Towards low emission mobility solutions in Europe
New dual fuel technology from Latvia offers 50 % reduction of diesel consumption in heavy duty vehicles. Norsk Energi contributes by calculating possible emission reductions by converting diesel engines so that they can use a mixture of diesel and CNG/biomethane with the addition of water vapour.
Latvian company SIA "ABLabs” has signed an agreement with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) for the support for “Development of “NordicCNG” – new type CNG-Diesel-Water technology”, with Norsk Energi being a partner.
The project aims at the development of new type of dual fuel technology for the diesel motors. SIA “ABLabs” develops the “ArtuPower” technology to adapt diesel-fueled motors to more environmentally friendly fuel blends, such as diesel-CNG/Biomethane enriched with water vapors. “ArtuPower” technology would be most suitable for heavy-duty vehicles with an engine capacity of up to 18 liters, such as trucks, tractors, buses and agricultural or specialized machinery. At present, this mobility segment is dependent on highly polluting diesel fuel.
The novelty of the technology (including processes, software and hardware solutions as well as equipment) is that it allows to retrofit common rail diesel engines, so the fuel mix (diesel plus alkane gas) can be burned simultaneously in the engine's combustions chamber. It provides technical solution to harmonize the combustion process in the combustion chamber of the engine and avoid engine knocking when common rail diesel engine is fueled by mix of diesel and alkane gas or alkane gas only. The new feature is also in using the water vapor as a catalyst. Mixing alkane gas and water vapor and injecting it to the engines air intake manifold ensures more efficient combustion process for the fuel mix in the engine.
The target is to decrease diesel fuel by at least 50% in the converted diesel motors.
The “ArtuPower” technology shall be developed up to the level of TRL8 technology readiness level, and the project duration is expected to be 24 months. “ABLabs” plans to perform tests in a real operational environment, by having the “ArtuPower” technology installed in a few test vehicles.
Mobile sources produce direct greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as several other pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), Non-methane Volatile Organic Compounds (NMVOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrate (NOx), which cause or contribute to local or regional air pollution.
Norsk Energi is invited to take part in the project to share the Norwegian expertise and knowledge on the road transport air emissions and to evaluate emission from the “ArtuPower” technology. Our task is to propose the a method for estimating specific emission factors, on the basis of fuel used, age of vehicles, etc. In this work, Norsk Energi relies on the Norwegian model for estimating air emissions from Road Transportation developed by the Statistics Norway (SSB) - the national statistical institute of Norway. The Norwegian emission factors are available at a very detailed level based on results from the Norwegian and European research projects.
The total project budget of the project is 132,400 EUR, with a support of 92 680 EUR provided by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism’s small grant scheme “Development of Green Innovations and Information and Communication Technology Products”.
More information about Norway Grants - https://eeagrants.org/
Contakt: Sergei Faschevsky or Dag Borgnes in Norsk Energi
