Browse Topic: Renewable energy

Items (281)
As the world looks to net-zero emissions goals, hybrid electric vehicles may play an increasingly important role. For passenger electric vehicles (EVs) that predominantly make short journeys but occasionally need to make longer trips, electrofuel range extension may be more cost effective than either hydrogen or rapid charging. Micro gas turbines and catalytic combustion show significant potential to deliver low-cost, low-maintenance, lightweight engines with virtually no emissions, and hydrocarbon consuming solid oxide fuel cells show even greater potential in these areas. Aditioanlly, sodium-ion batteries for EVs, dispatachable vehicle-to-grid power and buffering, and variable intermittent renewable energy could also play key roles. The Role of Hybrid Vehicles in a Net-zero Transport System explores the costs, considerations, and challenges facing these technologies. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio
Muelaner, Jody E.
Hydrogen-powered mobility is believed to be crucial in the future, as hydrogen constitutes a promising solution to make up for the non-programmable character of the renewable energy sources. In this context, the hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine represents one of the suitable technical solution for the future sustainable mobility. In a short-term perspective, the development of the green hydrogen production capability and distribution infrastructure do not allow a substantial penetration of pure hydrogen IC engines. For this reason, natural gas – hydrogen blends can represent a first significant step towards decarbonization, also determining a trigger effect on the hydrogen market development. The present paper is focused on the analysis of the combustion and performance characteristics of a production PFI natural gas engine, run on blends with 15% in volume of hydrogen (HCNG). More specifically, a fuel-flexible, predictive 1D simulation model has been developed within the
Baratta, MirkoDi Mascio, ValerioMisul, DanielaMarinoni, AndreaCerri, TarcisioOnorati, Angelo
The ongoing transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources has never been more important as climate change and sustainability awareness continue to rise
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing battery technologies to fight climate change in two ways, by expanding the use of renewable energy and capturing airborne carbon dioxide
With the COP28 decisions the world is thriving for a future net-zero-CO2 society and the and current regulation acts, the energy infrastructure is changing in direction of renewables in energy production. All industry sectors will extend their share of direct or indirect electrification. The question might arise if the build-up of the renewables in energy production is fast enough. Demand and supply might not match in the short- and mid-term. The paper will discuss the roadmaps, directions and legislative boundary parameter in the regenerative energy landscape and their regional differences. National funding on renewables will gain an increasing importance to accelerate the energy transformation. The are often competing in attracting the same know-how on a global scale. In addition the paper includes details about energy conversion, efficiency as well as potential transport scenarios from production to the end consumer. Technologies are compared in respect of their TLR level and
Rothbart, Martin
EU legislation provides for only local CO2 emission-free vehicles to be allowed in individual passenger transport by 2035. In addition, the directive provides for fuels from renewable sources, i.e. defossilised fuels. This development leads to three possible energy sources or forms of energy for use in individual transport. The first possibility is charging with electricity generated from renewable sources, the second possibility is hydrogen generated from renewable sources or blue production path. The third possibility is the use of renewable fuels, also called e-fuels. These fuels are produced from atmospheric CO2 and renewable hydrogen. Possible processes for this are, for example, methanol or Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The production of these fuels is very energy-intensive and large amounts of renewable electricity are needed. Thus, national production of these fuels in the EU is inefficient in terms of cost and carbon footprint due to the low utilisation rate of renewable energy
Stoll, TobiasKulzer, AndreBerner, Hans-Juergen
Hydrogen has gained global recognition as a crucial energy resource, holding immense potential to offer clean, efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly energy solutions. Through water electrolysis powered by green electricity, the production of decarbonized “green hydrogen” is achievable. Hydrogen technology emerges as a key pathway for realizing the global objective of “carbon neutrality.” Among various water electrolysis technologies, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) stands out as exceptionally promising. It boasts high energy density, elevated electrolysis efficiency, and the capacity for high output pressure, making it a frontrunner in the quest for sustainable hydrogen production. The Application of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis delves into the challenges and trends ahead of PEMWE—from fundamental research to practical application—and briefly describes its relative characteristics, key components, and future targets. The cost
Lin, Rui
Life cycle analyses suggest that electric vehicles are more efficient than gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Although the latest available data reveal that electric vehicle (EV) life cycle operational efficiency is only 17% (3 percentage points) higher than a gasoline ICEV, overall life cycle efficiencies including manufacturing for EVs are 2 percentage points lower than for ICEVs. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of EVs are only 4% lower than ICEVs, but criteria emissions of NOx and PM are approaching or exceeding two times those of gasoline ICEVs. Significant reductions in electric grid emissions are required to realize EV’s anticipated emission benefits. In contrast, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have over 70% higher efficiency and 28% lower GHG emissions than today’s EVs. For heavy-duty trucks using today’s gray hydrogen, produced by steam–methane reforming, overall life cycle efficiencies of ICEs and fuel cells are 63% higher than electric powertrains using
Wade, Wallace R.
Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth, climate change is happening, and the automotive industrial network is one of the main industries contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. SKF is an energy intensive business – directly using energy, mainly in the form of electricity and gas, in its operations around the world. In addition, SKF utilizes materials, predominantly steel, and services which can be energy and carbon intensive – such as transports and raw material in production and processing. The combined impact of these direct and indirect energy uses (scope 1, 2 and 3 upstream) generates an excess of over two million metric tons of CO2e per year. This figure would however be significantly higher were it not for the actions SKF has taken to reduce both energy and carbon intensity. In 2000, we were one of the first companies to start to report and set climate targets. Acting on energy and material efficiency improvements and by switching to renewable energy, SKF is targeting
Sguotti, LauraLeprotti, ArturoFerrero, AlessandroD'Aleo, MicheleBerglund, Mats
In response to global climate change, there is a widespread push to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector. For the difficult to decarbonize heavy-duty (HD) vehicle sector, hybridization and lower carbon-intensity fuels can offer a low-cost, near-term solution for CO2 reduction. The use of natural gas can provide such an alternative for HD vehicles while the increasing availability of renewable natural gas affords the opportunity for much deeper reductions in net-CO2 emissions. With this in consideration, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory launched the Natural Gas Vehicle Research and Development Project to stimulate advancements in technology and availability of natural gas vehicles. As part of this program, Southwest Research Institute developed a hybrid-electric medium-HD vehicle (class 6) to demonstrate a substantial CO2 reduction over the baseline diesel vehicle and ultra-low NOx emissions. The development included the conversion of a 5.2 L diesel engine to
Wallace, JulianMitchell, RobertRao, SandeshJones, KevinKramer, DustinWang, YanyuChambon, PaulSjovall, ScottWilliams, D. Ryan
In the dynamic landscape of battery development, the quest for improved energy storage and efficiency has become paramount. The contemporary energy transition, coupled with growing demands for electric vehicles, renewable energy sources, and portable electronic devices, has underscored the critical role that batteries play in our modern world. To navigate this challenging terrain and harness the full potential of battery technology, a well-defined and comprehensive data strategy resp. knowledge management strategy are indispensable. Conversely, the imminent and rapid progression of artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have a substantial impact on the forthcoming landscape of work and the methodologies organizations employ for the management of their knowledge management (KM) procedures. Conventional KM endeavors encompass a spectrum of activities such as the creation, transmission, retention, and evaluation of an enterprise’s knowledge over the entire knowledge lifecycle. However
Badi, IbtihalBraun, AndreasKallis, Lena
Battery terminal voltage modelling is crucial for various applications, including electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and portable electronics. Terminal voltage models are used to determine how a battery will respond under load and can be used to calculate run-time, power capability, and heat generation and as a component of state estimation approaches, such as for state of charge. Previous studies have shown better voltage modelling accuracy for long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks than other traditional methods (e.g., equivalent circuit and electrochemical models). This study presents two new approaches – sequence training and data shuffling – to improve LSTM battery voltage models further, making them an even better candidate for the high-accuracy modelling of lithium-ion batteries. Because the LSTM memory captures information from past time steps, it must typically be trained using one series of continuous data. Instead, the proposed sequence training
Chen, JunranKollmeyer, PhillipPanchal, SatyamMasoudi, YasamanGross, OliverEmadi, Ali
Amid escalating concerns over climate change and emissions, this study presents a novel approach to develop sustainable fuels, leveraging advanced process modeling that uses waste CO2 streams from the biological ethanol fermentation process to produce e-methanol. Using Aspen Plus software, this research focuses on the conversion of biomass such as sugar cane and sugar beet to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and fortify energy resilience in a sustainable manner. In the first phase, bagasse, a byproduct of sugar production that is rich in carbon is used as a precursor for gasification and as a fuel to generate high-pressure steam. Oxygen obtained from electrolysis of water using renewable energy is used to preheat the biological exothermic fermentation phase. The CO2 captured during the fermentation phase is mixed with hydrogen obtained from the electrolysis process to synthesize e-methanol. Lignin, a byproduct of second-generation bioethanol, and surplus bagasse are identified and
Fernandes, Renston JakeNguyen, DucduyShakeel, Mohammad RaghibTurner, James W.G.
