Ricardo will lead a feasibility study project—HeatWave—in which it will work with QinetiQ to evaluate a novel diesel fuel reformation concept that uses microwaves and waste heat from a heavy vehicle’s exhaust to reform the incoming fuel, increasing its calorific value and hence reducing net carbon dioxide emissions. HeatWave will... Read more →

Rendering of the Triple-E. Click to enlarge. Mærsk Line has signed a contract with Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. to build 10 of the world’s largest and most efficient vessels—the Triple E (Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved)—with an option for an additional 20 vessels.... Read more →

Two separate research collaborations have recently reported advances in the efficiency of thermoelectric materials in converting heat to electricity. A collaboration including researchers from Boston College, MIT, the University of Virginia and Clemson University have achieved a peak ZT (thermoelectric figure of merit) of 0.8 at 700 °C (973 K),... Read more →

Example of the structure of a partially filled CoSb skutterudite. Source: C. Uher. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Michigan and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are working to improve the thermoelectric (TE) capabilities of filled skutterudites to the point that they could improve the performance... Read more →

Professor Stan Golunski, Deputy Director of the newly established Cardiff Catalysis Institute, in collaboration with engineers at Brunel and Birmingham Universities, is investigating the feasibility of an on-board exhaust gas reforming system to improve combustion and recover waste heat. In the exhaust gas fuel-reforming method, part of the engine exhaust... Read more →

The VanDyne SuperTurbo. Click to enlarge. The US Army SBIR Program has competitively selected and awarded a Phase 1 research contract to VanDyne SuperTurbo, Inc. for a project developing a waste heat recovery system using VanDyne’s SuperTurbocharger technology. VanDyne’s SuperTurbocharger (SuperTurbo) is a turbocharger with an integral Continuously Variable Transmission... Read more →

The MHI STG system. Click to enlarge. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has completed its first unit of the STG (Super Turbo Generating) System, a marine-use, high-efficiency, combined power generation system that utilizes waste heat and the exhaust gas from diesel engines. The STG System reduces the fuel cost of... Read more →

Basic operation of the Opcon Powerbox ORC waste heat recovery system. Click to enlarge. Opcon, the Sweden-based energy and environmental technology Group, will install an Opcon Powerbox—an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) waste heat recovery system—on one of Wallenius’ ships. The initial installation, which aims to utilize waste heat for production... Read more →

Six key elements of a thermoelectric waste heat recovery module for vehicle applications. Successful proposals will address at least three. Click to enlarge. The Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation in partnership with the US Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Program has issued a solicitation for proposals for... Read more →

Schematic of a thermocell with nanostructured electrodes showing concentration gradients of the ferri-ferrocyanide redox ions during power generation. Credit: ACS, Hu et al. Click to enlarge. An international team of researchers from the US, India and Australia has demonstrated thermo-electrochemical cells (thermocells) in practical configurations (from coin cells to cells... Read more →

Schematic of the conceptual ideal piston engine used for the TCR study. The outer control volume (CV0) encloses the entire system. The upper inner control volume (CV1) contains the combustion chamber and piston. The lower inner control volume (CV2) contains the reformer and intercooler. When reforming is not used, the... Read more →

Basic scheme of the quantum-coupled converter. Shaded boxes indicate electron reservoirs. Arrows represent couplings. Letter U represents the electrostatic interaction while letter V represents the tunneling. Source: Hagelstein, 2007. Click to enlarge. Researchers from MIT, with colleagues from IISc in Bangalore, India and HiPi Consulting in Maryland have experimentally demonstrated... Read more →

Concept diagram of an SMA heat engine for power generation from waste engine heat. Source: GM. Click to enlarge. As one of 37 projects selected by the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E (earlier post), General Motors R&D will receive $2.7 million (subject to final negotiation with DOE) to support building... Read more →

Distribution of energy in the car. Click to enlarge. BMW dedicated a portion of its recent Innovation Days 2009 event to the topic of Intelligent Heat management as a mechanism for reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Among the projects discussed were reducing cold starts; using waste heat for different... Read more →

by Jack Rosebro Conceptual schematic of direct thermoelectric generator mounted in a vehicle’s exhaust stream. Indirect configurations are also possible. Adapted from Hussain et al. Click to enlarge. At SAE 2009 World Congress in Detroit last month, Ford Motor Company presented a research paper that detailed the results of an... Read more →

Energy utilization vs. complexity of different heat recovery systems. In this study, BMW focused on Rankine A (exhaust gas only) and Rankine B (exhaust gas and coolant). Adapted from Ringler et al. (2009) Click to enlarge. BMW is exploring two pathways for waste heat recovery in vehicles: one thermoelectric, the... Read more →

WHE unit. Click to enlarge. Cyclone Power Technologies Inc., the developer of the external combustion Waste Heat Engine (WHE) (earlier post), has formed a separate division to market and manufacture WHE systems for applications such as small-scale cogeneration, solar thermal electricity production, biomass combustion, and engines for auxiliary power units... Read more →

Cutaway diagram of the heat2power system mounted on an engine. Click to enlarge. The Paris, France-based developer of a waste heat recovery (WHR) system, heat2power, won the Powertrain Innovation of the Year Award at the Professional Motorsport World Expo in Cologne (11-13 November) with its Thermal Energy Recovery System (TERS).... Read more →

Basic components of the CESAR system. Click to enlarge. Canada-based Clean Power Technologies Inc. (CPT), developer of a waste-heat powered steam hybrid system (CESAR, Clean Energy Storage and Recovery, earlier post), has signed a collaboration agreement with Voith Turbo GmbH & Co. KG to develop steam and heat energy recovery... Read more →

A recently-published review of the 21st Century Truck Partnership (21CTP)—a federal effort to reduce fuel usage and emissions while increasing safety in heavy-duty vehicles—by the National Research Council found that many of the key 21CTP program goals have not been met because some of the goals were not plausible, from... Read more →

Results of the study indicate that a steam hybrid using exhaust waste heat could reduce fuel consumption by up to 31.7%, depending upon drive cycle and vehicle. A study by researchers at Loughborough University and the University of Sussex, both in the UK, has concluded that using waste heat from... Read more →