Cummins broadens SCR dosing via Hilite acquisition
Cummins Inc. has acquired the emissions control assets of Hilite International in Marktheidenfeld, Germany, and made them part of Cummins Emission Solution (CES), positioning the company to serve all major market applications with a Cummins doser. The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) dosing system developed by Hilite will complement existing Cummins aftertreatment technology, including controls, sensors, catalysts, substrates, and packaging. As part of the acquisition, 133 former Hilite employees have joined Cummins; for now, the business will continue to operate from the plant at Marktheidenfeld. “This acquisition puts Cummins in a strong position to meet the needs of current customers and grow into new markets, especially as an increasing number of regions around the world adopt tougher emissions standards,” said Srikanth Padmanabhan, Vice President and General Manager of CES.
Honda unveils new HR412E racing engine
Honda has revealed the “heart” of its Civic WTCC racing car for the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The new HR412E, a completely bespoke 1.6-L, four-cylinder direct injection turbocharged petrol engine, conforms to all FIA regulations for the WTCC and passed all initial tests upon delivery to the Honda Racing Team JAS workshop in Milan. It was developed at Honda's R&D center in Tochigi, Japan. “In the continuous technological development of an internal-combustion engine, the thermal efficiency is the essential key for improvement. And a race engine is not an exception,” said Daisuke Horiuchi, the WTCC Development Project Leader at Honda R&D. “This HR412E was born from such thought process: aiming for higher efficiency.” Honda plans to use the HR412E in the FIA World Touring Car Championship as early as this season, with ex-Formula One driver Tiago Monteiro behind the wheel. "We believe the innovations that have led to this revolutionary engine will also lead to benefits beyond the race track, helping us to further increase the efficiency of our road engine cars," said Horiuchi.
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The new HR412E engine for the Honda Civic WTCC racing car.
New ETI project to increase heavy-duty vehicle efficiency
The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), working with Romax Technology, Castrol Ltd., and ANSYS Inc., has announced a £2.5 million project to reduce parasitic losses and increase the efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). The project will focus on improving vehicles’ overall system design, including gears, bearings, surface treatments, lubricant flow, and lubricant composition. Parasitic losses in the lower drivetrain system can account for more than 10% of overall vehicle energy losses; the goal is to cut this loss by 50%. ETI plans to use the technologies developed in this project on a variety of HDVs, including buses, tractors, backhoe loaders, and wheeled loaders. “When we launched our HDV efficiency program, we stated a belief that HDV carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by up to one-third,” said Chris Thorne, Program Manager for Heavy Duty Vehicles at ETI. “This next phase of the program aims to take us closer to that end objective.”
Mazda ups SkyActiv engine production
Mazda Corp. announced that production of SkyActiv engines will double in October. Current production is 400,000 units for global distribution; production will increase to 800,000 units. In the U.S., the 2012 Mazda3 and 2013 CX-5 feature SkyActiv-G 2.0-L gasoline engines. In other markets, the SkyActiv-D engine is available on Mazda2 and CX-5 vehicles. SkyActiv technology is the brand's proprietary engineering and development of fuel-efficient, performance-oriented vehicles as a result of lightweight and redesigned engines, transmission, chassis, and body structures. With SkyActiv technology at the forefront of the brand's evolution, by 2015 Mazda plans to increase fuel efficiency by 30% (when compared to 2008 figures) for all its vehicles offered globally. This will correspond to a 23% reduction in fuel consumption and subsequently lower CO2 output.
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The SkyActiv 2.0-L gasoline engine in the 2013 CX-5 is rated at 155 hp (116 kW) and 150 lb•ft (203 N•m).
ContiTech expands plastic tubes production in U.S.
ContiTech Fluid Technology is building a competence center for plastic lines in the U.S., its second plastics competence center worldwide after one in Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany. The company is investing about $11 million in the existing ContiTech Thermopol hose factory in Somersworth, NH, to help meet demand in North America, with the first construction stage recently going into operation. ContiTech says that orders from Ford and Chrysler are already exhausting the capacities of the first plant, which has been in production since January. A second system has been ordered and is expected to be installed in October. The company expects the number of plastic tubes it produces to increase fourfold by the end of 2013 compared to 2012. The Somersworth plant was more than doubled in size two years ago for the extrusion of turbocharger hoses and the assembly of SCR (selective catalytic reduction) hose line systems for diesel engines. Volume assembly of SCR lines for Cummins started in June, and lines for Caterpillar will follow shortly, according to ContiTech. Previously, only silicone hoses were produced in Somersworth. The expansion of the plastics technology operations will see a third, 6700-m2 (72,120-ft2) production hall built on the grounds, and an expected increase in the number of employees from 220 presently to 335 by the end of 2013.