The 2023 FISITA White Paper (for which the author was a contributor) on managing in-service emissions and transportation options, to reduce CO2 (CO2-e or carbon footprint) from the existing vehicle fleet, proposed 6 levers which could be activated to complement the rapid transition to vehicles using only renewable energy sources. Another management opportunity reported here is optimizing the vehicle’s life in-service to minimize the life-cycle CO2 impact of a range of present and upcoming vehicles. This study of the US vehicle fleet has quite different travel and composition characteristics to European (EU27) vehicles. In addition, the embodied CO2 is based on ANL’s GREET data rather than EU27 SimaPro methodology. It is demonstrated that in-service, whole-of-life mileage has a significant influence on the optimum life cycle CO2 for BEVs and H2 fuelled FCEVs, as well as ICEs and PHEVs. Thus, the object is to show how much present, typical in-service life-mileage differs from the
Watson, Harry C.
The global transition to alternative power sources, particularly fuel cells, hinges on the cost-effective production and distribution of hydrogen fuel. While green hydrogen produced through water electrolysis using renewable energy sources holds immense promise, it currently falls short of meeting the burgeoning demand for hydrogen. To address this challenge, alternative methods, such as steam reforming and partial oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels with integrated carbon capture, are poised to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the near to midterm. Steam reforming of methane is a well-established technology with a proven track record in the chemical industry, serving as a dependable source of hydrogen feedstock for decades. However, to meet the demand for efficient hydrogen storage, handling, and onboard reforming, researchers are increasingly exploring liquid hydrocarbon fuels at room temperature, such as methanol and ethanol. In this work, we have developed reformer models for
Hariharan, DeivanayagamChhatija, HarishBrown, JonathanGundlapally, Santhosh
Bhutan is a small nation in the eastern Himalayas, between two of the world's largest neighbors and fastest-growing economies; China, and India. The GDP of the country is $2.707 Billion as of 2022. Bhutan’s largest renewable source is hydropower, which has a known potential of 30,000 MW. However, it has only been able to harvest only 1,480 MW (5% of the potential). The current overall electrification rate is 99% overall with 98.4% in rural areas. It exports 75.5% of total electricity generated in the country to India. However, the reliable supply of electricity remains a big challenge. The government is also pushing the use of renewable energy sources like solar and wind to diversify the energy mix and enhance the power security of the country. The share of renewable energy is very minimal at present amounting to 723 kW Solar PV and 600 kW Wind power. Bioenergy in the form of fuel wood, energy crops & crop residues, and cattle dung has great potential in the country as the country’s
Wangchuk, SingyeKumar, Naveen
Perovskite solar cells should be subjected to a combination of stress tests simultaneously to best predict how they will function outdoors, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL
This article presents a technical study on the integration of hybrid renewable energy sources (RES) with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, aiming to enhance energy efficiency, grid stability, and mitigating power imbalances. The growing adoption of RES and electric vehicles (EV) necessitates innovative solutions to mitigate intermittency and optimize resource utilization. The study’s primary objective is to design and analyze a hybrid distribution generation system encompassing solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power stations, along with a conventional diesel generator, connected to the utility grid. A V2G system is strategically embedded within the microgrid to facilitate bidirectional power exchange between EV and the grid. Methodologically, MATLAB/Simulink® 2021a is employed to simulate the system’s performance over one day. This research addresses a critical research gap in comprehensively evaluating the synergy between hybrid RES and V2G technology within a microgrid context. The
Al-Shetwi, Ali Q.
