We've all seen the impact of communication technologies and the Internet. The world today is far different from the one we experienced as kids in the Fifties. There are many futurists who have been watching the auto industry, anticipating an equally explosive shift with regards to the future of transportation. One of these is Mike Millikin, founder and editor of Green Car Congress. 
This engine by Achates Power is getting real attention.
Millikin was a trained journalist who spent most of his career in IT and Internet related pursuits. He was right in the center of the 90s whirlwind that transformed everything. In 2004, he saw that an even bigger transformation was coming as science was applied toward the goal of green transportation and energy.
This past week Green Car Congress published an article titled Achates opposed-piston 3-cylinder 10.6L diesel emissions meet 2027 EPA, CA requirements. It's about a radically improved internal combustion engine that meets California emissions standards. That seems pretty progressive as far as I'm concerned.
The article begins:
Achates Power’s innovative 3-cylinder, 10.6L opposed-piston heavy-duty diesel engine has achieved performance results that comply with pending 2027 requirements of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California to reduce sharply emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Engine and aftertreatment system development and performance assessments were conducted at the Achates Power facility in San Diego and the Aramco Research Center-Detroit.
It is a major development for a project that aims to improve the environmental performance of commercial vehicles using hydrocarbon fuels.
The most recent test of the engine, including aftertreatment, measured 0.02g per brake horsepower-hour (g bhp/hr), demonstrating the capability of the engine to be certified under California’s ultra-low NOx regulation, which requires diesel commercial vehicle engines to reduce NOx by 90% by 2027 to no more than 0.02g bhp/hr over the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) cycle.
Furthermore, carbon dioxide emissions are 8% below the current standards in California. As the saying goes, "Aim high, you just might hit it."
The engine is a three-cylinder design in which the opposed pistons move vertically. Achates Power power accomplished this achievement with a standard DEF injection aftertreatment system.
You can read the full story here:
https://www.greencarcongress.
We applaud these efforts toward a clean diesel future.
Compared to a conventional engine of the same stroke running at identical rpm (thus same mean piston speed and same piston acceleration), the doubled stroke of an opposed piston engine gives a more compact combustion chamber that provides better thermodynamic efficiency and the highest power density in mass and volume. The heat rejection through the cooling circuit is reduced by the absence of a cylinder head and by the combustion chamber compactness, which allows smaller radiators. In addition, excellent balance is achieved, even with a single cylinder.
ReplyDeleteLike every 2-stroke, the engine itself has no suction stroke and its air supply must be provided by a blower or a supercharger. A turbocharger can provide this function as soon as the engine is running under a sufficient load, but assistance (mechanical, electrical or other) is needed at start. This assistance can then work in reverse when the exhaust turbine develops more power than required by the compressor.
ReplyDelete