Rolls-Royce is developing turbogenerator technology—including a new small engine—designed for hybrid-electric aviation applications. The system will be an on-board power source with scalable power offerings and will complement the Rolls-Royce Electrical propulsion portfolio, enabling extended range on sustainable aviation fuels and later as it comes available through hydrogen combustion. Current... Read more →

At a recent digital event, Geely’s Lynk & Co launched its E-Motive Hybrid technologies. Developed based on the NordThor Intelligent Hybrid platform (earlier post), these new technologies will help Lynk & Co offer better mobility, better performance, better sustainability and better intelligence. Lynk & Co’s current available hybrids have yet... Read more →

MAN Engines recently put its first two dual-fuel hydrogen-powered engines for work boats into serial operation. The engines are twelve-cylinder diesel engines of type MAN D2862 LE448, each with an output of 749 kW (1019 hp) at 2100 rpm. The engines are IMO Tier III-certified and equipped with a Selective... Read more →

WinGD and Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Engine Machinery Division (EMD) are to collaborate on delivering the first WinGD engine capable of running on ammonia. Under an MOU (Memo of Understanding) signed during the Posidonia exhibition on 7 June, the two parties will aim to deliver a first engine by 2025, in... Read more →

Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, announced definitive agreements to supply fuel linked to renewable natural gas for a Walmart Inc. demonstration of Cummins’s new 15-liter natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks (earlier post). As part of the agreements, Walmart will provide heavy-duty trucks for Cummins to integrate with... Read more →

After systematically studying multiple catalyst compositions, researchers at KAUST and Umicore have clarified the role of cerium (Ce) in Mn-based oxide catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3 at temperatures below 200 °C. An open-access paper on the study appears in Nature Communications. Recent developments in... Read more →

FEV, a leading service provider in vehicle and propulsion system development and testing, has evaluated the performance of the Transient Plasma Systems Inc. (TPS) nanosecond pulsed power ignition system (earlier post) on the current Toyota 2.5-liter, direct and port fueled injection, inline 4-cylinder gasoline engine commonly used in the Camry... Read more →

A team from Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and China First Auto Works Corporation (FAW) has developed a 2.0L direct-injection (DI) turbocharged hydrogen engine that delivers clean, efficient, and high-power performance. Peak power of 120 kW @ 4400 rpm and a maximum torque of 340 N·m @ 2000 rpm can... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä, and its collaborators WEC Energy Group, (WEC), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Burns & McDonnell (B&McD), have been contracted to carry out hydrogen fuel testing at the A.J. Mihm power plant in Michigan. The project supports WEC’s ambition to reduce the CO2 emissions from... Read more →

Canada-based dynaCERT Inc. has sold seven of its HydraGEN on-board electrolysis units ( the HG1R, 4C and 6C units) which are to be installed in Peru, Argentina and Brazil in open-pit mines on various equipment, including Caterpillar 793 and 777 Haul Trucks and a large 4.5 MW diesel generator with... Read more →

Several organizations, encompassing companies, research labs, and academia, have formed the Hydrogen Opposed Piston Engine Working Group. The Working Group consists of members undertaking research and development in the field of hydrogen combustion in an opposed-piston engine. An opposed piston engine with hydrogen combustion could well provide the best-known thermal... Read more →

Purem by Eberspaecher is introducing efficient exhaust technology for hydrogen engines. At the Hannover Messe, the company will be presenting its H2-ICE exhaust system for the first time. The H2-ICE exhaust system for hydrogen engines from Purem by Eberspaecher. Hydrogen engines have potential as a drive type with CO2-neutral fuel,... Read more →

EPA’s new Clean School Bus Program will provide $5 billion over the next five years (FY 2022-2026) to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models. EPA is now offering $500 million through the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates for zero-emission and low-emission school bus rebates as the first... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $24.9 million in funding for six research and development projects to support the advancement of clean hydrogen for electricity generation. This includes improving capture of CO2 associated with hydrogen production from carbon-based resources and technologies to use hydrogen in gas turbines more... Read more →

At the recent ACT Expo in Long Beach, California, Cummins debuted its 15-liter hydrogen engine. This engine is built on Cummins’ new fuel-agnostic platform, where below the head gasket each fuel type’s engine has largely similar components, and above the head gasket, each has different components for different fuel types.... Read more →

In 2010, researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology proposed a new combustion system for diesel engines: the Double Swirl Combustion System (DSCS) (Li et al. 2010). Within the DSCS, the Double Swirl (DS) chamber is one of the most noticeable factors in the new system. The configuration of DS... Read more →