Road transport is bound to play a major role in the imminent transition to green energy. India has pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070 at the COP26 [1] and is committed to have 30% electric vehicle (EV) sales by 2030 [2]. The Indian government is promoting fleet electrification through initiatives like FAME–II. India’s EV market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 90% between 2022 and 2030 [3]. With this projection combined with climate targets, comes an anticipated exponential rise in renewable energy contribution to the national power grid, accompanied by a huge transport-related demand for electricity. NITI Aayog – India’s public policy think tank – and the Ministry of Power are already looking into the expansion of EV charging infrastructure in India as part of smart grid implementation. The deployment of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology as an extension of the smart charging initiative is essential for a smooth transition to renewable energy. The
Sandhu, RoubleCao, XinyuanFaßbender, MaxSchade, ThomasEmran, AshrafAndert, JakobXia, FeihongSharma, Vijay
In a rush to move towards a sustainable future, the number of electric vehicles has risen significantly in recent years. With this, the need for power to charge those vehicles has also increased. In any electric vehicle fleet location, there could be many vehicles with different arrival and departure times and energy requirements, which might vary every day. Depending on the geographical location, the available solar energy might differ. The electricity costs might change on an hourly basis. This in total can affect the charging costs. In addition, a non-optimal sizing of the energy components could result in an under-sized system, where the energy demands are not met, or it could result in an over-sized system, where the owner must invest more than required. Based on all the information related to vehicle charging load, electricity charges, energy intensity profile of renewable energy generation like solar and wind, an optimal size of components, operational cost, and investment
Munirajappa, ChandrashekaraShrivastava, HimanshuPrasad P, Shilpa
Letter from the Special Issue Editors
Zhang, RonghuiKolhe, Mohan Lal
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell (FC) presents itself as a promising technology in view of zero-tailpipe emission vehicles. In addition, the constant development of renewable energy sources will lead to an increase in green hydrogen availability, and thus completely eliminate emissions for devices that use H2 as an energy vector. However, PEM FCs are still far from being fully developed as a technology: thermal and water management are the main issues that researchers are studying through experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. For the numerical approach, H2O removal models often consider a simplified flat surface, but the microgeometry of the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) has a leading role in determining the critical dimension for droplet detachment and how much resistance the surface poses to water sliding. The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of droplets number on a GDL. The GDL has been characterized through optical analysis (5 μm/pixel
Antetomaso, C.Merola, S. S.Irimescu, A.Vaglieco, B. M.Di Micco, S.Jannelli, E.
Two of humanity’s most ubiquitous historical materials, cement, and carbon black may form the basis for a novel, low-cost energy storage system, according to a new study by MIT researchers. The technology could facilitate the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and tidal power by allowing energy networks to remain stable despite fluctuations in renewable energy supply
In order to achieve the climate targets, a mix of different powertrain technologies must be pursued to effectively reduce emissions. By producing hydrogen based on renewable energy sources, it becomes a reasonable choice for fueling internal combustion engines. The specific molecular properties of hydrogen thereby open up new possibilities for favorably influencing the combustion process of engines. The present paper deals with the analysis of a single-cylinder engine with passive pre-chamber ignition and a port fuel injection system, which was adapted for lean hydrogen operation. In this way, the test unit was operated in various load and speed ranges with lambda values from 1.5 to 2.5 and achieved up to 23 bar indicated mean effective pressure. The focus of this work is on the numerical investigation of the hydrogen combustion and its effects on the engine system. Special attention is hereby paid to the influence of different lambda operations. Simulations were carried out to
Gal, ThomasVacca, AntoninoChiodi, MarcoSchmelcher, RobinKulzer, AndreBucherer, SebastianRothe, PaulSobek, FlorianGottwald, TheoKraljevic, Ivica
The quality of neat biodiesel (B100) is critical for ensuring biodiesel blends used in diesel-powered vehicles do not adversely impact engine performance. In the United States, B100 is required to meet ASTM International’s purity and fuel property requirements in D6751, “Standard Specification for Biodiesel Fuel Blend Stock (B100) for Middle Distillate Fuels.” Here we review the development of this standard for the different grades of B100. The BQ-9000 program, which currently covers over 90% of U.S. and Canadian production volumes, is also described. Engine and original equipment manufacturers have expressed a desire for credible, third-party data on values of various ASTM B100 properties in the commercial market to inform their efforts to address future emissions and durability requirements. To address this need, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory published data from analysis and testing of monthly samples from BQ-9000 producers from calendar years 2017–2022, resulting in 300
