Ricardo’s CryoPower cryogenic
split-cycle engine concept is predicted to have a thermal efficiency of 60 per cent
– significantly more fuel efficient than current engine technology.
Now
a new progress feasibility prove-out
of this concept through design, analysis and rig-based testing of critical
sub-systems has been initiated funding from the UK’s Technology Strategy Board
(TSB).
If successful,
according to Ricardo, the research “will help ultimately” to deliver an engine
with the potential to transform the environmental performance of long haul
trucks and other heavy vehicles
According to Ricardo, heavy
duty vehicles, such as long haul trucks, represent a significant challenge in
terms of the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
Rather than merely refine
the existing four stroke diesel, Ricardo claims its cryogenic split-cycle
engine concept aims to “redefine the engine and its combustion process” through
the use of a “recuperated split-cycle with isothermal compression”.
Based on a concept
investigated by Ricardo for power generation purposes in the 1990s, the split-cycle
engine for heavy vehicle use was the subject of the TSB supported ‘CoolR’
feasibility project, commenced in 2011, in which Ricardo partnered with the
University of Brighton.
In the latest CryoPower engine
project, these partners are joined by high temperature heat exchanger
specialist Hiflux Ltd, as well as “a confidential advisory panel” drawn from
the heavy duty engines and vehicles sector.
During the work of this new
project – which aims to investigate, analyse and de-risk the crucial aspects of
the CryoPower engine concept – the partners will focus on system definition,
technical risks and route to market, combustion system component development
and thermal analysis, and recuperator development.
At the end of the project,
a clear development pathway for the concept will be established whereby risks
and opportunities are established and further work towards the ultimate commercialization
of the concept planned.
“The need for
fundamentally new powertrain solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of heavy
duty road transportation is widely accepted, not least because the
electrification approaches currently being demonstrated for passenger cars are
inappropriate for this scale of vehicle,” noted Ricardo chief technology and
innovation officer Professor Neville Jackson. “By fundamentally readdressing
the underlying thermodynamics of the internal combustion engine in a manner not
seen for many decades, we believe that the Ricardo CryoPower split-cycle cryogenic
injection combustion concept offers the prospect of very significant
improvements in thermal efficiency and hence reduced carbon dioxide emissions. This
will help to provide a further step towards the commercialization of an
extremely promising and game-changing technology for the economically crucial
heavy vehicle sector.” ∎
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