UK-based Clean Air Power has demonstrated a Freightliner Class 66 locomotive running on hydrogen to reduce its carbon emission output. Clean Air Power achieved this by fitting the Class 66 with its precision injection technology, allowing the two-stroke diesel locomotive to run on a combination of diesel, biogas and hydrogen.... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) demonstrated the effectiveness of its patented and award-winning CAT-DEF technology during the WCX World Congress Experience in Detroit in April. CAT-DEF—Catalyzed Diesel Exhaust Fluid—is an SwRI-developed catalyst- and surfactant-modified diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) solution. The internally funded advancement successfully reduced heavy-duty diesel engine nitrogen oxide (NOx)... Read more →

A recent study by leading UK-based independent emissions testing company Emissions Analytics tested four apparently similar pairs of gasoline-fueled vehicles between the US (without gasoline particulate filters (GPFs)) and Europe (with GPFs). The US vehicles were tested in Michigan, and the European vehicles in the UK. The vehicles were: 3.0l... Read more →

Westport Fuel Systems revealed its H2 HPDI fuel system in a demonstrator truck. Westport’s HPDI fuel system technology (earlier post) enables heavy-duty trucks to operate on bio-methane (renewable natural gas) and natural gas with the same power, torque, efficiency, and performance as diesel engines—with even better results running on hydrogen—all... Read more →

The European Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst (AECC) presented its zero-impact emissions demonstrator car at the Vienna Motor Symposium, 27-29 April. The demonstrator reduces pollutant emissions across a wide range of driving conditions using advanced emission control technologies with an electrified combustion engine (48V mild hybrid). At the same... Read more →

Following a three-month feasibility study, Aviation H2—an Australian-owned company seeking to achieve net-zero emissions in the aerospace sector through green hydrogen—has selected the use of liquid ammonia to turbofan combustion as the best route to carbon-free flight and will soon start modifying turbofan engines to test and prove the concept.... Read more →

Achates Power has released initial in-use NOx measurements from the cleaner, heavy-duty diesel engine it developed in a project funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and several partners. Achates Power previously announced the opposed-piston has entered fleet service with WALMART Corporation in a Peterbilt 579 tractor. (Earlier post.)... Read more →

Toyota will invest $383 million in four of its US manufacturing plants—in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee—to support the production of four-cylinder engines, including options for hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota customers want vehicles that are fuel-efficient and electrified. These investments allow us to meet customer needs and quickly respond to... Read more →

A team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a new computational model of a two-stroke scaled marine engine, with reduced chemical mechanisms for diesel, biodiesel, bio-oil, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). In a new open-access study published in the journal Fuel, the ORNL researchers used their model to... Read more →

The same propulsion technology that goes into rockets has made hypersonic speeds—Mach 5 and beyond, i.e., more than 5 times the speed of sound—possible since the 1950s. However, to make hypersonic flight more common and far less expensive than a rocket launch, engineers and scientists are working on advanced jet... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz Trucks is introducing the third generation of its OM 471 heavy-duty diesel engine this year; the engine will deliver increased fuel efficiency and compliance with the strictest emissions standards such as Euro VIe. The third generation of the OM 471 installed in the Mercedes-Benz Actros and the Mercedes-Benz Arocs... Read more →

Following two variants with V8 engines, Mercedes-AMG is presenting the entry-level SL 43 version of its newly developed roadster icon. The SL 43 features an M139 in-line two-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric exhaust gas turbocharger—used for the first time in a production vehicle. This technology comes from Formula... Read more →

Essam El-Hannouny, a principal mechanical engineer at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, won a Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) Award from DOE to expand his research on how a renewable alcohol-based biofuel can serve as a dual fuel to help decarbonize locomotive engines. His research is also relevant... Read more →

Achates Power announced that the 10.6-liter, heavy-duty opposed-piston, three-cylinder diesel engine it developed in a project funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and several partners (earlier post) has entered fleet service with WALMART Corporation in a Peterbilt 579 tractor. It is the only diesel engine operating on the... Read more →

Blending ammonia with a small amount of dimethyl ether (DME) gives a liquid fuel with low-temperature combustion properties very similar to gasoline, researchers at KAUST have shown. The development of such fuels could provide an option—in addition to electric cars—for “clean” power for the transportation sector. A paper on their... Read more →

A consortium of shipping stakeholders aims to develop demonstrators for two-stroke and four-stroke marine engines running on ammonia fuel. The Ammonia 2-4 project seeks to advance viable concepts for ammonia fuel. The project is coordinated by technology group Wärtsilä, with participation from naval architects C-Job, classification society DNV, ship owner... Read more →

The Jeep is ending the sale in France of non-electrified internal combustion engines (ICE) on all the Renegade and Compass ranges; the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee being already only available in 4xe plug-in hybrid versions. e-Hybrid versions of Renegade and Compass replace ICE engines, including diesel versions. Customers can... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group will collaborate with the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) jointly to research and develop an advanced fuel for an ultra lean-burn, spark-ignition engine that aims to lower the overall carbon dioxide emissions of a vehicle. Hyundai Motor Group... Read more →

