Project Details
Description
Between 2013 and 2020, the Advanced Engineering Centre at the University of Brighton undertook, with partners Ricardo, the development of the CryoPower engine, succeeding through a set of funded projects Cryopower (2013-2015), Step CO2 (2018-19), Dolphin N2 (2021-2024).
Heavy duty vehicles, such as long haul trucks, represent a significant challenge in terms of the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. An essential element of the transportation mix of modern industrialised society, they are inherently less amenable to the type of electrification and hybridisation strategies that are already contributing to reduced carbon emissions and potential long-term sustainability for the light vehicle sector. A key global imperative is therefore the substantial improvement of heavy vehicle engine efficiency.
StepCO2 represented a disruptive shift in combustion engine technology, and addresses this call through the use of split cycle technology with a novel step to significantly increase engine efficiency. Extensive feasibility studies supported by test results from previous projects, indicated the technology had potential to radically increase the efficiency of an engine in a HDV application. The project objective was then to progress this game-changing concept from a research environment towards a working concept demonstrator and eventual application within HDVs, leading to drastic reduction in fuel usage and CO2 emission within the heavy duty transport sector.
Heavy duty vehicles, such as long haul trucks, represent a significant challenge in terms of the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. An essential element of the transportation mix of modern industrialised society, they are inherently less amenable to the type of electrification and hybridisation strategies that are already contributing to reduced carbon emissions and potential long-term sustainability for the light vehicle sector. A key global imperative is therefore the substantial improvement of heavy vehicle engine efficiency.
StepCO2 represented a disruptive shift in combustion engine technology, and addresses this call through the use of split cycle technology with a novel step to significantly increase engine efficiency. Extensive feasibility studies supported by test results from previous projects, indicated the technology had potential to radically increase the efficiency of an engine in a HDV application. The project objective was then to progress this game-changing concept from a research environment towards a working concept demonstrator and eventual application within HDVs, leading to drastic reduction in fuel usage and CO2 emission within the heavy duty transport sector.
Key findings
Test results, carried out as part of StepCO2 programme part funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, showned the CryoPower engine to offer a near-zero emissions capability, in some cases offering lower tailpipe NOx emissions than in the surrounding air and with potential to remove pollution in towns and cities.
CryoPower was originally conceived as a means of enabling otherwise unachievable improvements in fuel economy and reduced CO2, targeted at achieving at least 60 percent brake thermal efficiency. The early development work carried out on the test rig installed at the University of Brighton has not only validated this potential but has also demonstrated the highly impressive low-NOx emissions credentials of the CryoPower combustion process.
Professor Rob Morgan of the University of Brighton’s Advanced Engineering Centre said: “Our research has taken a completely new approach to the design of the combustion system, focusing on achieving the conditions for ultra-low emissions. This enabled us to unpick the ‘normal’ way of designing an engine and to come up with a different set of answers.
“Our split-cycle engine combines the findings of our high efficiency research with our low emissions research ideas. On the test bed, we are getting engine out emission much lower than a fully optimised modern truck. With some after-treatment, you would get to very low level emissions that are actually cleaner than the air going into the engine.”
This fund bridged the stage after the CryoPower funding, leading to the founding of the Dolphin N2 company.
CryoPower was originally conceived as a means of enabling otherwise unachievable improvements in fuel economy and reduced CO2, targeted at achieving at least 60 percent brake thermal efficiency. The early development work carried out on the test rig installed at the University of Brighton has not only validated this potential but has also demonstrated the highly impressive low-NOx emissions credentials of the CryoPower combustion process.
Professor Rob Morgan of the University of Brighton’s Advanced Engineering Centre said: “Our research has taken a completely new approach to the design of the combustion system, focusing on achieving the conditions for ultra-low emissions. This enabled us to unpick the ‘normal’ way of designing an engine and to come up with a different set of answers.
“Our split-cycle engine combines the findings of our high efficiency research with our low emissions research ideas. On the test bed, we are getting engine out emission much lower than a fully optimised modern truck. With some after-treatment, you would get to very low level emissions that are actually cleaner than the air going into the engine.”
This fund bridged the stage after the CryoPower funding, leading to the founding of the Dolphin N2 company.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 1/08/18 → 31/12/19 |
Funding
- Innovate UK
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