A revolutionary new zero-emission engine could save truck operators thousands of pounds in fuel costs and the environment millions of tonnes in emissions through new cool chain systems for food distribution and in motive power applications.
The Dearman engine, which has been developed in the UK, runs on liquid air (liquid nitrogen) and is on track to undertake full on-vehicle testing by the summer of 2014. The engine, designed to provide the power for refrigerated trailer applications, could be in production within two years and, with a network of industrial gas plants across the UK already producing liquid nitrogen, there is no infrastructure barrier to rapid deployment.
The Dearman liquid air engine – an innovative heat engine that uses liquid air as a ‘fuel’ – completed its ‘shakedown’ testing milestone at the end of 2013 at Imperial College, London, and is moving into a three-month programme of tests and performance mapping. The developers, Dearman Engine Company, confirm that the engine remains on track for integration and installation on a vehicle by MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) in the first half of this year.
The project – in partnership with MIRA, Air Products and Loughborough University and jointly funded by the consortium partners and the UK Government (IDP8) – will demonstrate and test the Dearman Engine on a refrigerated truck providing zero-emission cooling and power during 2014, before moving to full on-road field trials.
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