Honda gave the 2.4-liter internal combustion component of the next-generation (4th) NTT INDYCAR SERIES hybrid power unit its on-track debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With six-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon at the controls of the Honda test chassis operated by Chip Ganassi Racing, the new internal combustion engine... Read more →

FlyZero is the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) project aiming to realize zero-carbon emission commercial aviation by 2030. Funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the project FlyZero began in early 2021 as an intensive research project investigating zero-carbon emission commercial flight. The independent study brought together... Read more →

Stellantis revealed its new, 3.0-liter, twin-turbo, inline, six-cylinder engine, named Hurricane, that delivers better fuel economy and fewer emissions than larger engines while at the same time generates more horsepower and torque than many competitors’ naturally aspirated V-8 and boosted six-cylinder power plants. The Hurricane twin-turbo’s robust base architecture enables... Read more →

Geely is testing the world’s first methanol hybrid sedan in sub -40 °C (-40 ˚F) Arctic conditions in the frigid northern Chinese province of Heilongjiang. Geely’s latest Methanol Hybrid Emgrand is based on Geely Auto’s fourth-generation B-Segment Modular Architecture (BMA) Emgrand sedan. The new Emgrand runs on 100% clean methanol... Read more →

Toyota Motor is entering three differently fueled vehicles in the ENEOS Super Taikyu Series 2022 Powered by Hankook Round 1 Suzuka 5-Hour Endurance Race (Suzuka 5-Hour Race), which takes place from 19 to 20 March 2022: a hydrogen engine-equipped Corolla, a new GR86-based vehicle that uses a biomass-derived carbon-neutral fuel... Read more →

Wärtsilä has developed a dedicated fuel supply system for methanol—MethanolPac—as interest grows in the methanol pathway to decarbonize shpping. Combined with the recently introduced Wärtsilä 32 Methanol engine and the company’s well-proven retrofit and system integration capabilities, MethanolPac enables Wärtsilä to deliver methanol-capable fuel and power systems across a wide... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America is introducing the Volvo I-Torque. Now available as an option with the latest D13 Turbo Compound engine, the Volvo I-Torque is a unique powertrain solution enabling the truck to operate optimally with up to a 31% increase in fuel efficient speed range, achieving up to 8.5... Read more →

Alfa Laval is introducing the E-PowerPack waste heat recovery system for ships. Able to convert waste heat directly into electrical power, the E-PowerPack uses Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology to reduce ship fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The basic principle of an ORC system can be thought of as the... Read more →

At the International Engine Congress in Baden-Baden (Germany), Liebherr-Components AG and US-based Tula Technology presented the results of their joint study on heavy machinery. Based on simulations, Tula’s diesel Dynamic Skip Fire (dDSF) software (earlier post) allowed the reduction of NOx tailpipe emissions by 41% and CO2by 9.5%. For this... Read more →

Ford is continuing to transform its global automotive business, accelerating the development and scaling of electric, connected vehicles, while leveraging its nameplates to strengthen operating performance and take full advantage of engineering and industrial capabilities. Ford is forming two distinct, but strategically interdependent, auto businesses: Ford Blue and Ford Model... Read more →

Pratt & Whitney was selected by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to develop novel, high-efficiency hydrogen-fueled propulsion technology for commercial aviation, as part of DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) OPEN 2021 program (earlier post). The Hydrogen Steam-Injected, Inter‐Cooled Turbine Engine (HySIITE) project will use liquid hydrogen (LH2) combustion... Read more →

Airbus has signed a partnership agreement with CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, to collaborate on a hydrogen demonstration program that will take flight around the middle of this decade. The program’s objective is to ground- and flight-test a direct combustion engine fueled by... Read more →

Cummins has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Meritor, a global leader of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Cummins will pay $36.50 in cash per Meritor share, for a total transaction value of approximately... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation has commissioned Yamaha Motor to develop a 5.0-liter V8 engine for automobiles that is fueled entirely by hydrogen. In Japan, Toyota and other automotive-related companies are about to begin a collaborative effort to expand the range of fuel options for internal combustion engines. We are working toward... Read more →

Embraer, Widerøe and Rolls-Royce are partnering to study conceptual zero-emission regional aircraft. The 12-month cooperation study—in the context of pre-competitive research and development—will address passenger requirements to stay connected in a post COVID-19 world, but do so sustainably, and seeks to accelerate the knowledge of the technologies necessary for this... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $175 million for 68 research and development projects aimed at developing novel advanced energy technologies. Led by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the OPEN 2021 program prioritizes funding high-impact, high-risk technologies that support novel approaches. The selected projects—spanning 22 states and... Read more →