The mission of the SSC Engine Consortium is to develop and to demonstrate SSC technology, complete with compressed air energy storage (CAES) capability (earlier post), for both stationary and mobile applications. As a participant, Hino will become an active member of the consortium’s Project Advisory Committee, which will guide the specific research tasks undertaken by the consortium.

The current objectives of the consortium are to build a 150 to 250 kW SSC diesel research engine with air hybrid capability for mobile applications, as well as a 30 kW SSC natural gas research generator with CAES capability for stationary applications. The Consortium work is planned to be conducted primarily at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, a long-time provider of numerous simulation studies for Scuderi (e.g., earlier post). The Consortium work is scheduled to be completed within a two-year period.

The Scuderi Engine’s Split-Cycle design separates the compression stroke from the combustion/power stroke with the proposed benefit of high efficiency without compromising power. The company has been working on developing a commercial product for more than 10 years, and has built up a patent portfolio including more than 476 patent applications worldwide, more than 154 of which have actually been issued as patents. (The company notes on its Web site that each separate engine disclosure eventually matures into approximately 2 or more patents in each of about 50 countries.) The company lists 36 patents in the US.