McCormick, RobertAlleman, TeresaNelson, Richard
The worldwide adoption of renewable energy mandates, together with the widespread utilization of biofuels has created a sharp increase in the production of biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters). As a consequence, the production of glycerol, the main by-product of the transesterification of fatty acids, has increased accordingly, which has led to an oversupply of that compound on the markets. Therefore, in order to increase the sustainability of the biodiesel industry, alternative uses for glycerol need to be explored and the production of fuel additives is a good example of the so-called glycerol valorization. The goal of this study is therefore to evaluate the suitability of a number of glycerol-derived compounds as diesel fuel additives. Moreover, this work concerns the assessment of low-concentration blends of those glycerol derivatives with diesel fuel, which are more likely to conform to the existing fuel standards and be used in unmodified engines. The various blends described in
Olson, André L.Alemahdi, NikaTunér, MartinVerhelst, Sebastian
Methanol is currently being evaluated as a promising alternative fuel for internal combustion engines, due to being attainable by carbon neutral or negative pathways (renewable energy and carbon capture technology). The low ignitability of methanol has made it attractive mostly as a fuel for spark ignition engines, however the low sooting properties of the fuel could potentially reduce the NOx-soot tradeoff present in compression ignition engines. In this work, using a 4-cylinder engine with compression ratio modified from 16:1 to 19:1, methanol combustion is evaluated under five operating conditions in terms of fuel consumption, criteria pollutants, CO2 emissions and engine efficiency in addition to the qualitative assessment of the combustion stability. It was found that combustion is stable at medium to high loads, with medium load NOx emissions levels at least 30% lower than the original diesel engine and comparable emissions at maximum load conditions. The measured soot showed
Garcia, AntonioMonsalve-Serrano, JavierGuzmán Mendoza, MaríaGaillard, PatrickDurrett, RussellVassallo, AlbertoPesce, Francesco
In the context of the race toward minimum road transportation carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the needs for tools comparing various powertrain options are of the highest importance. Various authors have demonstrated the necessity to take into account the full life cycle assessment (LCA), a simplified tank-to-wheel calculation being unsatisfactory in providing guidance regarding the optimized technological choices depending of variables manufacturing and operating conditions. There are several examples to be found in the literature but they have been found to be very specific to most of their assumptions (e.g., vehicle models, electricity carbon intensity for usage or production, etc.). This paper focuses first on possibly to establish a more general model and relative graphic tool to compare carbon foot print of various powertrains with incremental electrification levels of light-duty vehicles (spark ignition engine, full hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicle), enabling
Hébert, Guillaume
Earlier studies have proven how ducted fuel injection (DFI) substantially reduces soot for low- and mid-load conditions in heavy-duty engines, without significant adverse effects on other emissions. Nevertheless, no comprehensive DFI study exists showing soot reductions at high- and full-load conditions. This study investigated DFI in a single-cylinder, 1.7-L, optical engine from low- to full-load conditions with a low-net-carbon fuel consisting of 80% renewable diesel and 20% biodiesel. Over the tested load range, DFI reduced engine-out soot by 38.1–63.1% compared to conventional diesel combustion (CDC). This soot reduction occurred without significant detrimental effects on other emission types. Thus, DFI reduced the severity of the soot–NOx tradeoff at all tested conditions. While DFI delivered considerable soot reductions in the present study, previous DFI studies at low- and mid-load conditions delivered larger soot reductions (>90%) compared to CDC operation at the same
Buurman, Noad J.Nyrenstedt, GustavMueller, Charles J.
The exponential rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the environment is one of the major concerns of international organisations and governments. As a result, lowering carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions has become a priority across a wide range of industries, including transportation sector, which is recognised as one of the major sources of these emissions. Therefore, renewable energy carriers and powertrain technologies, such as the use of alternative fuels and combustion modes in internal combustion engines, are required. Dual-fuel operation with high substitution ratios using low carbon and more sustainable fuels can be an effective short-term solution. Hythane, a blend of 20% hydrogen and 80% methane, could be a potential solution to this problem. In this research, two alternative diesel-hythane dual-fuel modes, namely conventional dual-fuel (CDF) combustion and reactivity-controlled compression ignition dual-fuel (RCCI DF) combustion, were experimentally
Longo, KevinWang, XinyanZhao, Hua
