phase of pioneering research at the university, which has been led for the past seven years by Professor Rob Morgan, Professor of Thermal Propulsion Systems at the university’s Advanced Engineering Centre (AEC) (1)

"The recuperated split cycle engine produces near-zero emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) – a world first that has been pioneered by the university.

"We knew the technology had world-leading efficiency, but it was the research at the University of Brighton that also showed incredibly low levels of NOx emissions. Without this discovery, the technology could still be seen as a dirty engine – with it, it can compete side-by-side with so-called zero emission power, except that our engine is cheaper of course.”