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The blow-molding line at ContiTech’s Somersworth plant in New Hampshire currently produces about 150,000 plastic tubes annually.
Xinde common-rail system receives patent certificate, already booked up
Weifang Hengyuan Oil Pump and Nozzle Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary company of Xinde Science and Technology Co., Ltd., has succeeded in developing a diesel engine FIRCRI common-rail, electrically controlled fuel-injection system. The company, working in close cooperation with the State Key Laboratory of Engines of Tianjin University since December 2003, has been granted a technical patent certificate, with exclusive intellectual property owned by Xinde. According to Xinde, its system is comparable to the oil injection system of Robert Bosch and Denso and can replace import products. The new product is said to adapt well to China’s oil characteristics and to meet stricter emissions standards than Euro III/IV standards; applications include various types of diesel engines for cars, trucks, machinery, and locomotives. When the system becomes commercially available, it already has been booked up by Weichai Power, Jiangsu Jianghuai Engine Co., Ltd., and Sichuan Emei Diesel Engine Co., Ltd., according to Xinde. The company anticipates the designed production capacity of the phase-I project to be 200,000 sets.
Honda Fit EV is new fuel-economy king (video)
At 118 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent), the MY2013 Honda Fit EV is tops in fuel economy among models sold in the U.S. It has a U.S. EPA consumption rating of just 29 kW·h/100 mi and an estimated range of 82 mi—more than that of the Ford Focus Electric (105 MPGe, 76 mi), Nissan Leaf (99 MPGe, 73 mi), and Mitsubishi i (112 MPGe, 62 mi). EPA-estimated annual "fuel" cost is $500. The 118 MPGe figure breaks down into 132 city and 105 highway. The 20-kW·h lithium-ion battery can be recharged in less than 3 h at 240 V. The car is designed to the SAE J1772 connector standard for battery recharging.(Watch a video of Fit EV charging here.)
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San Fran gets its first public hydrogen fueling station (video)
In a boost to the future of fuel-cell technology, Linde North America has announced operations start-up of the first public hydrogen fueling station in the San Francisco Bay area. It offers fueling at 350 and 700 bar, the latter providing a refill time for a fuel-cell bus comparable to that of a diesel bus. Located in Emeryville, the station is one of two being supplied by Linde to AC Transit, which is a coalition of regional transport partners serving 7 million people in the Bay Area. The other station, in Oakland, is expected to begin operations in 2013. The Emeryville station was unveiled in a dedication ceremony April 10. It serves 12 fuel-cell buses operated by AC Transit, as well as privately owned fuel-cell passenger vehicles. (See video of the station here.)
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With technology from Linde North America, the station can dispense hydrogen at up to 5 kg/min (11 lb/min)—comparable to the rate at which diesel buses are refueled. The facility also features hydrogen production capability.
China BAK gets govt. grant and industry orders for Li-ion batteries
The federal government of China has given China BAK Battery, Inc. a $1.9 million grant to further work on a battery module project. The module consists of cylindrical lithium-ion cells that can be used in electric vehicles, electric motors, electric bicycles (e-bikes), and power storage. The government funds will be used to further develop the battery module's efficiency and environmental-friendliness. The company also recently announced several supply agreements, including one under which it will deliver 1000 high-power Li-ion batteries in 2012 to Chinese automaker Chery for its Ruilin M1 electric cars.
EU approves test to prevent grid problems from vehicle charging
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) recently approved a measure designed to ensure proper electromagnetic compatibility between the electricity grid and vehicles (battery-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric types) that are being recharged via a plug, according to InterRegs, an online resource for global vehicle safety and emissions regulations. Compliance with these new requirements (in the form of the 04 series of amendments to Regulation No. 10) becomes mandatory from Oct. 28, 2014, for new types of vehicle and from Oct. 28, 2016, for all new vehicles.
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