2 February 2012
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0000559) for a Batteries and Energy Storage Energy Innovation Hub. The Batteries and Energy Storage Hub will be the fourth such Hub established by DOE. Three Energy Innovation Hubs were launched in FY 2010: Fuels from Sunlight; Energy Efficient Building Systems Design; and Modeling and Simulation for Nuclear Reactors. (Earlier post.)
The goal of the Batteries and Energy Storage Hub is to accelerate the discovery of new electrochemical energy storage concepts and incorporate these into new prototypes for storing energy in a reliable, economic, and efficient manner. Rather than initially focusing on a single technology or incremental improvements to current technologies, the Hub is to deliver “revolutionary research that will result in new technologies and approaches.”
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2 February 2012
A new study by researchers from the University of Tennessee, University of Minnesota, and Tsinghua University compares emissions (CO2, PM2.5, NOx, HC) and environmental health impacts (primary PM2.5) from the use of conventional vehicles (CVs) and electric vehicles (EVs)—including electric cars, bicycles and light scooters—in 34 major cities in China. The study’s findings highlight the importance of considering exposures—especially the proximity of emissions to people—when evaluating environmental health impacts for EVs, the team said.
In their paper, published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, Ji et al. note that the focus of their study was motivated in part by the unprecedented rise in popularity of electric two-wheelers in China. The massive upsurge in e-bikes in the country marks “the single largest adoption of alternative fuel vehicles in history, with over 100 million vehicles purchased in the past decade, more than all other countries combined.”
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2 February 2012
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| Simplified schematic of the wireless energy transfer system in free space. Yu et al. Click to enlarge. |
A Stanford University research team is designing a high-efficiency wireless charging system using magnetic resonance coupling (earlier post) to wirelessly transmit large electric currents between metal coils placed several feet apart. The long-term goal of the research is to develop an all-electric highway that wirelessly charges cars and trucks as they cruise down the road.
Their proposed design, as published in the journal Applied Physics Letters (APL), would transfer up to 10 kW of electrical energy to a coil 6.5 feet away with an efficiency of up to 97%.
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2 February 2012
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| Enhancement in thermal conductivity. Credit: ACS, Taha-Tijerina et al. Click to enlarge. |
Rice University scientists have created a nano-infused mineral oil that could greatly enhance the ability of devices as large as electrical transformers and as small as microelectronic components to shed excess heat. The approach, described in a paper in the journal ACS Nano, could increase the thermal conductivity of such thermal oils by as much as 80% without compromising the electrically insulating properties.
The researchers discovered that a very tiny amount of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) particles, two-dimensional cousins to carbon-based graphene, suspended in standard mineral oils are highly efficient at removing heat from a system.
The team found that 0.1 wt. % of h-BN in mineral oil enhanced thermal conductivity by nearly 80%; at 0.01 wt. %, the enhancement was around 9%.
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1 February 2012
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| UPM biofuels process. Click to enlarge. |
Finland-based UPM, one of the world’s leading forest products groups, will build a hydrotreatment biorefinery producing biofuels from crude tall oil in Lappeenranta, Finland. The biorefinery will produce annually approximately 100,000 tonnes of advanced renewable fuels for transport. (Earlier post.)
Crude tall oil is a residue of chemical pulp production, mainly generated in the production of sulphate cellulose from softwood. (Earlier post.) A significant part of the raw material comes from UPM’s own pulp mills in Finland.
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1 February 2012
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| Drive systems in the MQB. Click to enlarge. |
This year, Volkswagen Group will introduce the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB, modularen Querbaukasten) for the Volkswagen, Audi, ŠKODA and SEAT brands. (At the Tokyo Motor Show, Volkswagen unveiled the first model publicly shown based on the MQB: the Cross Coupé all-wheel-drive (AWD) plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV). (Earlier post.)
Volkswagen says that its MQB strategy represents a turning point in the design and production of its future automobiles with transverse-mounted engines. The Modular Transverse Matrix standardizes many vehicle component parameters across brands and vehicle classes. At the same time, it offers access to new technologies. The MQB extends from the A0 to the B segment.
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1 February 2012
A new study by researchers at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL), concludes that electric commercial vehicles can cost 9 to 12% less to operate than trucks powered by diesel engines when used to make deliveries on an everyday basis in big cities and when V2G (vehicle-to-grid) revenue is incorporated.
The CTL study was conducted using data collected by the international office supplier Staples, as well as ISO New England, the nonprofit firm that runs New England’s electric power grid. Using that data, the researchers modeled the costs for a fleet of 250 delivery trucks, and examined alternate scenarios in which the whole fleet used one of three kinds of motors: purely electric engines, hybrid gas-electric engines and conventional diesel engines.
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1 February 2012
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| The 6DCT450. Click to enlarge. |
For its S60, V60, V70 and S80 models with 1.6-liter diesel engines, available from early 2012, Volvo has opted for Getrag’s six-speed 6DCT450 Powershift transmission for further reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The S60 diesel with start-stop technology, with 114 g CO2/km (119 g CO2/km in the V60, V70 and S80), now achieves the levels of the manual model equivalents. This equates to NEDC average fuel economy figures of 4.3 and 4.5 liters/100 km (55 and 52 mpg US) respectively.
The transmission’s software has been further improved and additional economy has been achieved by reducing friction between transmission components. The start-stop facility enables a further contribution to fuel economy. To achieve this, the 6DCT450 dual-clutch transmission incorporating wet clutches needs no additional hardware such as a pressure accumulator or electrically driven pump.
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31 January 2012
The Center for Automotive Research announced the launch of the Coalition of Automotive Lightweighting Materials (CALM) to support efforts by auto manufacturers to aggressively down-weight vehicles to improve performance, fuel economy and safety. CALM will coalesce the strengths and knowledge of the aluminum and plastics/composites industries with technology providers in design, fabrication and joining to accelerate the implementation of mixed-material solutions that will reduce vehicle mass.
Integrating advanced low-weight materials can present challenges with the design, joining, and structural validation. CALM’s purpose is to support the cost-effective integration of mixed materials to achieve significant reductions in weight through the collaborative efforts of technology providers with the auto manufacturers.
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31 January 2012
Borla Performance Industries, a leader in the design and manufacture of stainless steel performance exhaust, has an option to license a novel nanopore membrane technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Borla will combine this with its diesel exhaust technology to create a low-cost, novel system that doubles as a device to extract potable water from diesel and other internal combustion exhaust. Borla is participating in the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge” with this development.
The researchers at ORNL developed the membrane technology for applications such as gas separation, water purification, energy and water recovery from
industrial process streams, and solid oxide fuel cells. For the recovery of previously wasted energy from relatively low temperature (<100°C) exhaust/effluent streams, the process envisioned involved removing moisture
from the exhaust streams and recovering the latent heat when water condenses in the membrane.
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31 January 2012
Novozymes and India-based Sea6Energy have entered an exploratory research agreement jointly to develop a process for the production of biofuels from seaweed. The research alliance will use enzymes to convert seaweed-based carbohydrates to sugar, which can then be fermented to produce ethanol for fuel, fine chemicals, proteins for food, and fertilizers for plants.
Novozymes will research, develop, and manufacture enzymes for the conversion process, while Sea6 Energy contributes its offshore seaweed cultivation technology.
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