The proportion of new registrations with battery-electric and hybrid powertrains is rising steadily. This shows the strong trend in the automotive industry away from conventional powertrains with internal combustion engines. The aim is to reduce the transport sector's contribution to CO2 emissions. However, it should be noted that this only applies when renewable energy is used. Studies show the relevance of the system boundaries under consideration, which makes the application of Life Cycle Assessment indispensable. According to these studies, the various types of powertrains differ only slightly in their greenhouse gas impact. Rather, the energy supply chain plays a significant role. Moreover, a ban on combustion engines would lead to an additional increase in cumulative CO2 emissions. An important aspect on the way to sustainable mobility solutions is addressing the existing fleet. The approximately 1.25 billion vehicles predominantly powered by internal combustion engines can make
Villforth, JonasVacca, AntoninoBargende, MichaelKulzer, Andre
Over the last decade, Climate change due to fossil fuel burning has taken centre stage in all discussions. Automotive sector has come under some flak for being one of the contributors to this Climate Change. Active steps have been taken by Vehicle Manufacturers and their Suppliers to address this issue. This sector has been facing below challenges to reduce pollutant in the air by A. Reducing Emissions, B. Increasing Energy Efficiency C. Use of Renewable Energy. One of the many alternatives by the Automotive Industry was to have a phased introduction to Electric Vehicles (EV), Hybrids, Fuel cells and other variants. As various emission norms and safety requirements takes Centre stage, it invariably, increases the weight of the vehicle. Now a days, Vehicles are having challenges to make it lightweight to achieve Range for an EV and improve fuel efficiency without sacrificing safety. It has also been observed that the weight of a vehicles is more due to the Structural Members made out of
GEORGE, ANILKHACHANE, BHUSHAN HEMRAJ
Climate change and its detrimental effects on the environment have led to an urgent need for a transition toward a fossil-free energy future. To achieve this goal, renewable energy sources, especially hydrogen, will play a crucial role. However, to make them more viable, various sectors like Power, Industrial, Mobility, etc., are looking for ways to store and transport the energy generated from hydrogen. The advancement of Power-to-X (PtX) technologies has caught attention, as it offers a solution for converting renewable energy into chemical or fuel forms that can be used in various applications and overcome the problem of storage associated with hydrogen. This concept is being looked at as a potential game-changer in the energy sector. This review focuses on two key areas within the Power-to-X (PtX) technology that holds significant potential for transitioning towards a fossil-free energy future: eFuels synthesis and Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology. efuels provide an opportunity
Sankhe, SauravKrishna, S V MohanaJUTURU, RAGA MADHURISubrahmanyam, Ch
CASE VP Jay Joseph outlines dramatic cost reductions in fuel-cell systems, the move into stationary power, and new models for mobile and residential energy. Is the long-promised “hydrogen economy” still 15 years away, as it reportedly has been for… more than 15 years? Or is it just around the corner? SAE Media traveled to Honda's U.S. campus in Torrance, California, to see the company's latest progress. This was the introduction of Honda's zero-emission stationary fuel-cell power station, which now is in service as a backup power source for the company's data center. Honda's FCX was the the world's first production fuel-cell vehicle when it debuted in 2002. Since then the company's hydrogen developments have continued. Honda began collaborating on fuel-cell systems in 2013 and the two OEMs share a fuel-cell manufacturing joint venture. The Torrance event also presented the opportunity to speak with Jay Joseph, Honda's VP of Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electrified (CASE
Dinkel, John
The availability of DC Fast Charging Stations (DCFCs) is considered a fundamental step for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). To mitigate the impact of high-power charging events on the grid, DCFCs are often equipped with stationary energy storage and renewable energy resources. In literature, many methods have been proposed to design, control, and optimize the performance of multi-sources DCFCs. Many of the research contributions use the averaged EV charging power consumption as input, not the real-time event-based power request. This paper aims at comparing the effects of average-based and event-based EV charging power profiles on the design and control of multi-sources DCFCs. An algorithm that generates event-based EV charging power profiles has been developed based on the data from the California Energy Commission (CEC) report and NREL's EVI-Pro I tool. Multiple scenarios can be generated based on different weekday and weekend energy consumptions, EV penetrations
D'Arpino, MatildeSingh, GurpreetKoh, Myung Bae
Throughout its history, the internal combustion engine has been continuously scrutinized to achieve strict legislative emission targets. With the dawn of renewable fuels fast approaching, most Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) equipped hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) face difficulty in adjusting their precise control strategies to new fuels. This is partly due to constrained limitations associated with camshaft-induced design-point air induction limitations. Freevalve is a fully variable valvetrain technology enabling independent control of valve lifts, durations, and timings. Additionally, the added degrees-of-freedom enable the capability to shut-off individual engine valves, optimizing combustion performance and stability through specific speed ranges. By design, it minimizes the existing breathing-related constraints that are currently hindering the extraction of the higher efficiency potential of ICEs. To explore the potential environmental benefits from improved fuel consumption
Elmagdoub, Abdelrahman W. M.Simaitis, JorisHalmearo, MattiasCarlson, UrbanTurner, JamesBrace, ChrisAkehurst, SamZhang, Nic
As connected and automated vehicle technologies emerge and proliferate, lower frequency vehicle trajectory data is becoming more widely available. In some cases, entire fleets are streaming position, speed, and telemetry at sample rates of less than 10 seconds. This presents opportunities to apply powertrain simulators such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator to model how advanced powertrain technologies would perform in the real world. However, connected vehicle data tends to be available at lower temporal frequencies than the 1-10 Hz trajectories that have typically been used for powertrain simulation. Higher frequency data, typically used for simulation, is costly to collect and store and therefore is often limited in density and geography. This paper explores the suitability of lower frequency, high availability, connected vehicle data for detailed powertrain simulation. A large data set of 1 Hz trajectories is used to
O'Meally, FranzHolden, JacobGilleran, Madeline
This study investigates the techno-economic feasibility of India’s evolving transportation technology. The country’s progressive renewable energy targets (energy independent by 2047) and incentivized policies on lower carbon footprint fuels are accelerating the focus on green transport solutions. A bottom-up approach is utilized to demystify the techno-commercial viability of new technologies. The total cost of ownership (TCO) is an important metric for economic analysis. However, generalized data applications and simplified cost assumptions render inapplicability to local markets. In this study, the TCO model compares the vehicle technology’s energy, emissions, and cost, based on scientific co-relations. A 12-meter-bus market is used to compare Battery-powered Electric buses (BEB), Fuel Cell Electric Buses (FCEB), and prevalent Compressed Natural Gas Engine buses (CNGB) for a service life of 12 years. The analysis has two segments: Static analysis depicts the influencing factors (fuel
Sarkar, SankhadeepHe, Xinkhan, Faisal
Compression ignition internal combustion engines provide unmatched power density levels, making them suitable for numerous applications including heavy-duty freight trucks, marine shipping, and off-road construction vehicles. Fossil-derived diesel fuel has dominated the energy source for CI engines over the last century. To mitigate the dependency on fossil fuels and lessen anthropogenic carbon released into the atmosphere within the transportation sector, it is critical to establish a fuel source which is produced from renewable energy sources, all the while matching the high-power density demands of various applications. Dimethyl ether (DME) has been used in non-combustion applications for several decades and is an attractive fuel for CI engines because of its high reactivity, superior volatility to diesel, and low soot tendency. A range of feedstock sources can produce DME via the catalysis of syngas. In this work, DME is applied in a direct injection compression ignition combustion
Leblanc, SimonM, Murugesa PandianHan, XiaoyeTjong, JimiZheng, Ming
This work has the objective to present the extension of a novel quasi-dimensional model, developed to simulate the combustion process in diesel Compression Ignition (CI) engines, to describe this process when Dimethyl ether (DME) is used as fuel. DME is a promising fuel in heavy-duty CI engines application thanks to its high Cetane Number (CN), volatility, high reactivity, almost smokeless combustion, lower CO2 emission and the possibility to be produced with renewable energy sources. In this paper, a brief description of the thermodynamic model will be presented, with particular attention to the implementation of the Tabulated Kinetic Ignition (TKI) model, and how the various models interact to simulate the combustion process. The model has been validated against experimental data derived from constant-volume DME combustion, in this case the most important parameters analyzed and compared were the Ignition Delay (ID) and Flame Lift Off Length (FLOL). Following this first validation
Ballerini, AlbertoD'Errico, GianlucaOnorati, AngeloTamborski, Matteo
The number of electric vehicles is increasing in line with the global carbon reduction targets. More households are installing electric charging points to complement the existing charging infrastructure. The increasing electricity prices affected by the global energy/economic crisis however pushed more households towards coupling their charging points with renewable energy generation and storage systems to manage the supply and demand of energy more effectively. In this study, an electric charging station equipped with Photovoltaic panels and an electric storage system utilising second-life Electric Vehicles (EV) batteries is designed and analysed. Various electricity generation capacities are considered to be installed on the roof of the case study building ranging from 5m2 and 20m2. The second-life batteries are disposed from EVs with an 80% state of health. MATLAB Simulink is used for mathematical modelling of system. The second-order equivalent circuit model (ECM) is employed for
Salek, FarhadMorrey, DeniseHenshall, PaulResalati, Shahaboddin
To prevent global warming, many countries are making efforts to reduce CO2 emissions toward achieving 2050 carbon neutrality. In order to reduce CO2 concentration quickly, in addition to spread of renewable energy and expansion of BEV, it is also important to reduce CO2 emissions by improving thermal efficiency of ICE (internal combustion engine) and utilizing carbon neutral fuels such as synthetic fuels and biofuels. It is well known that lean burn is an effective technology to increase thermal efficiency of engine highly. However, since NOx emission from lean burn engine cannot be reduced with three-way catalyst, there have been issues such as complicated system configuration due to the addition of NOx reduction catalyst or limiting lean operation to narrow engine speed and load in order to meet emission regulation of each country. This paper introduces super lean burn engine with over lambda 2.5 that achieves both high thermal efficiency and significantly low NOx emission in order
Kimura, KoshiroSAKAI, HiroyukiOmura, TetsuoTakahashi, Daishi
This paper provides an overview of possible engine design optimizations by utilizing highly knock-resistant potential greenhouse gas (GHG) neutral synthetic fuels. Historically the internal combustion engine was tailored to and highly optimized for fossil fuels. For future engine generations one of the main objectives is to achieve GHG neutrality. This means that either carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen or potential greenhouse gas neutral fuels are utilized. The properties of hydrogen make its use challenging for mobile application as it is very diffusive, not liquid under standard temperature/pressure and has a low volumetric energy density. C1-based oxygenated fuels such as methanol (MeOH), dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and methyl formate (MeFo) have properties like conventional gasoline but offer various advantages. Firstly, these fuels can be produced with renewable energy and carbon capture technologies to be GHG neutral. Secondly, the C1-based fuels burn with significantly less
Kraus, ChristophThamm, FabianRetzlaff, MarioGadomski, BartoschFitz, PatrickHärtl, MartinHoppe, SteffenJaensch, Malte
Significant reductions in vehicle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are required to meet fleet targets and this is increasing the interest in new combustion concepts for internal combustion engines. There is also an increased focus on the use of renewable fuels to reduce environmental impact. This study focusses on the use of methanol as an internal combustion engine fuel. Methanol is a liquid fuel that is readily produced from waste bio-matter, as well as synthetically using renewable energy, and is proposed as a primary energy vector in hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as Marine, but could be equally applicable to road transportation. In this study, the MAHLE Di3 engine, which is a highly boosted 3-cylinder gasoline direct injection engine capable of operating at over 30 bar BMEP, has been modified to include MAHLE Jet Ignition technology, in both passive and active configurations, as well as utilising a very high compression ratio to maximise thermal efficiency. The paper will compare
Harrington, AnthonyHall, JonathanBassett, MikeCooper, Adrian
A new hydrogen fueling protocol called MC Multi Map (MC-MM) was developed to reduce hydrogen station operating costs. With the MC-MM, the number of fueling control maps has increased from before and precise switching among them according to circumstances has achieved relaxation of precooling temperatures. Fueling control maps for hydrogen stations are created in accordance with Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) protocol, but with the MC-MM, greater accuracy of mapping is necessary, so steps were taken to revise the boundary conditions prescribed by the SAE. The creation of fueling control maps for a hydrogen fueling protocol used to require outsourcing of map analysis. However, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory research institute in the US has made a hydrogen fueling simulation called H2FillS publicly available on the Web so that analysis of fueling control maps can now be performed by anyone. Therefore, revision of the SAE boundary conditions was examined on the assumption
Yamaguchi, ShigehiroHanda, Kiyoshi
Some CO2-reducing technologies have real-world benefits not captured by regulatory testing methods. This paper documents a two-layer heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system that facilitates faster engine warmup through strategic increased air recirculation. The performance of this technology was assessed on a 2020 Hyundai Sonata. Empirical performance of the technology was obtained through dynamometer tests at Argonne National Laboratory. Performance of the vehicle across multiple cycles and cell ambient temperatures with the two-layer technology active and inactive indicated fuel consumption reduction in nearly all cases. A thermally sensitive powertrain model, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s FASTSim Hot, was calibrated and validated against vehicle testing data. The developed model included the engine, cabin, and HVAC system controls. Validation of component thermal models and engine efficiency ensured accurate thermal dynamics, fuel consumption, and two
Baker, Chad AllanMoniot, MatthewBorlaug, BrennanLustbader, JasonAkhtar, SaadJehlik, ForrestAgnew, ScottLee, JasonLee, InsuHa, Jinho
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